CN102892155A

CN102892155A - Method for relocating gateway and mobile management entity

Info

Publication number: CN102892155A
Application number: CN2012103456248A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄莹; 高音; 褚丽; 谢峰
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2012-09-18
Filing date: 2012-09-18
Publication date: 2013-01-23
Anticipated expiration: 2032-09-18
Also published as: WO2014044117A1; CN102892155B

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for relocating a gateway, as well as a mobile management entity. The method comprises steps as follows: in the process of switching a host base station (DeNB) for a mobile relay node (MRN), receiving gateway relocation judging information by the mobile management entity (MME) of the MRN; and after receiving the gateway relocation judging information, and judging whether it is a gateway that serves for relocation of the MRN according to the gateway relocation judging information. According to the relocating method, the problem of whether to relocate the gateway in the process of switching the MRN is solved, so that the route is smoothly optimized, and delay of user equipment (UE) data and signaling is further shortened.

Description

Gateway relocation method and mobility management entity

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a gateway relocation method and a mobility management entity.

Background

In the wireless Relay (wireless Relay) technology in the LTE-Advanced standard proposed by the 3GPP standard organization, a Relay Node (RN) provides a function and a service similar to those of a normal eNB (evolved Node B) to a UE (user equipment) accessing its cell, and accesses an eNB (DeNB, donor base station) serving it in a manner similar to that of the normal UE through a radio interface. As high-speed railways are built and put into operation on a large scale, the demand for communication on trains is increasing. However, because a train moving at a high speed is affected by doppler shift, frequent cell switching, large car penetration loss of a high-speed rail and the like, the coverage of the existing network base station is difficult to meet the communication quality requirement of the high-speed rail. It is therefore proposed in the industry to deploy relay nodes on high-speed rails, such relay nodes being commonly referred to as Mobile Relay Nodes (MRNs). As shown in fig. 1 and 2, by using the mobile relay technology, users (UE1 and UE2) in a high-speed train can communicate with a relatively stationary mobile relay node, and the MRN can be switched between different denbs during the movement of the high-speed train, so that simultaneous switching of a large number of users in a high-speed train compartment is avoided, the communication quality between the UE and the MRN is ensured, and a series of problems existing in the high-speed train can be better solved by enhancing the backbone connection between the mobile MRN and the DeNB.

When the architecture shown in fig. 1 is adopted for the mobile relay (i.e. the same architecture as the standardized R10 fix relay, commonly referred to as architecture 2), in this architecture, the DeNB has built-in SGW, PGW and relay GW serving the MRN, where the relay GW in the DeNB provides S1/X2 proxy functions for user plane data and control plane signaling of the UE. In this architecture, when the SGW/PGW/relay GW (which may be collectively referred to as GW) of the MRN is located in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB) accessed during its attachment, when the MRN on the high-speed rail moves to a position farther from the initial DeNB, the data of the UE reaches the PGW of the MRN, and then reaches the DeNB serving the MRN via a plurality of DeNB forwarding routes, that is, there is a problem that the routing path is too long, which further causes an increase in delay of the data of the UE. Therefore, a route optimization scheme may be considered, and when the MRN moves far away from the initial DeNB, the GW of the MRN is replaced with a gateway built in the DeNB serving the MRN during the handover of the MRN. As shown in fig. 2, before MRN handover, its GW is located on DeNB1, and MRN is served by the base station function of DeNB3, data of UE first reaches the GW function of DeNB1, and then is routed to the base station function of DeNB3 through DeNB2, MRN may relocate its GW to the GW built in DeNB4 during handover, so that data of UE may directly reach the GW in DeNB4, shorten path length, and reduce data delay.

The mobile relay system may also adopt an architecture (generally referred to as architecture 1) shown in fig. 3, where the architecture does not have a relay GW functional entity, an SGW and a PGW serving the MRN are located in a core network, and the DeNB encapsulates user plane data and control plane signaling of the UE into GTP-U data packets, which are sent to the SGW and the PGW of the MRN through a bearer of the mobile relay, and then routes the GTP-U data packets to the MME or the SGW of the UE through an IP. Similarly, when the GW serving the MRN located in the core network is far from the MRN along with the high-speed movement of the train, the problem of the too long routing path also exists, and it is also conceivable to relocate the GW of the MRN to the SGW/PGW near the DeNB currently serving the MRN during the MRN handover procedure.

Because the relocation of the gateway is not required to be executed every time the MRN is switched, but only when the routing path is long, the problem of how to judge whether the gateway relocation is executed in the MRN switching process needs to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a gateway relocation method and a mobility management entity, which can determine whether to serve a mobile relay node relocation gateway when a mobile relay node needs to be switched to a home base station.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a method for gateway relocation according to the present invention includes:

in the process of switching a host base station (DeNB) for a Mobile Relay Node (MRN), a Mobility Management Entity (MME) of the MRN receives gateway relocation judgment information, and judges whether the gateway is a gateway of the MRN relocation service according to the gateway relocation judgment information after receiving the gateway relocation judgment information.

Further, the gateway relocation determination information includes a gateway relocation determination indication flag, and the gateway relocation determination indication flag indicates whether the gateway is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

Further, the receiving, by the MME of the MRN, gateway relocation determination information includes:

the MME of the MRN receives a gateway relocation judgment indication mark from a target DeNB of the MRN, wherein the gateway relocation judgment indication mark is sent to the target DeNB after a source DeNB of the MRN determines whether a target cell of the MRN is contained in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is contained in the gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is contained in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation judgment indication mark indicates a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

the method comprises the steps that an MME of the MRN receives a gateway relocation judgment indication mark from a target DeNB of the MRN, wherein the gateway relocation judgment indication mark is sent to the MME after the target DeNB determines whether the gateway relocation judgment indication mark indicates a gateway of the MRN relocation service according to whether a target cell of the MRN reported by the MRN is contained in a gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is contained in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation judgment indication mark indicates the gateway of the MRN relocation service.

the method comprises the steps that an MME of the MRN receives a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier from a source DeNB of the MRN, wherein the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier is sent to the MME after the source DeNB of the MRN determines whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier indicates that the gateway of the MRN relocation service is the gateway.

Further, when an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, the MME of the MRN includes a source MME of the MRN and a target MME of the MRN, and the source MME receives a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a source DeNB, and sends the gateway relocation determination indication identifier to the target MME, indicating whether the target MME is a gateway for the MRN relocation service.

Further, when an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, the MME of the MRN includes a source MME of the MRN and a target MME of the MRN, and the target MME receives a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from the target DeNB.

Further, the MRN reports whether the measured cell is included in the gateway relocation cell list through the measurement report.

Further, the MRN reports whether the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.

Further, the gateway relocation determination information includes a gateway relocation cell list, and the gateway relocation cell list records an identifier of a cell of a gateway that needs to serve MRN relocation when the target cell is the MRN.

the MME of the MRN receives a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or an MME serving the MRN last time, and stores the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN.

Further, determining whether the gateway serving the MRN relocation is the gateway serving the MRN relocation according to the received gateway relocation determination information includes:

after receiving a path transfer request of a target DeNB, the MME of the MRN judges whether a target cell of the MRN is contained in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, the MME determines the target cell to be a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

Further, after receiving the handover request message, the MME of the MRN determines whether the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determines that the target cell is a gateway for the MRN relocation service.

Further, when an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, the MME of the MRN includes a source MME of the MRN and a target MME of the MRN, and the source MME receives a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN, the HSS, or the MME serving the MRN last time, and then stores the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN.

after receiving a handover request message of a source DeNB, a source MME of the MRN judges whether a target cell of the MRN is contained in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and sends the gateway relocation cell list and a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier to the target MME to indicate whether the target MME is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

and after receiving a switching requirement message of a source DeNB, a source MME of the MRN sends a gateway relocation cell list to the target MME, and the target MME judges whether a target cell of the MRN is contained in the gateway relocation cell list and determines whether the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

Further, when the MME of the MRN does not receive the gateway relocation determination information, it determines a gateway that is not served by the MRN relocation.

Further, still include:

after the MME of the MRN judges that the gateway of the MRN relocation service is the gateway of the MRN relocation service, the gateway of the relocation service comprises a packet data network gateway (P-GW) and a service gateway (S-GW) which serve the MRN relocation service; or, the gateway for relocating service comprises a P-GW, an S-GW and a relay gateway (relay GW) for relocating service for the MRN.

Further, still include:

and after the MME of the MRN judges that the gateway serving the MRN is relocated, executing relocation, wherein the relocation comprises the step of reselecting the gateway serving the MRN, and transferring the core network bearer and the context information of the MRN to the reselected gateway.

Further, the MME of the MRN reselects the gateway serving the MRN according to the received address of the gateway sent by the target DeNB of the MRN.

Further, the MME of the MRN receives a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN or HSS in the attachment process of the MRN; or,

and the MME of the MRN receives a gateway relocation cell list from the MME serving the MRN last time in the attaching, tracking area updating or switching process of the MRN.

Further, the identifier of the cell of the gateway that needs to serve MRN relocation when the gateway relocates the target cell that is recorded in the cell list as MRN includes at least one of the following: cell identification, physical cell identification and base station identification of a base station to which the cell belongs.

Further, a mobility management entity includes: a receiving unit and a judging unit, wherein:

the receiving unit is used for receiving gateway relocation judgment information in the process of switching a host base station (DeNB) for a Mobile Relay Node (MRN);

and the judging unit is used for judging whether the gateway is the gateway of the MRN relocation service or not according to the gateway relocation judging information after the receiving unit receives the gateway relocation judging information.

Further, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a target DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the receiving unit after determining whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list by the source DeNB of the MRN, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

Further, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a target DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the receiving unit after the target DeNB determines whether the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway of the MRN relocation service according to whether a target cell of the MRN reported by the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates the gateway of the MRN relocation service.

Further, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a source DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the MME after determining whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

Further, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or an MME serving the MRN last time, and store the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN.

Further, the determining unit is specifically configured to determine, after receiving the path transfer request of the target DeNB, whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determine that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

Further, the determining unit is specifically configured to determine, after receiving the handover request message, whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determine that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

In conclusion, the invention can solve the problem of judging whether to execute gateway relocation in the MRN switching process, so that the route optimization is smoothly executed, and the delay of UE data and signaling is further shortened.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a first architecture of a mobile relay system in a high-speed rail scene;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of route optimization under a first architecture of a mobile relay system;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second architecture of the mobile relay system in a high-speed rail scene;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a first embodiment of the method according to the present invention;

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

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a third embodiment of a method according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a fourth embodiment of the method according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of a method according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a sixth embodiment of a method according to the present invention;

fig. 10 is an architecture diagram of a mobility management entity of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the present embodiment, in the process of switching the DeNB for the MRN, the MME of the MRN receives the gateway relocation determination information, and determines whether the gateway is a gateway of the MRN relocation service according to the gateway relocation determination information after receiving the gateway relocation determination information.

The gateway relocation judgment information comprises a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier and a gateway relocation cell list. And the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier indicates whether the gateway is a gateway of MRN relocation service. And recording the identification of the cell of the gateway which needs to serve the MRN relocation when the target cell of the MRN is the gateway relocation cell list.

After judging that the MME of the MRN relocates the serving gateway, the MME of the MRN executes relocation, wherein the relocating serving gateway comprises a P-GW and an S-GW which serve the MRN relocation; or the gateway for relocating the service comprises the P-GW, the S-GW and the relay gateway for relocating the MRN.

Relocation involves reselecting the gateway serving the MRN and transferring the MRN's core network bearer and context information to the reselected gateway. And the MME of the MRN reselects the gateway serving the MRN according to the address of the gateway sent by the target DeNB of the MRN.

And when the MME of the MRN does not receive the gateway relocation judgment information, determining the gateway which is not served by the MRN relocation.

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other without conflict.

The following embodiments are applicable to both mobile relay system architectures shown in fig. 1 and 3. In the architecture shown in fig. 1, the S-GW, the P-GW, and the relay GW serving the MRN are all built in the DeNB, and in the architecture shown in fig. 2, there is no relay GW functional entity, and the S-GW and the P-GW serving the MRN are not built in the DeNB but are located in the core network.

The first embodiment is as follows:

this embodiment describes a procedure of executing gateway relocation in an X2 handover process of a Mobile Relay Node (MRN) under a method in which a Mobile Relay Node (MRN) obtains a gateway relocation cell list and then indicates, via an air interface, whether a source or a target DeNB target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list. Fig. 4 illustrates the flow of this embodiment, which is a flow under the architecture shown in fig. 1, wherein the source S-GW and the source P-GW of the MRN may be built in the source DeNB, or may not be built in the source DeNB, but are built in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB). This embodiment may also use the architecture shown in fig. 3, and then the source S-GW and P-GW of the MRN, and the target S-GW and P-GW are both located in the core network.

The first method is as follows:

step 401, MRN obtains a gateway relocation cell list;

the MRN may obtain the gateway relocation cell list in three ways:

1) in a preconfigured way;

2) obtaining from an accessed donor base station (DeNB); the DeNB may obtain the gateway relocation cell list from a network management system, OAM, of the DeNB.

3) Obtained from the OAM of the MRN;

and recording the identification of the cell of the gateway which needs to serve the MRN relocation when the target cell of the MRN is the gateway relocation cell list. The gateway relocation cell list includes identities of one or more cells, where the identities include at least one of: cell identity, physical cell identity; and the base station identification of the base station to which the cell belongs.

And step 402, when the MRN measures that one or more cells meet the triggering condition of the measurement report, sending the identification and the measurement parameters of the cells meeting the condition to a source DeNB serving the cells through the measurement report. The MRN also indicates in the measurement report whether one or more of the cells are included in a gateway relocation list. The MRN may carry in the measurement report the identity of the cells included in the gateway relocation list (adding a list of cells in the list), or the cell association in the measurement report may be used to indicate whether it is included in the gateway relocation list.

And 403, after the source DeNB receives the measurement report of the MRN, judging that an X2 interface exists between the source DeNB and the target DeNB, and after the switching, the MRN does not need to replace the MME, and then the source DeNB initiates X2 switching for the MRN. And the source DeNB selects a target cell for the MRN according to the measurement report. The source DeNB sends an X2 interface handover request message to the target DeNB. The switching request message contains gateway relocation judgment indication identification used for indicating whether gateway relocation is needed.

If the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list, indicating that gateway relocation is needed; otherwise, indicating that gateway relocation is not required.

Step 404, the target DeNB reserves resources for the MRN according to the information such as the QoS of the E-RAB (E-UTRA radio Access Bearer, E-UTRAN radio Bearer) which needs to be established in the handover request message, and creates context information, and then replies a handover request confirmation message. The switching request confirmation message contains a switching command message of the transparent transmission air interface.

And 405, the source DeNB sends an air interface message RRC connection reconfiguration message to the MRN, wherein the RRC message carries a transparent switching command message which is sent to the MRN by the target DeNB through the source DeNB, so as to indicate the MRN to execute switching.

And step 406, the source DeNB sends an SN state transfer message to the target DeNB, and the SN state transfer message is used for transferring the receiving and sending states of the uplink PDCP SN and the downlink PDCP SN of the radio bearer in the RLCAM mode.

And 407, after receiving the switching command, the MRN performs detach from the source DeNB cell, synchronizes with the target cell, and initiates an RACH procedure to access the target cell. And after the MRN and the target cell finish the RRC connection establishment, sending an RRC connection reconfiguration finishing message to the target DeNB.

Step 408, after receiving the RRC reconfiguration complete message sent by the MRN, the target DeNB sends a path switch request (path switch request) message to the MME of the MRN to update the S1 user plane and control plane paths of the MRN. The path transfer request message includes a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier for indicating whether the gateway needs to be relocated.

The gateway relocation determination indication identifier may be explicit indication information, and in a case that the relocation of the gateway is required, the path transfer request message further includes addresses of an S-GW and a P-GW that are built in the target DeNB, so as to assist the MME of the MRN to relocate the gateway of the MRN to the gateway in the target DeNB. Under the mobile relay architecture shown in fig. 1, the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier may also be implicit information implicitly indicated by a specific cell. The specific information element can be address information of an S-GW and a P-GW built in the target DeNB, and if relocation of the gateway is needed, the specific information element can be indicated to the MME by carrying the address information of the GW built in the DeNB in the information.

And 409, after receiving the path transfer request message, the MME of the MRN judges whether to perform gateway relocation according to the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier contained in the message. And if determining that the gateway relocation is needed, selecting the S-GW and the P-GW in the target DeNB received in the path transfer request message as new gateways serving the MRN.

Step 410, the MME of the MRN sends a create session request message to a target SGW (S-GW built in the target DeNB), where the create session request message includes EPS bearer information of the MRN to be created and an address of a target PGW (PGW built in the target DeNB).

And 411, the target SGW creates the context of the MRN and sends a create session request message to the target PGW.

And step 412, after the target PGW creates the context of the MRN and the EPS bearer, replying a create session response message to the target SGW. The target PGW may assign a new IP address for the MRN. In the case that the target S-GW and P-GW are built in the DeNB, the signaling in step 411 and step 412 is internal interface message in the target DeNB.

In step 413, the target SGW replies a create session response message to the MME of the MRN to confirm that the MRN context and EPS bearer establishment are completed.

In step 414, the MME of the MRN sends a path transfer request acknowledge message to the target DeNB.

Thereafter, the MRN or the target DeNB may initiate a path transfer request procedure for the UE served by the MRN to transfer the downlink S1 path of the UE. Under the system architecture shown in fig. 1, the S1 user plane GTP-U tunnel mapping relationship through the new relay GW built in the target DeNB may also be established through this procedure. And then the target DeNB instructs the source DeNB and the built-in source S-GW and source P-GW to release the MRN resources.

The second method comprises the following steps:

the difference from the first method is that the MRN does not indicate in the measurement report of step 402 whether the measured cell is included in the gateway relocation cell list, and the X2 interface handover request message of step 403 does not carry the gateway relocation determination indication identifier. After establishing RRC connection with the target DeNB cell and the source DeNB cell detach, the MRN sends an RRC connection reconfiguration message to indicate whether the target DeNB cell is included in a gateway relocation cell list.

Example two:

this embodiment describes a procedure of performing gateway relocation in the S1 handover procedure of the MRN under the method that the MRN obtains the gateway relocation cell list and then indicates in the measurement report whether the measured cell is in the gateway relocation cell list. Fig. 5 illustrates a flow of this embodiment, which is a flow under the architecture shown in fig. 1, wherein the source SGW and the source PGW of the MRN may be embedded in the source DeNB, or may not be embedded in the source DeNB, but are embedded in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB). This embodiment may also use the architecture shown in fig. 3, and then the source S-GW and P-GW of the MRN, and the target S-GW and P-GW are both located in the core network.

The first method is as follows:

and 501, the MRN obtains a gateway relocation cell list.

The MRN may obtain the gateway relocation cell list in three ways:

1) in a preconfigured way;

3) Obtained from the OAM of the MRN;

the gateway relocation cell list includes identification information of one or more cells, where the identification information includes at least one of: cell identity, physical cell identity; and the base station identification of the base station to which the cell belongs.

And step 502, when the MRN measures that one or more cells meet the triggering condition of the measurement report, sending the identification and the measurement parameters of the cells meeting the condition to a source DeNB serving the cells through the measurement report. The MRN also indicates in the measurement report whether one or more of the cells are included in a gateway relocation list. The MRN may carry in the measurement report the identity of the cell included in the gateway relocation list, or the cell in the measurement report is associated with indication information indicating whether it is included in the gateway relocation list.

Step 503, after the source DeNB receives the measurement report of the MRN, it is determined that there is no X2 interface between the source DeNB and the target DeNB, or an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, then S1 handover needs to be performed for the MME, and the source DeNB selects a target cell for the MRN according to the measurement report. And the source DeNB sends an S1 interface switching requirement message to the source MME of the MRN. The switching request message contains gateway relocation judgment indication mark for indicating whether gateway relocation is needed. If the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list, indicating that gateway relocation is needed; otherwise, indicating that gateway relocation is not required.

Step 504, the source MME judges whether to select a new MME according to the base station identifier of the target DeNB or the target TAI in the received handover request message, and if necessary, selects the target MME according to the two parameters, and sends a forward relocation request message to the target MME, where the forward relocation request message carries information such as the source base station to target base station transparent transmission container, the target base station identifier, the target location area identifier, and the context information of the MRN. If the source MME of the MRN receives the gateway relocation judgment indication mark from the source DeNB, the forwarding relocation request message contains the received gateway relocation judgment indication mark.

And 505, the target MME of the MRN determines whether to perform gateway relocation according to the received gateway relocation determination indication identifier.

In step 506, the target MME of the MRN sends an S1 interface handover request message to the target DeNB. Preferably, if the MME of the MRN determines to perform gateway relocation, the S1 interface handover request message may include indication information for indicating to perform gateway relocation, where the indication information may be a gateway relocation determination indication identifier.

Step 507, after the target DeNB creates context for MRN and UE and reserves resources for MRN bearer, it sends a handover request acknowledgement message to the target MME of MRN. If the target DeNB receives indication information for indicating the execution of gateway relocation, the message includes IP addresses of a target S-GW and a target P-GW which are built in the target DeNB, so as to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

Step 508, if the target MME of MRN judges to execute gateway relocation, the target MME of MRN reselects S-GW and P-GW built in the target DeNB as new gateways serving MRN. And the target MME of the MRN sends a session creation request to an S-GW built in the target DeNB, wherein the session creation request comprises EPS bearing information of the MRN to be created and an address of a target P-GW (P-GW built in the target DeNB).

Step 509, the target S-GW creates a context of the MRN and sends a create session request message to the target P-GW.

And step 510, after the target P-GW creates the context of the MRN and the EPS bearing, replying a session creation response message to the target S-GW. In the case that the target S-GW and P-GW are built in the DeNB, the signaling in step 509 and step 510 is internal interface message in the target DeNB.

Step 511, the target S-GW replies a create session response message to the target MME of the MRN to confirm that the MRN context and EPS bearer establishment are completed.

In step 512, the target MME of the MRN sends a forward relocation response message to the source MME.

Note that if no new MME needs to be selected, steps 504 and 512 are skipped and the behavior of both the source MME and the target MME is that of the same MME

In step 513, the source MME of the MRN sends an S1 interface handover command message to the source DeNB.

And 514, the source DeNB sends an air interface message RRC connection reconfiguration message to the MRN, wherein the RRC message carries a switching command message which is sent to the transparent transmission container of the source DeNB by the target DeNB through the MME of the MRN so as to indicate the MRN to execute switching.

Step 515, after receiving the handover command, the MRN locates from the source DeNB cell, synchronizes with the target cell, and initiates an RACH procedure to access the target cell. And after the MRN and the target cell finish the RRC connection establishment, sending an RRC connection reconfiguration finishing message to the target DeNB.

And step 516, the target DeNB sends an S1 interface switching notification message to the target MME of the MRN. The target MME of the MRN then completes the subsequent operations.

Thereafter, the MRN or the target DeNB may initiate a path transfer request procedure for the UE served by the MRN to transfer the downlink S1 path of the UE. Under the system architecture shown in fig. 1, the S1 user plane GTP-U tunnel mapping relationship through the new relay GW built in the target DeNB may also be established through this procedure. And then executing the resource release process of the source DeNB and the built-in source S-GW and source P-GW.

The second method comprises the following steps:

the difference from the first method is that step 505 is performed after step 507 and before step 508, and the interface switch request message of S1 in step 506 does not include indication information for indicating whether gateway relocation is performed. The handover request acknowledgement message of step 507 carries the IP addresses of the target S-GW and the target P-GW built in the target DeNB to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

Example three:

this embodiment describes a procedure of executing gateway relocation in the S1 handover process of the MRN under the method that the MRN obtains the gateway relocation cell list and then indicates whether the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list through an RRC message. Fig. 6 illustrates a flow of this embodiment, which is a flow under the architecture shown in fig. 1, wherein the source SGW and the source PGW of the MRN may be embedded in the source DeNB, or may not be embedded in the source DeNB, but are embedded in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB). This embodiment may also use the architecture shown in fig. 3, and then the source S-GW and P-GW of the MRN, and the target S-GW and P-GW are both located in the core network.

Step 601, MRN obtains gateway relocation cell list;

the MRN may obtain the gateway relocation cell list in three ways:

1) in a preconfigured way;

3) Obtained from the OAM of the MRN;

And step 602, when the MRN measures that one or more cells meet the triggering condition of the measurement report, sending the identification and the measurement parameters of the cells meeting the condition to a source DeNB serving the cells through the measurement report.

And 603, after the source DeNB receives the measurement report of the MRN, judging that no X2 interface exists between the source DeNB and the target DeNB or an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, executing S1 handover for the MRN, and selecting a target cell for the MRN by the source DeNB according to the measurement report. And the source DeNB sends an S1 interface switching requirement message to the source MME of the MRN.

Step 604, the source MME judges whether to select a new MME according to the base station identifier of the target DeNB or the target TAI in the received handover request message, and if necessary, selects the target MME according to the two parameters, and sends a forward relocation request message to the target MME, where the forward relocation request message carries information such as the source base station to target base station transparent transmission container, the target base station identifier, the target location area identifier, and the context information of the MRN.

In step 605, the target MME of the MRN sends an S1 interface handover request message to the target DeNB.

Step 606, after the target DeNB creates context for MRN and UE and reserves resources for MRN bearer, it sends a handover request confirm message to the target MME of MRN. Optionally, the message includes IP addresses of a target S-GW and a target P-GW that are built in the target DeNB, so as to assist the target MME to relocate the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

In step 607, the target MME of the MRN sends a forward relocation response message to the source MME.

Note that if no new MME needs to be selected, steps 604 and 607 are skipped and the behavior of both the source and target MME is that of the same MME.

In step 608, the source MME of the MRN sends S1 interface handover command message to the source DeNB.

And step 609, the source DeNB sends an air interface message RRC connection reconfiguration message to the MRN, wherein the RRC message carries a switching command message which is sent to the transparent transmission container of the source DeNB by the target DeNB through the MME of the MRN so as to indicate the MRN to execute switching.

And step 610, after receiving the switching command, the MRN performs detach from the source DeNB cell, synchronizes with the target cell, and starts an RACH process to access the target cell. And after the MRN and the target cell finish the RRC connection establishment, sending an RRC connection reconfiguration finishing message to the target DeNB. The RRC connection reconfiguration complete message includes indication information for indicating whether the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list.

And step 611, the target DeNB sends an S1 interface switching notification message to the target MME of the MRN. The S1 interface handover notification message includes a gateway relocation determination indication flag. And if the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list, judging that the indication mark needs gateway relocation. Optionally, the IP addresses of the target S-GW and the target P-GW built in the target DeNB may not be carried in the handover request acknowledgement, but are carried in the handover notification message, so as to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

Step 612, the target MME of the MRN determines whether to perform gateway relocation according to the received gateway relocation determination indication identifier.

Step 613, if the target MME of MRN determines to execute gateway relocation, the target MME of MRN reselects the S-GW and P-GW built in the target DeNB as new gateways serving the MRN. And the target MME of the MRN sends a session creation request to an S-GW built in the target DeNB, wherein the session creation request comprises EPS bearing information of the MRN to be created and an address of a target P-GW (P-GW built in the target DeNB).

And step 614, the target S-GW creates the context of the MRN and sends a session creation request message to the target P-GW.

And step 615, after the target P-GW creates the context of the MRN and the EPS bearing, replying a session creation response message to the target S-GW. The target S-GW and P-GW are built in the DeNB case, and the signaling in step 614 and step 615 is internal interface message in the target DeNB.

In step 616, the target S-GW replies a create session response message to the target MME of the MRN to confirm that the MRN context and EPS bearer establishment are complete.

Example four:

this embodiment describes a procedure for performing gateway relocation in an X2 handover procedure of an MRN under a method in which a gateway relocation cell list is stored in an MME as a context of the MRN. Fig. 7 illustrates a flow of this embodiment, which is a flow under the architecture shown in fig. 1, wherein the source SGW and the source PGW of the MRN may be embedded in the source DeNB, or may not be embedded in the source DeNB, but are embedded in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB). This embodiment may also use the architecture shown in fig. 3, and then the source S-GW and P-GW of the MRN, and the target S-GW and P-GW are both located in the core network.

Step 701a, MRN obtains a gateway relocation cell list;

the MRN may obtain the gateway relocation cell list in three ways:

1) in a preconfigured way;

3) Obtained from the OAM of the MRN;

Step 701b.mrn sends the gateway relocation cell list to the MME serving it. The MRN may send the gateway relocation cell list to the MME through an NAS message in the attach procedure, or may send the gateway relocation cell list to the DeNB through an RRC message first, and then send the gateway relocation cell list to the MME through an S1 interface message.

Step 702, the gateway relocation cell list of the MRN is saved in the HSS as subscription data of the MRN, and the MME may obtain the subscription data from the HSS in the attach process, where the subscription data includes the gateway relocation cell list.

The 701a and 701b modes or the 702 mode can be adopted, and one of the two modes can be adopted.

The MME of the MRN may also receive a gateway relocation cell list from the MME that last served the MRN during handover, attach or tracking area update of the MRN.

And step 703, after the MME obtains the gateway relocation cell list, storing it in the context of the MRN.

And step 704, when the MRN measures that one or more cells meet the triggering condition of the measurement report, sending the identification and the measurement parameters of the cells meeting the condition to the source DeNB serving the cells through the measurement report.

And 705, after the source DeNB receives the measurement report of the MRN, judging that an X2 interface exists between the source DeNB and the target DeNB, and after the switching, the MRN does not need to replace the MME, and then the source DeNB initiates X2 switching for the MRN. And the source DeNB selects a target cell for the MRN according to the measurement report, and then sends an X2 interface switching request message to the target DeNB.

And step 706, the target DeNB reserves resources for the MRN according to the information such as the QoS of the E-RAB to be established in the switching request message and the like, creates context information, and then replies a switching request confirmation message. The switching request confirmation message contains a switching command message of the transparent transmission air interface.

And 707, the source DeNB sends an air interface message RRC connection reconfiguration message to the MRN, where the RRC message carries a transparent handover command message sent by the target DeNB to the MRN through the source DeNB to instruct the MRN to perform handover.

And step 708, the source DeNB sends an SN state transfer message to the target DeNB, and the SN state transfer message is used for transferring the receiving and sending states of the uplink PDCP SN and the downlink PDCP SN of the radio bearer in the RLCAM mode.

And 709, after receiving the switching command, the MRN performs detach from the source DeNB cell, synchronizes with the target cell, and starts an RACH process to access the target cell. And after the MRN and the target cell finish the RRC connection establishment, sending an RRC connection reconfiguration finishing message to the target DeNB.

Step 710, after receiving the RRC reconfiguration complete message sent by the MRN, the target DeNB sends a path switch request (path switch request) message to the MME of the MRN to update S1 user plane and control plane paths of the MRN. The path transfer request message also contains addresses of the S-GW and the P-GW built in the target DeNB to assist the MME of the MRN in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway in the target DeNB.

Step 711, after receiving the path transfer request message, the MME of the MRN determines whether to perform gateway relocation according to the list of gateway relocation cells in the context of the MRN. And if the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list, determining that gateway relocation is needed, and selecting the S-GW and the P-GW in the target DeNB received in the path transfer request message as new gateways serving the MRN by the MME.

Step 712, the MME of the MRN sends a create session request message to the target SGW (S-GW built in the target DeNB), where the create session request message includes EPS bearer information of the MRN to be created and an address of the target PGW (PGW built in the target DeNB).

Step 713, the target SGW creates the context of the MRN and sends a create session request message to the target PGW.

And 714, after the target PGW creates the context of the MRN and the EPS bearing, replying a session creating response message to the target SGW. The target PGW may assign a new IP address for the MRN. In the case that the target S-GW and P-GW are built in the DeNB, the signaling in step 713 and step 714 is internal interface message in the target DeNB.

Step 715, the target SGW replies a create session response message to the MME of the MRN to confirm that the MRN context and the EPS bearer establishment are completed.

In step 716, the MME of the MRN sends a path transfer request acknowledge message to the target DeNB.

Example five:

this embodiment describes a procedure in which, in the method in which the gateway relocation cell list is saved in the MME as the context of the MRN, the target MME of the MRN performs gateway relocation determination in the S1 handover procedure of the MRN. Fig. 8 illustrates a flow of this embodiment, which is a flow under the architecture shown in fig. 1, wherein the source SGW and the source PGW of the MRN may be embedded in the source DeNB, or may not be embedded in the source DeNB, but are embedded in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB). This embodiment may also use the architecture shown in fig. 3, and then the source S-GW and P-GW of the MRN, and the target S-GW and P-GW are both located in the core network.

Step 801a.MRN obtains a gateway relocation cell list;

the MRN may obtain the gateway relocation cell list in three ways:

1) in a preconfigured way;

3) Obtained from the OAM of the MRN;

Step 801b.mrn sends the gateway relocation cell list to the MME serving it. The MRN may send the gateway relocation cell list to the MME through an NAS message in the attach procedure, or may send the gateway relocation cell list to the DeNB through an RRC message first, and then send the gateway relocation cell list to the MME through an S1 interface message.

And step 802, the gateway relocation cell list of the MRN is stored in the HSS as subscription data of the MRN, and the MME can acquire the subscription data from the HSS in the attachment process, where the subscription data includes the gateway relocation cell list.

The methods 801a and 801b and 802 can be adopted, and either method can be adopted.

And step 803, after the MME obtains the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation cell list is stored in the MR context.

And step 804, when the MRN measures that one or more cells meet the triggering condition of the measurement report, sending the identification and the measurement parameters of the cells meeting the condition to a source DeNB serving the cells through the measurement report.

Step 805, after the source DeNB receives the measurement report of the MRN, it is determined that there is no X2 interface between the source DeNB and the target DeNB, or an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, then S1 handover needs to be performed for the MME, and the source DeNB selects a target cell for the MRN according to the measurement report. And the source DeNB sends an S1 interface switching requirement message to the source MME of the MRN.

Step 806, the source MME determines whether to select a new MME according to the base station identifier of the target DeNB or the target TAI in the received handover request message, and if necessary, selects the target MME according to the two parameters, and sends a forward relocation request message to the target MME, where the forward relocation request message carries information such as the source base station to target base station transparent transmission container, the target base station identifier, the target location area identifier, and the context information of the MRN.

In step 807, the target MME of the MRN determines whether to perform gateway relocation according to the list of gateway relocation cells in the context of the MRN. And if the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list, determining that gateway relocation is needed.

Step 808, the target MME of the MRN sends an S1 interface handover request message to the target DeNB. Preferably, if the MME of the MRN determines to perform gateway relocation, the S1 interface handover request message may include indication information for indicating to perform gateway relocation, where the indication information may be a gateway relocation determination indication identifier.

Step 809, after the target DeNB creates context for MRN and UE and reserves resources for the MRN bearer, it sends a handover request confirm message to the target MME of MRN. If the target DeNB receives indication information for indicating the execution of gateway relocation, the message includes IP addresses of a target S-GW and a target P-GW which are built in the target DeNB, so as to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

Step 810, if the target MME of MRN determines to execute gateway relocation, the target MME of MRN reselects the S-GW and P-GW built in the target DeNB as new gateways serving the MRN. And the target MME of the MRN sends a session creation request to an S-GW built in the target DeNB, wherein the session creation request comprises EPS bearing information of the MRN to be created and an address of a target P-GW (P-GW built in the target DeNB).

Step 811 the target S-GW creates a context for the MRN and sends a create session request message to the target P-GW.

And step 812, after the target P-GW creates the context of the MRN and the EPS bearing, replying a session creation response message to the target S-GW. In the case that the target S-GW and P-GW are built in the DeNB, the signaling in step 509 and step 510 is internal interface message in the target DeNB.

Step 813, the target S-GW replies a create session response message to the target MME of the MRN to confirm that the MRN context and EPS bearer establishment are complete.

In step 814, the target MME of the MRN sends a forward relocation response message to the source MME.

Note that if no new MME needs to be selected, then steps 806 and 814 are skipped and the behavior of both the source and target MME are the same MME.

In step 815, the source MME of the MRN sends an S1 interface handover command message to the source DeNB.

Step 816, the source DeNB sends an air interface message RRC connection reconfiguration message to the MRN, where the RRC message carries a handover command message that the target DeNB sends to the transparent transport container of the source DeNB through the MME of the MRN to instruct the MRN to perform handover.

And 817, after receiving the handover command, the MRN performs detach from the source DeNB cell, synchronizes with the target cell, and initiates an RACH procedure to access the target cell. And after the MRN and the target cell finish the RRC connection establishment, sending an RRC connection reconfiguration finishing message to the target DeNB.

And step 818, the target DeNB sends an S1 interface switching notification message to the target MME of the MRN. The target MME of the MRN then completes the subsequent operations.

The second method comprises the following steps:

the difference from the first method is that step 807 is executed after step 809 and before step 810, and the interface switch request message of S1 in step 808 does not include indication information for indicating whether gateway relocation is executed. The handover request acknowledgement message of step 809 carries the IP addresses of the target S-GW and the target P-GW built in the target DeNB to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

Example six:

this embodiment describes a procedure of indicating a target MME of an MRN after a source MME of the MRN performs a gateway relocation determination in an S1 handover procedure of the MRN under a method in which a gateway relocation cell list is saved in an MME as a context of the MRN. Fig. 9 illustrates a flow of this embodiment, which is a flow under the architecture shown in fig. 1, wherein the source SGW and the source PGW of the MRN may be embedded in the source DeNB, or may not be embedded in the source DeNB, but are embedded in the initial DeNB (initial DeNB). This embodiment may also use the architecture shown in fig. 3, and then the source S-GW and P-GW of the MRN, and the target S-GW and P-GW are both located in the core network.

Step 901a.MRN obtains a gateway relocation cell list;

the MRN may obtain the gateway relocation cell list in three ways:

1) in a preconfigured way;

3) Obtained from the OAM of the MRN;

Step 901b.mrn sends the gateway relocation cell list to the MME serving it. The MRN may send the gateway relocation cell list to the MME through an NAS message in the attach procedure, or may send the gateway relocation cell list to the DeNB through an RRC message first, and then send the gateway relocation cell list to the MME through an S1 interface message.

And step 902, the gateway relocation cell list of the MRN is saved in the HSS as subscription data of the MRN, and the MME can acquire the subscription data from the HSS in the attach process, where the subscription data includes the gateway relocation cell list.

The modes 901a and 901b or 902 can be adopted, and one of the two modes can be selected.

And step 903, after the MME obtains the gateway relocation cell list, storing the gateway relocation cell list in the MR context.

And step 904, when the MRN measures that one or more cells meet the triggering condition of the measurement report, sending the identification and the measurement parameters of the cells meeting the condition to a source DeNB serving the cells through the measurement report.

Step 905. after the source DeNB receives the measurement report of the MRN, it is determined that there is no X2 interface between the source and the target DeNB, or an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, then S1 handover needs to be performed for the MME, and the source DeNB selects a target cell for the MRN according to the measurement report. And the source DeNB sends an S1 interface switching requirement message to the source MME of the MRN.

And 906, the source MME of the MRN judges whether gateway relocation is carried out or not according to the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN. And if the target cell is in the gateway relocation cell list, determining that gateway relocation is needed.

And 907, the source MME judges whether to select a new MME according to the base station identifier or the target TAI of the target DeNB in the received switching requirement message, if so, the target MME is selected according to the two parameters, and a relocation request message is transmitted to the target MME, wherein the relocation request message carries information such as a container transmitted from the source base station to the target base station, the identifier of a target location area, the context information of the MRN and the like. The MRN context information includes a gateway relocation cell list. The message also contains a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier, and if the source MME judges that gateway relocation is needed, the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier indicates that gateway relocation is executed.

Step 908, the target MME of the MRN determines whether to perform gateway relocation according to the gateway relocation determination indication flag. And if the gateway relocation judgment indication mark indicates that gateway relocation is executed, determining to execute the gateway relocation.

In step 909, the target MME of the MRN sends S1 interface handover request message to the target DeNB. Preferably, if the target MME of the MRN determines to perform gateway relocation, the S1 interface handover request message may include indication information for indicating to perform gateway relocation, where the indication information may be a gateway relocation determination indication identifier.

Step 910, after the target DeNB creates context for MRN and UE and reserves resources for MRN bearer, it sends a handover request acknowledgement message to the target MME of MRN. If the target DeNB receives indication information for indicating the execution of gateway relocation, the message includes IP addresses of a target S-GW and a target P-GW which are built in the target DeNB, so as to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

Step 911, if the target MME of MRN determines to execute gateway relocation, the target MME of MRN reselects the S-GW and P-GW built in the target DeNB as new gateways serving the MRN. And the target MME of the MRN sends a session creation request to an S-GW built in the target DeNB, wherein the session creation request comprises EPS bearing information of the MRN to be created and an address of a target P-GW (P-GW built in the target DeNB).

Step 912, the target S-GW creates a context of the MRN and sends a create session request message to the target P-GW.

And 913, after the target P-GW creates the context of the MRN and the EPS bearer, replying a create session response message to the target S-GW. In the case that the target S-GW and P-GW are built in the DeNB, the signaling in step 912 and step 913 is internal interface message in the target DeNB.

Step 914, the target S-GW replies a create session response message to the target MME of the MRN to confirm that the MRN context and EPS bearer establishment are complete.

Step 915, the target MME of the MRN sends a forward relocation response message to the source MME.

Note that if no new MME needs to be selected, steps 907 and 915 are skipped and the behavior of the source MME and the target MME are both the behavior of the same MME.

In step 916, the source MME of the MRN sends S1 interface handover command message to the source DeNB.

Step 917, the source DeNB sends an air interface message RRC connection reconfiguration message to the MRN, where the RRC message carries a switching command message that the target DeNB sends to the transparent transmission container of the source DeNB through the MME of the MRN to instruct the MRN to perform switching.

And 918, after receiving the switching command, the MRN performs detach from the source DeNB cell, synchronizes with the target cell, and starts an RACH process to access the target cell. And after the MRN and the target cell finish the RRC connection establishment, sending an RRC connection reconfiguration finishing message to the target DeNB.

Step 919, the target DeNB sends S1 interface switch notification message to the target MME of MRN. The target MME of the MRN then completes the subsequent operations.

The second method comprises the following steps:

the difference from the first method is that step 908 is executed after step 910 and before step 911, and the S1 interface switch request message of step 909 does not include indication information for indicating whether to execute gateway relocation. The handover request acknowledgement message of step 910 carries the IP addresses of the target S-GW and the target P-GW built in the target DeNB to assist the target MME in relocating the gateway of the MRN to the gateway built in the target DeNB.

As shown in fig. 10, the present embodiment further provides a mobility management entity, including: a receiving unit and a judging unit, wherein:

a receiving unit, configured to receive gateway relocation determination information in a process of switching a DeNB for an MRN;

The gateway relocation judgment information comprises a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier, and the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier indicates whether the gateway is a gateway of MRN relocation service.

The receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a target DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the receiving unit after determining whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list by a source DeNB of the MRN, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

And the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier from a target DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier is sent to the receiving unit after the target DeNB determines whether the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier indicates a gateway of the MRN relocation service according to whether a target cell of the MRN reported by the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier indicates the gateway of the MRN relocation service.

A receiving unit, configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a source DeNB of an MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to an MME after determining whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

The gateway relocation judgment information includes a gateway relocation cell list, and the gateway relocation cell list records the identifier of the cell of the gateway which needs to serve the MRN relocation when the target cell is the MRN.

A receiving unit, configured to receive a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN, the HSS, or the MME serving the MRN last time, and store the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN.

And a determining unit, configured to determine, after receiving the path transfer request of the target DeNB, whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determine that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

And a determining unit, configured to determine, after receiving the handover request message, whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determine that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of gateway relocation, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway relocation judgment information includes a gateway relocation judgment indication flag indicating whether the gateway relocation judgment indication flag is a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving, by the MME of the MRN, gateway relocation decision information comprises:

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving, by the MME of the MRN, gateway relocation decision information comprises:

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving, by the MME of the MRN, gateway relocation decision information comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

when an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, the MME of the MRN comprises a source MME of the MRN and a target MME of the MRN, the source MME receives a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier from a source DeNB, and sends the gateway relocation judgment indication identifier to the target MME to indicate whether the target MME is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein:

when an MME needs to be reselected for the MRN, the MME of the MRN comprises a source MME of the MRN and a target MME of the MRN, and the target MME receives a gateway relocation judgment indication identifier from a target DeNB.

8. The method of claim 3 or 5, wherein the MRN reports whether the measured cell is included in a gateway relocation cell list via a measurement report.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the MRN reports whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the gateway relocation decision information includes a gateway relocation cell list, and wherein an identifier of a cell of a gateway that needs to serve MRN relocation when the gateway relocation decision information is a target cell of the MRN is recorded in the gateway relocation cell list.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving, by the MME of the MRN, gateway relocation decision information comprises:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining whether the gateway serving the MRN relocation is a gateway serving according to the received gateway relocation determination information comprises:

13. The method of claim 11, wherein:

after receiving the handover request message, the MME of the MRN determines whether the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determines that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein:

when MME needs to be reselected for MRN, the MME of MRN includes source MME of MRN and target MME of MRN, and after the source MME receives a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN, HSS or MME serving MRN last time, the gateway relocation cell list is stored in the context of the MRN.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining whether the gateway serving the MRN relocation is a gateway serving according to the received gateway relocation determination information comprises:

16. The method of claim 14, wherein determining whether the gateway serving the MRN relocation is a gateway serving according to the received gateway relocation determination information comprises:

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the MME of the MRN determines gateways that are not serving the MRN relocation when gateway relocation decision information is not received.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

and the MME of the MRN reselects the gateway serving the MRN according to the received address of the gateway sent by the target DeNB of the MRN.

21. The method of claim 11, wherein:

receiving, by an MME of the MRN, a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN or an HSS during the attachment of the MRN; or,

22. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the identifier of the cell of the gateway which needs to serve MRN relocation when the gateway relocation cell list is recorded as the target cell of MRN includes at least one of the following: cell identification, physical cell identification and base station identification of a base station to which the cell belongs.

23. A mobility management entity, comprising: a receiving unit and a judging unit, wherein:

24. The mobility management entity of claim 23, wherein the gateway relocation judgment information includes a gateway relocation judgment indication flag indicating whether the gateway relocation judgment indication flag is a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

25. The mobility management entity according to claim 24, characterized by:

the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a target DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the receiving unit after determining whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway serving the MRN relocation.

26. The mobility management entity according to claim 24, characterized by:

the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a target DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the receiving unit after the target DeNB determines whether the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway of the MRN relocation service according to whether a target cell of the MRN reported by the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list, and when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates the gateway of the MRN relocation service.

27. The mobility management entity according to claim 24, characterized by:

the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation determination indication identifier from a source DeNB of the MRN, where the gateway relocation determination indication identifier is sent to the MME after determining whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list according to whether a measured cell reported by the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list, and the gateway relocation determination indication identifier indicates a gateway serving the MRN relocation when the target cell of the MRN is included in the gateway relocation cell list.

28. The mobility management entity of claim 23, wherein the gateway relocation decision information includes a gateway relocation cell list, and wherein an identifier of a cell of a gateway that needs to serve MRN relocation when serving as a target cell of the MRN is recorded in the gateway relocation cell list.

29. The mobility management entity according to claim 28, characterized by:

the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a gateway relocation cell list from the MRN, a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or an MME serving the MRN last time, and store the gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN.

30. The mobility management entity according to claim 29, characterized by:

the determining unit is specifically configured to determine, after receiving the path transfer request of the target DeNB, whether the target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determine that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.

31. The mobility management entity according to claim 29, characterized by:

the determining unit is specifically configured to determine, after receiving the handover request message, whether a target cell of the MRN is included in a gateway relocation cell list in the context of the MRN, and if so, determine that the target cell is a gateway of the MRN relocation service.