CN103369626A

CN103369626A - Policy control method and system for convergent network

Info

Publication number: CN103369626A
Application number: CN2012103951921A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 毕以峰; 毛玉欣
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2012-04-09
Filing date: 2012-09-28
Publication date: 2013-10-23
Also published as: WO2013152655A1

Abstract

The invention discloses a policy control method and a policy control system for a convergent network. The method comprises the following steps that a PCRF (policy and charging rules function) entity is positioned to a BPCF (broadband forum policy control function) entity, a BNG (broadband forum network gateway) or a convergent policy control entity according to positioning information transmitted by a P-GW (packet data network gateway) or a TWAG (trusted wireless local area network access gateway) when a fixed network accesses an EPC (evolved packet system) as a trusted wireless local area network access network, establishes a policy session with the BPCF entity, the BNG or the convergent policy control entity, and transmits a terminal identifier to the BPCF entity, the BNG or the convergent policy control entity; and the BPCF entity, the BNG or the convergent policy control entity is positioned to a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session according to the terminal identifier. According to the method and the system, the problems of positioning of the fixed network line and policy control when a BBF (broadband forum) access network accesses the EPC as a trusted non-3GPP (non-third generation partnership project) access network are solved.

Description

Policy control method and system in converged network

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a policy control method and system in a converged network.

Background

An Evolved Packet System (EPS) of the third Generation Partnership Project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, abbreviated as 3GPP), an EPS Network architecture diagram of a non-roaming scenario shown in fig. 1, is composed of an Evolved universal mobile telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a Mobility Management unit (MME), a Serving Gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network Gateway (Packet Data Network Gateway, abbreviated as P-GW or PDN GW), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (Policy and Charging Rules Function, abbreviated as PCRF), and other support nodes. The PCRF is the core of the PCC (Policy and Charging Control) and is responsible for Policy decision and Charging rule making. The PCRF provides network control rules based on the traffic data flows, which include detection, gating (gating control), Quality of Service (QoS) control, and charging rules based on the traffic data flows. The PCRF sends the Policy and charging rules formulated by the PCRF to a PCEF (Policy and charging Enforcement Function) entity for execution, and meanwhile, the PCRF needs to ensure that the rules are consistent with the subscription information of the user. The basis for the PCRF to formulate the policy and charging rules comprises the following steps: acquiring information related to a service from an AF (Application Function); acquiring Subscription information with user policy charging control from a Subscription database (Subscription Profile Repository, abbreviated as SPR); and acquiring information of the network related to the load bearing from the PCEF.

EPS supports interworking with non-3 GPP systems. As shown in FIG. 1, interworking with non-3 GPP systems is achieved through S2a/b/c interface, and P-GW is used as anchor point between 3GPP and non-3 GPP systems. Wherein the non-3 GPP systems are divided into trusted non-3 GPP IP access and untrusted non-3 GPP IP access. The trusted non-3 GPP IP access can be directly connected with the P-GW through an S2a interface, and the interface adopts PMIPv6(Proxy Mobile IP version 6) Protocol or GTP (General packet radio Service tunnel Protocol) Protocol; an untrusted non-3 GPP IP access needs to be connected to a P-GW through an ePDG (Evolved Packet Data Gateway), an interface between the ePDG and the P-GW is S2b, a PMIPv6 or GTP Protocol is used, and an IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) is used between a UE (User Equipment) and the ePDG to encrypt and protect signaling and Data. The S2c provides user plane related control and mobility Support between the UE and the P-GW, and the supported mobility management protocol is DSMIPv6(Mobile IPv6 Support for Dual Stack hoststand Routers, Mobile IPv6 supporting Dual Stack).

Currently, a Fixed network Convergence (FMC) is a subject, and mainly studies a mobility management technology and a policy management technology when a Broadband Forum (BBF) access network is used as a non-3 GPP access network. The BBF access network is also called a fixed network, and particularly refers to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access. The current policy management technology only studies the S2b and S2c access scenarios, and there are mainly four architectures, and the four architectures and the corresponding basic policy management operations are briefly introduced below.

One, structure one (corresponding to fig. 2)

Because the IPsec tunnel is established between the UE and the ePDG or between the UE and the P-GW in the scenarios S2b and S2c, the outer header information of the IPsec tunnel can be used as the identifier of the BPCF (broadband forum policy Control Function) for PCRF positioning and the BPCF positioning fixed network line.

After the IPsec tunnel is successfully established, the ePDG or the P-GW may obtain header information of the IPsec tunnel, and then send the information to the PCRF through the following path and further to the BPCF:

ePDG- > P-GW- > PCRF- > BPCF (GTP/PMIP-based S2b scene);

ePDG- > PCRF- > BPCF (PMIP-based S2b or untrusted S2c scenario);

P-GW- > PCRF- > BPCF (trusted S2c scenario).

Wherein, the above IPsec tunnel information transferred between the two network elements is transmitted by means of messages on interfaces in the corresponding graph, for example, a create session request message of GTP protocol on S2b interface or a proxy binding request message of PMIP protocol between ePDG and P-GW; the ePDG and the PCRF control session through the creation gateway on the Gxb interface; the IP-CAN session message is created/modified on a Gx interface between the P-GW and the PCRF; between PCRF and BPCF is a create gateway control session message over S9a interface.

Second, structure two (corresponding to fig. 3)

The outer header information of the IPsec tunnel is used as an identifier of a PCRF positioning fixed network gateway BNG (BBF network gateway broadband forum gateway)/BRAS (BBF Remote Access Server) and a BNG/BRAS positioning fixed network line. Herein, BNG and BRAS refer to the same network element, sometimes also called BNG, or BRAS.

After the IPsec tunnel is successfully established, the ePDG or the P-GW may obtain header information of the IPsec tunnel, and then send the information to the PCRF through the following path and further to the BRAS:

ePDG- > P-GW- > PCRF- > BRAS (GTP/PMIP-based S2b scene);

ePDG- > PCRF- > BRAS (PMIP-based S2b or untrusted S2c scenario);

P-GW- > PCRF- > BRAS (trusted S2c scenario).

The messages among the ePDG, the PCRF and the P-GW are the same as the description in the first architecture, and the gateway control session message is established between the PCRF and the BRAS on a Gxd interface to transmit the IPsec tunnel information.

Third, frame three (corresponding to fig. 4)

The outer header information of the IPsec tunnel is used as an identifier of a policy control entity (referred to as PCRF +) for PCRF positioning fusion and a PCRF + positioning fixed network line.

The PCRF + is a policy control entity special for managing fixed network resources; for the sake of simplicity, the interfaces between the PCRF and the PCRF + and between the PCRF + and the BBF network gateway BRAS are also abbreviated herein as IF-1(interface 1) and IF-2(interface 2) to distinguish from the existing interfaces.

After the IPsec tunnel is successfully established, the ePDG or the P-GW can acquire header information of the IPsec tunnel, and then send the information to the PCRF through the following path, and further send to the PCRF +:

ePDG- > P-GW- > PCRF + (GTP/PMIP-based S2b scenario);

ePDG- > PCRF + (PMIP-based S2b or untrusted S2c scenario);

P-GW- > PCRF + (trusted S2c scenario).

The messages among the ePDG, the PCRF and the P-GW are the same as the description in the first architecture, and the IPsec tunnel information is transmitted between the PCRF and the PCRF + through the session message on the IF-1 interface.

Fourthly, the structure is four (corresponding to fig. 5)

And the outer layer header information of the IPsec tunnel is used as the identification of the BRAS for PCRF positioning, the PCRF + for BRAS positioning and the PCRF + for PCRF + positioning fixed network line.

After the IPsec tunnel is successfully established, the ePDG or the P-GW may obtain header information of the IPsec tunnel, and then send the information to the PCRF through the following path, and further to the BRAS and the PCRF +:

ePDG- > P-GW- > PCRF- > BRAS- > PCRF + (GTP/PMIP-based S2b scenario);

ePDG- > PCRF- > BRAS- > PCRF + (PMIP-based S2b or untrusted S2c scenario);

P-GW- > PCRF- > BRAS- > PCRF + (trusted S2c scenario).

The messages between the ePDG, the PCRF and the P-GW are explained in the first architecture, the messages between the PCRF and the BRAS are explained in the second architecture, and the IPsec tunnel information is transmitted between the BRAS and the PCRF + through the session messages on the IF-2 interface.

Currently, when a BBF network is used as a trusted non-3 GPP to access EPC, the BBF network is also called as: TWAN (trusted WLAN Access Network), mobility technology research of S2a Access of BBF Network has been completed, but relevant policy control mechanism has not been determined yet. A TWAN is an access network including multiple integrated or discrete network elements, such as: TWAG (trusted WLAN Access Gateway), existing BRAS Gateway, BPCF, etc. Referring to the architectural modes in fig. 2-5, S2a access may consider a policy control architecture that reuses S2b/S2c, as shown in fig. 6-9. However, the prior art has the problems that: when S2b/S2c accesses, an IPsec tunnel is provided between the UE and the ePDG and the P-GW, and the corresponding IPsec tunnel information may be used to locate a fixed network line, and when S2a accesses, there is no IPsec tunnel information, so how to locate a fixed network gateway or a corresponding policy control entity, such as a BRAS, a BPCF, or a PCRF +, and how to locate a fixed network line, and how to perform policy authorization execution are problems that need to be solved currently.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a policy control method and a policy control system in a converged network, and solve the problems of positioning fixed network lines and policy control when a BBF access network is used as a trusted non-3 GPP access network to access an EPC.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a policy control method in a converged network, when a fixed network is used as a trusted wireless local area network access network (TWAN) to access an evolved packet system,

a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) locates a broadband forum policy control function (BPCF), a fixed network gateway (BNG) or a converged policy control entity according to positioning information sent by a packet data network gateway (P-GW) or a Trusted WLAN Access Gateway (TWAG), establishes a policy session with the BPCF, the BNG or the converged policy control entity, and sends a terminal identifier to the BPCF, the BNG or the converged policy control entity;

and the BPCF, the BNG or the converged policy control entity locates the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session according to the terminal identifier.

Further, the method further comprises:

after the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session is located, the BPCF, the BNG, or the converged policy control entity authorizes the policy issued by the PCRF or executes the policy.

Further, the positioning information is sent by the BNG, or by a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP) endpoint other than the BNG or a Mobile Access Gateway (MAG), to the P-GW, and by the P-GW to the PCRF;

or the positioning information is sent to the PCRF by the TWAG.

Further, the positioning information includes:

the address or domain name or identity of the BNG;

the address or domain name or identification of the GTP endpoint; or,

the address or domain name or identity of the MAG.

Further, the positioning information includes:

a service set identifier SSID used by user equipment UE;

the geographical location information of the UE; or,

the basic service set identifies the BSSID.

Further, the method specifically comprises:

the PCRF locates the BPCF according to the positioning information, establishes a policy session with the BPCF and sends the terminal identifier to the BPCF;

and after the BPCF locates the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session according to the terminal identifier and the corresponding relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line established when the terminal is accessed, which is acquired from the BNG, the BPCF or the BNG authorizes the policy issued by the PCRF or executes the policy.

Further, the method specifically comprises:

the PCRF locates the BNG according to the positioning information, establishes a policy session with the BNG and sends the terminal identifier to the BNG;

and after the BNG locates the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session according to the terminal identifier and the corresponding relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line established when the terminal is accessed, authorizing the policy issued by the PCRF or executing the policy by the BNG.

Further, the method specifically comprises:

the PCRF is positioned to the fused policy control entity according to the positioning information, establishes a policy session with the fused policy control entity and sends the terminal identification to the fused policy control entity;

and after the fused policy control entity locates the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session according to the terminal identifier and the corresponding relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line established when the terminal is accessed, which is acquired from the BNG, the fused policy control entity authorizes the policy issued by the PCRF or executes the policy.

Further, the BPCF or the converged policy control entity obtains, from the BNG, a correspondence between a terminal identifier and a fixed network line, which is established when the terminal accesses, in the following manner:

after acquiring the corresponding relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line when the terminal is accessed, the BNG sends the corresponding relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line to the BPCF or the converged policy control entity by establishing a local policy session with the BPCF or the converged policy control entity or by a stateless session signaling;

or, after receiving the terminal identifier from the PCRF, the BPCF or the converged policy control entity obtains the correspondence between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line from the BNG.

Further, the BNG, the GTP endpoint, or the MAG sends the positioning information to the P-GW by:

sending a session creation request message or a PBU message to the P-GW, wherein the session creation request message or the PBU message carries a cell containing the positioning information;

or, the header information of the create session request message or the PBU message sent to the P-GW includes the positioning information, and the P-GW parses the positioning information.

The invention also provides a strategy control method in the converged network, when the fixed network is used as the TWAN access evolution packet system,

the PCRF locates a fixed network gateway (BNG) according to the received positioning information sent by the P-GW or the TWAG, performs policy signaling interaction with the BNG, and sends a terminal identifier to the BNG;

and the BNG positions the fixed network line according to the terminal identification.

Further, the method further comprises:

and the BNG sends the policy issued by the PCRF to the fused policy control entity, and the fused policy control entity authorizes the policy issued by the PCRF and then sends the policy to the BNG for execution.

Further, the positioning information is sent by the BNG, or sent to the P-GW by a GTP endpoint or a MAG; or the positioning information is sent to the PCRF by the TWAG;

the positioning information includes: the address or domain name or identity of the BNG; the address or domain name or identification of the GTP endpoint; an address or domain name or identity of the MAG; a service set identifier SSID used by user equipment UE; the geographical location information of the UE; alternatively, the basic service set identifies the BSSID.

In addition, the invention also provides a policy control system in the converged network, which comprises a policy authorization execution unit, a positioning information receiving unit and a policy interaction unit in the PCRF; wherein the policy authorization enforcement unit is applied in BPCF, BNG or converged policy control entity,

the positioning information receiving unit is used for positioning the strategy authorization execution unit according to the positioning information sent by the TWAN when the fixed network is used as the TWAN to access the evolved packet system;

the strategy interaction unit is used for establishing a strategy session with the strategy authorization execution unit and sending a terminal identifier to the strategy authorization execution unit; or, performing policy signaling interaction with the policy authorization execution unit, and sending the terminal identifier to the policy authorization execution unit;

and the strategy authorization execution unit is used for positioning the fixed network line corresponding to the strategy session or the strategy signaling according to the received terminal identification.

Further, the policy authorization executing unit is further configured to, after locating the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session or the policy signaling, authorize the policy issued by the policy interacting unit or execute the policy.

Further, the system also comprises a positioning information sending unit and a positioning information forwarding unit in the P-GW, wherein the positioning information sending unit is applied to the GTP endpoint or the MAG except the BNG or the BNG,

the positioning information sending unit is configured to send the positioning information to the PCRF by including the positioning information in header information of a session creation request message or a PBU message sent to the P-GW, or by carrying a cell including the positioning information in the session creation request message or the PBU message;

the positioning information forwarding unit is used for resolving the positioning information according to the received cell or message header containing the positioning information of the session creation request message or the PBU message and forwarding the positioning information to the PCRF;

wherein the positioning information comprises: the address or domain name or identity of the BNG; the address or domain name or identification of the GTP endpoint; an address or domain name or identity of the MAG; a service set identifier SSID used by user equipment UE; the geographical location information of the UE; alternatively, the basic service set identifies the BSSID.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention without limiting the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an architecture of non-3 GPP access to EPS;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture for S2b/S2c accessing EPC in the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture II for S2b/S2c accessing EPC in the prior art;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture for accessing EPC by S2b/S2c in the prior art;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a policy control architecture IV for accessing EPC by S2b/S2c in the prior art;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture for S2a access to EPC;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture II for S2a accessing EPC;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture for S2a accessing EPC;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a policy control architecture for S2a accessing EPC;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a policy control flow of S2a accessing the EPC according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of a policy control flow of S2a accessing the EPC according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a policy control flow of S2a accessing the EPC according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a policy control flow of S2a accessing the EPC according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic flowchart of policy control for S2a accessing the EPC according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The embodiment provides a strategy control method, which adopts the following scheme:

the PCRF locates BPCF, a fixed network gateway (BNG) or a converged policy control entity (PCRF +) according to the positioning information sent by the P-GW, establishes a policy session with the BPCF, the BNG or the PCRF +, and sends a terminal identifier to the BPCF, the BNG or the PCRF +;

and the BPCF, the BNG or the PCRF + locates the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session according to the terminal identification.

Or, the PCRF locates the BNG according to the positioning information sent by the P-GW, performs policy signaling interaction with the BNG, and sends the terminal identifier to the BNG;

Further, the method for policy control provided by this embodiment specifically includes:

the P-GW receives the positioning information sent by the TWAN, the P-GW sends the positioning information to the PCRF through the Gx interface, the PCRF searches the BPCF according to the positioning information, the PCRF establishes a policy session on the S9a interface with the BPCF and sends a terminal identifier to the BPCF, the BPCF or the BRAS positions a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session on the S9a interface according to the terminal identifier, and executes a policy issued by the S9a interface or executes policy authorization on the S9a interface.

Or: the method comprises the steps that a P-GW receives positioning information sent from a TWAN, the P-GW sends the positioning information to a PCRF through a Gx interface, the PCRF searches a BRAS according to the positioning information, the PCRF and the BRAS establish a policy session on a Gxd interface and send a terminal identifier to the BRAS, the BRAS positions a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session on the Gxd interface according to the terminal identifier, and executes a policy issued by the Gxd interface or executes admission control on the policy of the Gxd interface.

Or: the P-GW receives the positioning information sent by the TWAN, the P-GW sends the positioning information to the PCRF through the Gx interface, the PCRF searches the PCRF + according to the positioning information, the PCRF establishes a policy session on the IF-1 interface with the PCRF + and sends the terminal identifier to the PCRF +, and the PCRF + positions a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session on the IF-1 interface according to the terminal identifier, executes admission control on the policy of the IF-1 interface, and then sends the policy to a corresponding BRAS for executing the policy.

Or: the PCRF searches the BRAS according to the positioning information, carries out signaling interaction with the BRAS and sends the terminal identifier to the BRAS, the BRAS positions the fixed network line according to the terminal identifier and sends the strategy on the Gxd interface to the PCRF +, and the PCRF + executes admission control on the strategy and then sends the strategy to the BRAS for execution.

Specifically, the BPCF determines how many services of the current shared device are operated on the current fixed network line according to the fixed network line ID, or the tunnel information, or the local address information of the device, calculates how many idle resources remain on the current fixed network line, determines whether the resources that can meet the subsequent request for authorization can be met according to the calculation result, and makes a final authorization decision, which is called policy authorization.

The strategy is authorized, and is also called to carry out admission control on the service. For example, if the fixed network line resources are sufficient, the BPCF successfully authorizes the policy of a certain service, which indicates that the service is allowed to be created, i.e., admitted. On the contrary, if the fixed network line resources are insufficient, the PCRF + performs rejection on the policy of a certain service, which indicates that the service is not admitted. The policy authorization and admission control mentioned later are all this meaning.

Further, the sending the positioning information includes:

the positioning information is sent independently from a GTP endpoint (namely GTP peer) outside the BRAS, or the positioning information is sent independently from a PMIP endpoint MAG (Mobile Access Gateway) outside the BRAS, or the BRAS integrates the GTP peer or the MAG sends the positioning information.

Further, the positioning information refers to any one of the following information:

the address or domain name or identification of the GTP peer;

an address or domain name or identity of the MAG;

the address or domain name or identity of the BRAS.

Further, the terminal identifier may be an IMSI (International Mobile subscriber identity Number) or an NAI (Network access identifier).

Further, the receiving, by the P-GW, the positioning information from the TWAN refers to: the positioning information is sent to the P-GW by the TWAN through a GTP message or a PMIP message, or the P-GW analyzes the positioning information through the GTP message or the PMIP message.

Further, before the PCRF receives the positioning information, the terminal UE accesses the trusted TWAN, and the BRAS acquires the corresponding relation between the terminal identification and the fixed network line. The BRAS stores the relationship, or the BRAS sends the corresponding relationship between the terminal identification and the fixed network line to the BPCF or the PCRF +.

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 of the invention are based on the scenario that: and the fixed network accesses the EPC by the identity of the trusted non-3 GPP access network.

The fixed network line is also called a fixed network backhaul network or a fixed network link.

The positioning information comprises one of the following:

the address or domain name or identification of the GTP peer;

an address or domain name or identity of the MAG;

the address or domain name or identification of the BRAS;

SSID (Service Set Identifier) used by UE

Geographical location information (such as longitude and latitude) of UE

BSSID (basic Service Set Identifier, i.e., MAC address of AP)

The invention will be described below with reference to various architectures and specific procedures, including: how the positioning information is acquired, transferred and used; how a session is associated with a fixed network line; how the policy is controlled and enforced.

In the following embodiments, a terminal identifier, i.e. IMSI or NAI, has been supported to be sequentially transferred from a P-GW to policy network elements such as PCRF, BPCF, or PCRF + in the prior art.

The positioning information is used for searching BPCF/BRAS/PCRF + by the PCRF. The specific operation may be: the relation between the BPCF/PCRF +/BRAS and the positioning information is configured in a 3GPP network or a BBF network and used for PCRF query, so that the PCRF can be ensured to find the corresponding BPCF/PCRF +/BRAS according to the positioning information. Specifically, the PCRF may find the BPCF/PCRF +/BRAS corresponding to the positioning information according to a corresponding relationship between the positioning information stored by the PCRF and the BPCF/PCRF +/BRAS, or according to a corresponding relationship between the positioning information configured in another network element, such as a Diameter routing Agent (DRA for short), and the BPCF/PCRF +/BRAS in the domain.

In addition, in the following embodiments, the BPCF/PCRF + does not utilize the positioning information by default when looking up the BRAS, and there is the following alternative based on the assumption:

1) the BPCF and the BRAS, and the PCRF + and the BRAS have a one-to-one fixed relationship, so that the BPCF/PCRF + can find the correct BRAS according to the fixed relationship;

2) between BPCF and BRAS, between PCRF + and BRAS, before BPCF/PCRF + looks for BRAS, have already set up the local tactics conversation correlated to terminal identification, and the terminal identification has already been carried to BPCF/PCRF +, therefore BPCF/BPCF + can be correlated to the correct this tactics conversation according to the terminal identification, thus find the correct BRAS.

If the network does not support the above two assumptions, the BPCF/PCRF + can look up the BRAS with the positioning information. At the moment, the corresponding relation between the positioning information and the BRAS is required to be configured in a 3GPP/BBF network, and the BPCF/PCRF + can be inquired according to the positioning information, so that the correct BRAS can be found.

Example one

The present embodiment corresponds to the architecture of fig. 6 and the flow of fig. 10. Under the framework, the TWAN sends positioning information to the P-GW, the P-GW sends the positioning information to the PCRF through the Gx interface, the PCRF searches the BPCF according to the positioning information, the PCRF establishes a policy session on the S9a interface with the BPCF and sends a terminal identifier to the BPCF, the BPCF or the BRAS locates a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session on the S9a interface according to the terminal identifier, and executes a policy issued by the S9a interface or executes admission control on the policy of the S9a interface. The process steps are described as follows:

and step 1001, accessing the terminal UE from the BBF network/TWAN.

And step 1002, the terminal UE completes access authentication and authorization.

From step 1001 and step 1002, the TWAN (executed by the BRAS or other proxy network element) learns the relationship between the terminal identity (IMSI or NAI) and the fixed network line. The TWAN either saves the relationship, sends the relationship to the BPCF through stateless session signaling, or establishes a local policy session (such as an R-interface policy session) with the BPCF and sends the relationship to the BPCF.

The steps implemented in the following flowchart in the dashed box a and the dashed box B are two mutually exclusive options, that is, execution a does not execute B, execution B does not execute a, and one of a and B is executed. The message steps of A and B are identical, but the trigger timing is different. The triggering condition of A is that the terminal UE access authentication in step 1002 succeeds; and the trigger condition of B is the three-layer attach trigger message sent in step 1009.

Step 1003. the BBF network/TWAN sends a "create session request" of GTP protocol or PBU message of PMIPv6 protocol to the P-GW to request tunnel binding. The message carries positioning information.

Wherein the positioning information comprises one of the following:

the address or domain name or identification of the GTP peer;

an address or domain name or identity of the MAG;

the address or domain name or identification of the BRAS;

the specific execution network element for sending the message in the BBF network/TWAN may be a newly-established network element/module located in the TWAN network and having a GTP peer or MAG function; or BRAS with enhanced GTP peer or MAG functionality.

When the S2a interface adopts GTP protocol, the corresponding message is "create session request" message, and the BBF network/TWAN role is GTP peer; when the PMIPv6 protocol is adopted by the S2a interface, the corresponding message is a PBU message, and the BBF network/TWAN role is MAG.

And step 1004, the P-GW initiates Gx session establishment and sends the positioning information to the PCRF.

And if the P-GW is positioned at the visit place, the P-GW sends the positioning information to the hPCRF through the vPCRF of the visit place.

And step 1005, the PCRF searches the BPCF through the positioning information, establishes a policy session on an S9a interface with the BPCF and sends the terminal identification to the BPCF.

Triggered by step 1005, the BPCF interacts with the BRAS enforcement policy of the BBF network.

After step 1002 is completed, the BBF network may already establish a local policy session (e.g., a policy session on the R interface) with the BPCF, and the BPCF learns the relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line from the BRAS, and associates the local policy session and the policy session on the S9a interface according to the association relationship between the terminal identifier and the policy session that is uplinked on the S9a interface (see the description in 1005) and the relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line, that is, establishes a corresponding relationship between the policy session on the S9a interface and the fixed network line, and the subsequent BPCF or other proxy network element (e.g., the BRAS) executes the policy issued by the S9a interface or performs admission control on the policy on the S9a interface.

Or after step 1002 is completed, the BBF network has not established a local policy session with the BPCF. Until this step, the BPCF actively initiates signaling interaction with the BRAS, and the BPCF learns the corresponding relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line from the BRAS, so as to establish the corresponding relationship between the fixed network line and the policy session on the S9a interface according to the terminal identifier, and the subsequent BPCF or other proxy network elements (such as the BRAS) execute the policy issued by the S9a interface or execute admission control on the policy of the S9a interface.

And 1007, the P-GW responds the "create session response" of GTP protocol or PBA message of PMIPv6 protocol to the BBF network/TWAN, and tunnel binding is completed. This step may occur after step 1004.

Step 1008, the authentication step is completed.

Step 1009, the terminal sends a three-layer attach trigger message to the TWAN, such as a DHCP request message.

Step 1010, as option B, the operation is the same as that of a, and the description of step 1003-.

Step 1011, three-layer attach complete message.

Note: if a PMIP protocol is used between the TWAG and the P-GW, in addition to the methods shown in steps 1003 and 1004, the positioning information may be directly transmitted through a Gxa interface between the TWAG and the PCRF (if the interface is developed), that is, the TWAG sends a gateway control session establishment request message on the interface to the PCRF through the Gxa interface, and after receiving the positioning message, the PCRF performs the following operations.

Example two

The present embodiment corresponds to the architecture of fig. 7 and the flow of fig. 11. The method comprises the steps that a P-GW receives positioning information sent from a TWAN, the P-GW sends the positioning information to a PCRF through a Gx interface, the PCRF searches a BRAS according to the positioning information, the PCRF and the BRAS establish a policy session on a Gxd interface and send a terminal identifier to the BRAS, the BRAS positions a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session on the Gxd interface according to the terminal identifier, and executes a policy issued by the Gxd interface or executes admission control on the policy of the Gxd interface. The process steps are described as follows:

step 1101-step 1104. synchronization step 1001-step 1004.

After the steps 1101 and 1102, the TWAN (executed by the BRAS or other proxy network element) learns the relationship between the terminal identifier (IMSI or NAI) and the fixed network line, and the TWAN stores the relationship.

And step 1105, the PCRF searches the BRAS through the positioning information, establishes a policy session on a Gxd interface with the BRAS and sends the terminal identification to the BRAS.

The BRAS establishes the relationship between the policy session on the Gxd interface and the fixed network line according to the association relationship between the terminal identifier and the policy session that is uplinked on the Gxd interface (see the description in 1105) and the relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line (see the description in 1101 and 1104), and executes the policy issued by the Gxd interface or executes admission control on the policy of the Gxd interface.

Step 1106-step 1110, and step 1007-step 1011.

EXAMPLE III

The present embodiment corresponds to the architecture of fig. 8 and the flow of fig. 12. The P-GW receives the positioning information sent by the TWAN, the P-GW sends the positioning information to the PCRF through the Gx interface, the PCRF searches the PCRF + according to the positioning information, the PCRF establishes a policy session on the IF-1 interface with the PCRF + and sends the terminal identifier to the PCRF +, and the PCRF + positions a fixed network line corresponding to the policy session on the IF-1 interface according to the terminal identifier and executes admission control on the policy of the IF-1 interface or sends the policy to a corresponding BRAS for executing the policy. The process steps are described as follows:

step 1201-step 1204. synchronization step 1001-step 1004.

Wherein in steps 1201 and 1202, the TWAN (executed by the BRAS or other proxy network element) learns the relationship between the terminal identity (IMSI or NAI) and the fixed network line. The TWAN either saves the relationship, or sends the relationship to the PCRF + via stateless session signaling, or establishes a local policy session (such as an IF-2 interface policy session) with the PCRF + and sends the relationship to the PCRF +.

Step 1205, the PCRF searches for PCRF + through the positioning information, establishes a policy session on the IF-1 interface with the PCRF +, and sends the terminal identifier to the PCRF +.

And 1206, triggered by the step 1205, the PCRF + performs policy interaction with the BRAS of the BBF network.

After step 1202 is completed, the BBF network may already establish a local policy session (for example, a policy session on the IF-2 interface) with the PCRF +, and the PCRF + knows the relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line from the BRAS, and associates the local policy session and the policy session on the IF-1 interface according to the association relationship between the terminal identifier and the policy session that is uplinked on the IF-1 interface (see description of 1205) and the relationship between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line, that is, establishes a corresponding relationship between the policy session on the IF-1 interface and the fixed network line, and subsequently performs admission control on the policy on the IF-1 interface, or sends the policy to the corresponding BRAS for policy enforcement.

Alternatively, after step 1202 is completed, the BBF network has not established a local policy session with the BPCF. And the PCRF + actively initiates signaling interaction with the BRAS until the step, acquires the corresponding relation between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line from the BRAS, thereby establishing the corresponding relation between the fixed network line and the policy session on the IF-1 interface according to the terminal identifier, and after the policy execution admission control of the subsequent IF-1 interface, the policy is sent to the corresponding BRAS for executing the policy.

Step 1207-step 1211. synchronization step 1007-step 1011.

Example four

The present embodiment corresponds to the architecture of fig. 9 and the flow of fig. 13. The PCRF searches the BRAS according to the positioning information, carries out policy signaling interaction with the BRAS and sends the terminal identifier to the BRAS, and the BRAS positions a fixed network line of the policy interaction service on the Gxd interface according to the terminal identifier and sends the policy on the Gxd interface to the PCRF + and executes admission control on the policy. The process steps are described as follows:

step 1301-step 1304. synchronization step 1001-step 1004.

After steps 1301 and 1302, the TWAN (executed by the BRAS or other proxy network element) learns the correspondence between the terminal identifier (IMSI or NAI) and the fixed network line, and may establish a local policy session with the PCRF +.

And step 1305, the PCRF searches the BRAS through the positioning information, and the PCRF performs policy signaling interaction with the BRAS and sends the terminal identification to the BRAS. And the BRAS positions the fixed network line of the policy interaction service on the Gxd interface according to the terminal identification.

Step 1306, triggered by step 1305, BRAS performs policy interaction with PCRF +. BRAS sends the policy on the IF-1 interface to PCRF +, which + performs admission control on the policy.

After step 1302 is completed, BRAS may already establish a policy session on IF-2 interface with PCRF +, which is only used to update the policy session; or until this step, the BRAS does not actively initiate the establishment of the policy session with the PCRF +.

Step 1307-step 1311-synchronous step 1007-step 1011.

EXAMPLE five

The specific flow of this embodiment may be the same as the flow in fig. 10-13, and the only difference is that the TWAN sends the positioning information to the P-GW in step 1401, but in this embodiment, the creating session request/PBU message sent to the P-GW does not carry the "positioning information" in a separate cell, but includes the positioning information in the header information in the creating session request/PBU message. In step 1402, the P-GW may obtain the positioning information by parsing the header information of the "create session request/PBU message".

In addition, the embodiment of the invention also provides a policy control system in the converged network, wherein the system comprises a policy authorization execution unit, a positioning information receiving unit and a policy interaction unit in the PCRF; wherein the policy authorization enforcement unit is applied in BPCF, BNG or converged policy control entity,

wherein the positioning information comprises: the address or domain name or identity of the BNG; the address or domain name or identification of the GTP endpoint; or an address or domain name or identity of the MAG.

While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modules or steps of the present invention described above may be implemented by a general purpose computing device, they may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices, and alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by a computing device, such that they may be stored in a storage device and executed by a computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than that described herein, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple ones of them may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

Claims

1. A strategy control method in a converged network is characterized in that when a fixed network is used as a trusted wireless local area network access network (TWAN) to access an evolved packet system,

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 1 or 2,

the positioning information is sent by the BNG, or is sent to the P-GW by a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTP) endpoint or a Mobile Access Gateway (MAG) except the BNG, and is sent to the PCRF by the P-GW;

or the positioning information is sent to the PCRF by the TWAG.

4. The method of claim 3,

the positioning information includes:

the address or domain name or identity of the BNG;

the address or domain name or identification of the GTP endpoint; or,

the address or domain name or identity of the MAG.

5. The method of claim 3,

the positioning information includes:

a service set identifier SSID used by user equipment UE;

the geographical location information of the UE; or,

the basic service set identifies the BSSID.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the method comprises in particular:

7. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the method comprises in particular:

8. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the method comprises in particular:

9. The method of claim 6 or 8,

the BPCF or the converged policy control entity obtains the corresponding relation between the terminal identifier and the fixed network line established when the terminal is accessed from the BNG in the following way:

10. The method of claim 3,

the BNG, the GTP endpoint or the MAG sends the positioning information to the P-GW by the following modes:

11. A strategy control method in a converged network is characterized in that when a fixed network is used as a TWAN access evolution packet system,

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

13. The method of claim 11,

the positioning information is sent by the BNG, or sent to the P-GW by a GTP endpoint or a MAG; or the positioning information is sent to the PCRF by the TWAG;

14. A policy control system in a converged network is characterized in that the system comprises a policy authorization execution unit, a positioning information receiving unit and a policy interaction unit in a PCRF; wherein the policy authorization enforcement unit is applied in BPCF, BNG or converged policy control entity,

15. The system of claim 14,

and the policy authorization execution unit is further configured to authorize the policy issued by the policy interaction unit or execute the policy after locating the fixed network line corresponding to the policy session or the policy signaling.

16. The system according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the system further comprises a positioning information sending unit, and a positioning information forwarding unit in the P-GW, wherein the positioning information sending unit is applied to a BNG, or a GTP endpoint other than a BNG, or a MAG,