CN106488538A

CN106488538A - A kind of dedicated network system of selection, terminal, access network node and core net node

Info

Publication number: CN106488538A
Application number: CN201510523409.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 康艳超; 张娟; 艾明
Original assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT; Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-08-24
Filing date: 2015-08-24
Publication date: 2017-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2035-08-24
Also published as: CN106488538B

Abstract

The present invention provides a kind of dedicated network system of selection, terminal, access network node and core net node, it is related to the communications field, there is network efficiency of selection lowly for solving existing dedicated network system of selection, network-signaling load is easily caused, be unfavorable for the problem of dedicated network isolation and invent.Dedicated network system of selection, including：Obtain the special core network identifier information of terminal；During connection establishment of eating dishes without rice or wine, the idle message for including special core network identifier information is sent to access network node, make access network node according to special core network identifier information, the connection that sets up between terminal and special core net.In the present invention, end side provides the auxiliary information that private network node is selected, and facilitates the access network node to carry out the selection of terminal-specific network node, it is to avoid the signalling that network node gravity treatment causes, and improves the isolation between different dedicated networks.

Description

Special network selection method, terminal, access network node and core network node

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a dedicated network selection method, a terminal, an access network node, and a core network node.

Background

The (private network) feature allows an operator to configure multiple private core networks (DCNs) within one PLMN (Public Land mobile network), each DCN including one or more CN nodes, and each DCN being configured to serve only a specific type of subscriber.This is an optional feature, enabling the operator to configure for one or more RATs (Radio Access Type), for example: GERAN (GSM EDGE Radio Access Network), UTRAN (unified terrestrial Radio Access Network) and E-UTRAN (evolved unified terrestrial Radio Access Network). In general, DCNs have many configuration requirements, such as providing DCNs with different features/functions To isolate specific terminals and users (e.g., M2M (Machine-To-Machine) subscribers, subscribers belonging To different enterprises or administrative areas, etc.).

A DCN includes one or more MMEs (Mobility Management Entity, network Node, mobile Management Entity)/SGSNs (Serving GPRS Support Node), and may include one or more SGWs (Serving GateWay)/PGWs (PDN GateWay)/PDN GateWay/PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function). This feature allows different DCN networks to be allocated to them for service based on specific user subscription information (UE usage Type), and it does not require any extensions of the terminals, i.e. it is applicable to terminals of previous releases.

The main function of this feature is to route and maintain a specific terminal within its corresponding DCN, and the relevant configuration scenarios are as follows:

DCN may support only one RAT, e.g. dedicated MME only supports E-TURAN, no dedicated SGSN is configured; multiple RATs may also be supported or all RATs may be supported.

The network configuring the DCN may have a default DCN for serving UEs that do not have an available DCN or do not have sufficient information to allocate a DCN; one or more DCNs may also be configured that share a RAN (radio access network) with a default DCN.

The architecture supports the configuration of DCNs only in parts of the PLMN, e.g. only for one RAT or only in parts of the PLMN area, so that the deployment and configuration of the operator may result in the terminal acquiring services of different characteristics or functionalities in the DCN and not in the DCN. In addition, such partial configuration may increase the probability that the UE changes the DCN of the service, and increase the probability that the UE reattaches, which may affect the service capability of the default DCN configured at the edge of the DCN; therefore, a method of configuring the DCN using such a part is not suggested.

A UE in a certain RAT or service area may still be served by a PGW in the DCN even if the DCN is not configured to serve the service area of the RAT or PLMN.

The specific function implementation supporting the DCN is as follows:

1. an optional subscription information parameter UE usage type (it should be noted here that both standardized and operator-specific UE usage type values are possible) is used to select the DCN, which UE usage type the operator can configure for its DCN, one DCN can serve multiple UE usage types. The HSS (home subscriber Server) sends the UE usage type in the UE subscription information to the MME/SGSN, and the serving network obtains mapping relationship of DCNs, other locally configured operator policies, and UE-related context information (e.g., roaming information) for selecting DCNs for the UE based on the UE usage type configured by the operator.

2. If the configuration information shows that there is no corresponding DCN for a specific UE usage type, then the serving MME/SGSN of the default DCN is selected for the UE or selected according to the operator's specific policy.

3. There is only one UE usage type in each UE subscription.

4. For each DCN, one or more CN nodes may be configured as a pool.

5. For the MME, MMEGI (MME group identity) identifies one DCN in the PLMN. For the SGSN, the group identity marks a DCN in the PLMN, i.e., a group of SGSNs belongs to a DCN in the PLMN; the group identity may have the same format as "Null-NRI (network resource identity)" (e.g., an NRI value that does not identify a particular SGSN node), or may have a separate NRI value, which is referred to herein as "SGSN group ID (SGSN group identity)". The SGSN provides the RAN Node with a "Null-NRI" or "SGSN Group ID" and triggers a NNSF (NAS Node selection function) procedure to select one SGSN of a set of SGSN groups corresponding to the Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID. Adopting the SGSN group ID is applicable to all NRI values assigned to the SGSN, and there is no scenario of NRI values that can be Null-NRI.

6. The dedicated MME/SGSN serving the UE selects one dedicated SGW and one dedicated PGW for the UE based on the UE usage type.

7. Upon initial access to the network, the RAN may select a CN node from the default DCN if the RAN does not have enough information available to select a particular DCN, but may trigger a redirection procedure to other DCNs at this time.

8. In order to redirect a UE from one DCN to a different DCN, the RAN needs to support a redirection procedure for forwarding NAS messages of the UE to the target DCN.

9. All selection functions have DCN information, including the network node selection function of the RAN node, for selecting and maintaining a specific DCN for the UE.

When using DCN, it is necessary to support NAS message redirection procedure to redirect NAS messages from one CN node to another CN node in attach procedure or TAU (Tracking Area Update)/RAU (routing Area Update) procedure. The MME/SGSN or HSS may also use the NAS message redirection procedure to trigger the dedicated network reselection procedure.

As shown in fig. 1, the NAS message redirection procedure is mainly implemented as follows:

when the first new MME/SGSN (i.e. the first new MME/SGSN) decides that an attach request or TAU/RAU request message needs to be handled by another CN node, the first new MME/SGSN triggers the following procedure:

first new MME/SGSN sends a Rerout NAS Message Request Message to RAN node, which includes original RAN Message, route parameters, and Additional GUTI/P-TMSI. Wherein, the Original RAN message is a complete PDU (Packet Data Unit) received by the RAN, which includes an Original NAS Request message and all RAN IEs (RAN information elements); the route parameter can be MMEGI (for E-UTRAN) or Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID (for UTRAN/GERAN), and is determined according to DCN node corresponding to UE usage type; if the UE provides the Additional GUTI/P-TMSI in the NAS message, the message also comprises the Additional GUTI/P-TMSI, and the MME can determine MMEGI or Null-NRI/SGSN Group corresponding to the DCN according to the DNS process.

Selecting a new MME/SGSN by the NNSF of the RAN node based on the MMEGI or the Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID, and simultaneously considering Additional GUII/P-TMSI in the selection process, if the Additional GUII/P-TMSI identifies an MME/SGSN, and the MME/SGSN is one of a Group of effective nodes identified by the MMEGI or the Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID, the RAN should select the MME/SGSN identified by the Additional GUII/P-TMSI; otherwise, the RAN node should select the CN node corresponding to MMEGI or Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID. If there is no CN node corresponding to the available MMEGI or Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID, the RAN node should select MME/SGSN from the default DCN or MME/SGSN sending route Request based on operator configuration.

3. Corresponding to different RATs, an eNodeB (evolved Node B, eNB for short, name of Base Station in LTE)/RNC (Radio Network Controller) sends an Initial UE (initialization user equipment) message to a selected MME/SGSN or BSC (Base Station Controller) sends an UL-unitetdata (unordered column data unit, i.e., initialization user equipment) message to the selected SGSN. The initial UE message/UL-Unitdata message includes a NAS Request message and MMEGI/Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID. The MMEGI/Null-NRI/SGSN Group ID indicates that this message is a redirect message and that the second new MME/SGSN (second new MME/SGSN) should not redirect the NAS message.

In summary, the existing private network selection method needs nodes of different private networks to support the NAS message redirection process, and the above method actually implements the selection of the private network node by a secondary selection method, and when initially accessing, the RAN node does not have enough information to select the DCN for the UE, and must select the required DCN for the UE through the redirection process, which not only has low network selection efficiency and is liable to cause signaling load of the network, but also is not favorable for the isolation of the private network.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a special network selection method, a terminal, an access network node and a core network node, which are used for solving the problems that the existing special network selection method has low network selection efficiency, is easy to cause the signaling load of a network and is not beneficial to special network isolation.

In order to solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a private network selection method, including:

acquiring special core network identification information of a terminal, wherein a special core network corresponding to the special core network identification information is a special core network for providing network service for the terminal;

and in the process of establishing the air interface connection, sending an air interface message containing the special core network identification information to an access network node, so that the access network node establishes the connection between the terminal and the special core network according to the special core network identification information.

The air interface connection is a radio resource connection control (RRC) connection, and the air interface message is an RRC connection setup completion message.

Before the step of obtaining the dedicated core network identifier information of the terminal, the dedicated network selection method further includes:

sending a non-access stratum (NAS) request message to a core network node;

receiving an NAS receiving message fed back by a core network node, wherein the NAS receiving message comprises special core network identification information for providing network service for a terminal;

and storing the special core network identification information.

The special core network identification information is identification information of a special core network node or identification information of a special core network node group.

Wherein, when the NAS request message is an attach request message, the NAS receiving message is an attach receiving message; when the NAS request message is a tracking area update TAU request message, the NAS receiving message is a TAU receiving message; and when the NAS request message is a routing area update RAU request message, the NAS receiving message is an RAU receiving message.

Before the step of obtaining the private core network identification information stored by the terminal itself, the private network selection method further includes:

dedicated core network identification information configured by a network operator is stored.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal, including:

the first acquisition module is used for acquiring the special core network identification information of the terminal, wherein the special core network corresponding to the special core network identification information is a special core network for providing network service for the terminal;

a first sending module, configured to send, in a process of establishing an air interface connection, the air interface message including the dedicated core network identifier information to an access network node, so that the access network node establishes a connection between the terminal and a dedicated core network according to the dedicated core network identifier information.

Wherein, the terminal further includes:

a second sending module, configured to send a non-access stratum NAS request message to a core network node;

a first receiving module, configured to receive an NAS accept message fed back by a core network node, where the NAS accept message includes dedicated core network identifier information for providing a network service for a terminal;

and the first storage module is used for storing the special core network identification information.

Wherein, the terminal further includes:

and the second storage module is used for storing the special core network identification information configured by the network operator.

The embodiment of the invention provides a special network selection method, which comprises the following steps:

receiving an air interface message sent by a terminal, wherein the air interface message comprises special core network identification information for providing service for the terminal;

and establishing the connection between the terminal and the special core network according to the special core network identification information.

The dedicated core network identification information includes identification information of a dedicated core network node or the dedicated core network identification information includes identification information of a dedicated core network node group.

Wherein the step of establishing the connection between the terminal and the private core network according to the private core network identification information comprises:

judging whether the connection to the core network node group corresponding to the special core network identification information can be realized;

if the core network node group indicated by the special core network identification information can be connected, selecting a core network node in the core network node group indicated by the special core network identification information, and establishing the connection of the terminal;

if the connection to the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identification information is not possible, acquiring a corresponding relationship between the dedicated network and the group identification of the core network node group;

and selecting one core network node which can be connected and is positioned in the core network node group of the same private network with the private core network node group indicated by the private core network identification information according to the corresponding relation of the private network and the group identification of the core network node group, and establishing the connection of the terminal.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an access network node, including:

a second receiving module, configured to receive an air interface message sent by a terminal, where the air interface message includes core network identifier information for providing a service for the terminal;

and the connection establishing module is used for establishing the connection between the terminal and the special core network according to the special core network identification information.

Wherein the connection establishing module comprises:

a second judging unit, configured to judge whether the connection to the core network node group corresponding to the dedicated core network identifier information is possible;

a connection unit, configured to select a core network node in the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identification information if the connection unit can connect to the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identification information, and establish a connection of the terminal;

a corresponding relation obtaining unit, configured to obtain a corresponding relation between the dedicated network and the group identifier of the core network node group if the dedicated network cannot be connected to the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identifier information;

and the connection unit selects one core network node which can be connected and is positioned in the core network node group of the same private network with the private core network node group indicated by the private core network identification information according to the corresponding relation of the private network and the group identification of the core network node group, and establishes the connection of the terminal.

when receiving an NAS request message sent by a terminal and judging that a network serving the terminal is a special network, acquiring special network information serving the terminal;

and sending the NAS receiving message containing the special network information to the terminal.

Wherein the private network information includes private network indication information and private core network identification information; wherein,

the dedicated core network identification information is identification information of a core network node which sends the NAS reception message.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a core network node, including:

the second acquisition module is used for acquiring the special network information serving the terminal when receiving the NAS request message sent by the terminal and judging that the network serving the terminal is a special network;

and the third sending module is used for sending the NAS receiving message containing the special network information to the terminal.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

according to the scheme, the auxiliary information for selecting the special network is provided at the terminal side, and the information is used for the access network node to select the special network node for the terminal.

Drawings

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art NAS message redirection procedure;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the private network selection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a signaling interaction flow between a terminal and an access network node according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the private network selection method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a signaling interaction flow between a terminal and an MME;

fig. 6 shows a signaling interaction flow between a terminal and an SGSN;

fig. 7 is a first schematic structural diagram of the terminal of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a second schematic diagram of the terminal according to the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the private network selection method according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 shows a first schematic structural diagram of an access network node according to the present invention;

fig. 11 shows a second schematic structural diagram of an access network node according to the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the private network selection method according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network node according to the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network node according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

The invention provides a special network selection method, a terminal, an access network node and a core network node, aiming at the problems of low network selection efficiency, easy network signaling load and unfavorable special network isolation in the existing special network selection method.

Example one

As shown in fig. 2, a private network selection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes:

step 21, acquiring the special core network identification information of the terminal;

step 22, in the process of establishing the air interface connection, sending an air interface message containing the identification information of the dedicated core network to an access network node, so that the access network node establishes the connection between the terminal and the dedicated core network according to the identification information of the dedicated core network.

It should be noted that the dedicated core network corresponding to the dedicated core network identification information is a dedicated core network providing network services for the terminal, and the dedicated core network identification information is usually stored in the terminal.

The air interface connection mainly refers to connection between the terminal and an access network triggered in the processes of attach and TAU/RAU, wherein the air interface connection belongs to Access Stratum (AS) connection. It should be noted that in a 3G network, PS signaling (packet domain) connection in attach and RAU processes is mainly referred to, and in an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network, radio resource control RRC connection in attach and TAU processes is mainly referred to, and a corresponding air interface message is RRC connection setup completion information.

According to the scheme, the access network node is informed of the special core network information in the special network serving the terminal in the connection process of the access layer, so that the access network node can establish connection with the core network for the terminal according to the special core network information provided by the terminal.

In the LTE network, since the RRC connection setup complete information sent by the existing terminal to the access network node includes the identification information of the core network connected to the terminal last time, when the terminal uses the dedicated core network for service, in order to facilitate selection of the core network, it is only necessary to replace the identification information of the core network connected to the last time in the RRC setup complete information with the dedicated core network identification information of the dedicated network, and the dedicated core network identification information is sent based on the RRC setup complete information, and the existing signaling is borrowed, so that the transmission of the dedicated core network identification information is facilitated without affecting the existing air interface signaling.

As shown in fig. 3, in the LTE network, when the terminal establishes an RRC connection, a signaling interaction procedure with an access network node (which may be denoted by E-UTRAN) is as follows:

when an NAS layer of a terminal triggers an attach request message or a TAU request message, the terminal sends an RRC connection request message to an access network node, when the RRC connection establishment message fed back by the access network node is obtained, the NAS layer provides special core network identification information to an AS, the AS packages the special core network identification information in an RRC connection establishment completion message, and the terminal sends the RRC connection establishment completion message to the access network node, so that the access network node selects the core network node for the terminal according to the special core network identification information in the received RRC connection establishment completion message.

It should be noted that, when the terminal has the recorded private core network identifier, no matter whether the terminal is in the private network before, the NAS provides the private core network identifier to the AS, and the terminal sends the recorded private core network identifier to the access network node. And when the terminal stores a plurality of pieces of special core network identification information, the special core network identification information which is provided for the access network node is the latest recorded special core network identification information.

Example two

As shown in fig. 4, the private network selection method according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes:

step 31, sending a non-access stratum (NAS) request message to a core network node;

step 32, receiving an NAS accept message fed back by a core network node, where the NAS accept message includes dedicated core network identification information for providing a network service for a terminal;

step 33, storing the dedicated core network identification information;

step 22, in the process of establishing the air interface connection, sending an air interface message containing the identification information of the dedicated core network to the access network node, so that the access network node establishes the connection between the terminal and the dedicated core network according to the identification information of the dedicated core network.

It should be noted that step 31, step 32 and step 33 are NAS message interaction procedures of the previous communication between the terminal and the network; steps 21 and 22 are AS message interaction procedures for the last communication of the terminal with the network.

Before the terminal sends the empty message containing the special core network identification information, if the terminal side does not store the special core network identification information, the terminal and the access network carry out communication connection according to the original signaling flow.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the dedicated core network identification information may be identification information of a dedicated core network node (the identification information of the dedicated core network node includes identification information of a dedicated core network node group and an intra-group identifier) or identification information of a dedicated core network node group, and is mainly dynamically allocated by the core network node, and when a connection between the core network node and a terminal is established, an NAS signaling fed back to the terminal by the core network node includes not only the dedicated core network identification information providing a current service for the terminal, but also dedicated network indication information serving the terminal. The following describes in detail how the terminal acquires the above information (since the core network is usually divided into core network node groups in the private network at the time of configuration, the private core network identification information is described as the identification information of the private core network node group in the following description as an example):

when the present invention is applied to an LTE network, a core network node serving a terminal is marked with an MME, as shown in fig. 5, the terminal sends an Attach Request or TAU Request message to the MME, the MME acquires, when receiving the message, dedicated network indication information signed by the terminal from an HSS, generates dedicated network node identification information (the information is a part of a temporary identifier GUTI allocated by the MME to the UE), then feeds back an Attach Accept (Attach Accept) message or a tracking area update Accept (TAU Accept) message carrying the dedicated network indication information to the terminal, and the terminal stores corresponding information in the message.

It should be noted that the dedicated network indication information is usually set at the tail of the Attach Accept message or the TAUAccept message, and is represented by one byte of information, when only one dedicated network is defined, only one bit may be used to identify the network type, when a plurality of dedicated networks are defined, multiple bits are used to identify the network type, for example, the specific format of the dedicated network indication information that uses one bit to represent the network type is shown in table 1:

table 1 specific format of private network indication information indicating network type by one bit

It should be noted that when the network type is represented by one bit, the marking of the network type is generally performed by the lowest bit in the dedicated network indication information, and when the lowest bit is 0, it is represented that the network serving the terminal is not a dedicated network; when the lowest order bit is 1, the network indicated as a terminal service is a private network. Usually, the upper four bits of the private network indicator indicate the tag of the number of the information element of the private network indicator, which records the position of the private network indicator in the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message to facilitate the lookup of the private network indicator, and the bits 2, 3, and 4 in the middle of the private network indicator are reserved bits.

For example, the specific format of the dedicated network indication information using two bits to indicate the network type is shown in table 2:

table 2 specific format of private network indication information indicating network type by two bits

It should be noted that when two bits are used to indicate the network type, the lowest two bits in the dedicated network indication information are typically used to mark the network type, and when the lowest two bits are 00, the dedicated network 1 is indicated to provide the service for the terminal; when the lower two digits are 01, the private network 2 provides service for the terminal; when the lower two digits are 10, it means that the terminal is served by the private network 3; when the lower two bits are 11, this indicates that the terminal is served by the private network 4. The upper four bits of the network indication information are usually used to represent the mark of the number of the information element of the private network indication, which records the position of the private network indication information in the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message to facilitate the search of the private network indication information, and the 3 and 4 bits in the middle of the private network indication information are reserved bits.

Since the dedicated network indication information is only added to the tail of the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message, and other information in the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message is not changed, the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message is not described in detail in the present invention.

It should be noted that, the terminal may not only obtain the dedicated network indication information from the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message, but also need to obtain the dedicated core network identification information, where the dedicated core network identification information may extract a GUTI with a number of 50 from the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message, where the GUTI includes identification information of an MME that sends the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message (i.e., GUMMEI, the GUMMEI is composed of two parts, namely, MMEGI is a group identifier of an MME group to which the MME belongs, and gumme is an identifier of the MME in the MME group to which the MME belongs), and the MME group identification information MMEGI may be used as the dedicated core network identification information of the dedicated network. For example: when the terminal receives the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message and contains the private network indication information, the group identifier MMEGI of the group to which the MME that sends the Attach Accept message or the TAU Accept message belongs is recorded in the node group information list of the private network corresponding to the private network indication information. Or marking the GUTI allocated to the terminal by the network as being allocated by the private network, or marking the GUMMEI of the network as the GUMMEI allocated by the private network according to the GUTI allocated to the terminal by the network.

When the invention is applied to a 3G network, a core network node serving a terminal is marked by an SGSN, as shown in fig. 6, the terminal sends Attach Request or RAU Request information to the SGSN, the SGSN acquires special network information signed by the terminal from an HSS when receiving the information, generates special network indication information, then feeds back Attach Accept information or RAUAccept information carrying the special network indication information to the terminal, and the terminal stores the corresponding information in the information.

It should be noted that, the implementation manner of the dedicated network indication information in the Attach Accept message or the RAU Accept message in the SGSN is similar to the implementation manner of the dedicated network indication information in the Attach Accept message or the RAU Accept message in the MME, and detailed description is not repeated herein; it should be noted that, in this case, the identification information of the SGSN currently sending the Attach Accept message or the RAU Accept message (i.e., SGSN Group ID, which is denoted as SGSN Group ID) needs to be acquired from the RAI (routing domain identity)/P-TMSI (packet temporary mobile subscriber identity) information in the Attach Accept message or the RAU Accept message, and this identification information can be used as the private core network identification information of the private network.

EXAMPLE III

The special network selection method of the third embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:

step 32, receiving an NAS accept message fed back by a core network node, where the NAS accept message includes dedicated core network identification information for providing a network service for a terminal; wherein, the NAS receiving message also comprises special network indication information;

step 331, determining whether the private network indication information exists in a private network record table;

step 332, if the private network indication information exists in the private network record table, storing the private core network identification information as the latest private core network identification information of the private network;

step 333, if the private network indication information does not exist in the private network record table, storing the private network indication information in the private network record table, and recording the private core network identification information as the latest private core network identification information of the private network;

For example: in the LTE network, when the terminal stores the dedicated network indication information, along with the movement of the terminal, in the TAU process, when the terminal receives new dedicated network indication information, the terminal may directly store the dedicated network indication information and the node identification information of the core network that correspondingly transmits the dedicated network indication information; in the TAU process, when the terminal receives the recorded dedicated network indication information, the terminal stores the node identification information of the core network that sent the dedicated network indication information in a position corresponding to the dedicated network indication information, where the storage may be an additional storage or a replacement storage.

It should be noted that, when only the latest dedicated core network identification information is recorded in the terminal, the terminal transmits the recorded latest dedicated core network identification information when transmitting the dedicated core network identification information; when the terminal records a plurality of pieces of dedicated core network identification information, the terminal may select to transmit the latest recorded dedicated core network identification information or one piece of dedicated core network identification information when transmitting the dedicated core network identification information.

In this embodiment, the updating of the dedicated core network identification information recorded by the terminal is performed in real time by using the core network, so that the terminal can record the dedicated core network identification information which provides the service recently, and the accuracy of the networking information recorded by the terminal is ensured under the condition that the terminal frequently moves.

Example four

The method for selecting the special network in the fourth embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:

step 51, storing the special core network identification information configured by the network operator;

step 22, in the process of establishing an air interface connection, sending the air interface message containing the dedicated core network identification information to an access network node, so that the access network node establishes a connection between the terminal and a dedicated core network according to the dedicated core network identification information.

It should be noted that, when the operator configures the dedicated core network identifier information, usually only the group identifier information of the dedicated core network is configured, that is, the dedicated core network identifier information only includes the group identifier of the dedicated core network node group to which the dedicated core network belongs.

It should be noted that, in the fourth embodiment, the dedicated core network identifier information of the dedicated network is statically configured for the terminal by the operator, and in this static configuration manner, the dedicated core network identifier information is directly stored in the terminal, which avoids improvement on the core network side, so that the present invention is easier to implement.

It should be noted that, in the fifth embodiment, the specific cn identifier is statically configured, and the specific cn identifier may be configured in a UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) of the terminal, or may be configured in a terminal body (e.g., a non-volatile memory) (e.g., configured by way of OMA DM, i.e., terminal management).

EXAMPLE five

Corresponding to the private network selection method, as shown in fig. 7, a fifth embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal 100, including:

a first obtaining module 110, configured to obtain dedicated core network identification information of a terminal, where a dedicated core network corresponding to the dedicated core network identification information is a dedicated core network that provides a network service for the terminal;

a first sending module 120, configured to send an air interface message including the dedicated core network identifier information to the access network node in an air interface connection establishment process, so that the access network node establishes a connection between the terminal and a dedicated core network according to the dedicated core network identifier information.

According to the terminal embodiment, the terminal side sends the auxiliary information of the special network selection to the access network node, so that the requirement of the access network node for selecting the special network node is met, the signaling load caused by network node reselection can be avoided, and the isolation among different special networks is improved.

In this terminal embodiment, the air interface connection is a radio resource connection control RRC connection, and the air interface message is an RRC connection setup complete message.

In this terminal embodiment, the terminal 100 may further include:

When the NAS accept message includes dedicated network indication information, specifically, the first storage module includes:

the first judging unit is used for judging whether the special network indication information exists in a special network record table or not;

a recording unit, configured to store the dedicated core network identifier information as a latest dedicated core network identifier information of the dedicated network if the dedicated network indication information exists in a dedicated network record table;

if the private network indication information does not exist in the private network record table, the recording unit stores the private network indication information into the private network record table, and records the private core network identification information as the latest private core network identification information of the private network.

In this terminal embodiment, the terminal 100 may further include:

EXAMPLE six

As shown in fig. 8, the terminal according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention may specifically include:

a processor 71, configured to obtain dedicated core network identification information of a terminal, where a dedicated core network corresponding to the dedicated core network identification information is a dedicated core network that provides a network service for the terminal;

a transceiver 72, configured to send an air interface message including dedicated core network identifier information to the access network node in an air interface connection establishment process, so that the access network node establishes a connection between the terminal and a dedicated core network according to the dedicated core network identifier information.

The transceiver 72 is further configured to send a non-access stratum NAS request message to a core network node and receive a NAS accept message fed back by the core network node according to the NAS request message, where the NAS accept message includes dedicated core network identification information for providing a network service for the terminal.

The terminal further comprises:

a memory 73 for storing the private core network identification information. Optionally, the memory 73 may also be used to store dedicated core network identification information configured by the network operator.

It should be noted that the processor 71 and the memory 73 are respectively connected to the transceiver 72 by a bus interface, and the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors represented by the processor 71 and various circuits of the memory represented by the memory 73 linked together; the bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein.

The bus architecture may provide a variety of bus interfaces; the transceiver 72 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. For different terminals, the user interface 74 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with a desired device, including but not limited to a keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick, etc. The processor 71 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 73 may store data used by the processor 71 in performing operations.

EXAMPLE seven

As shown in fig. 9, a method for selecting a dedicated network according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention includes:

step 810, receiving an air interface message sent by a terminal, wherein the air interface message includes a dedicated core network identification information for providing service for the terminal;

step 820, according to the special core network identification information, establishing the connection between the terminal and the special core network.

The seventh embodiment of the present invention is a method for selecting a dedicated network, which is applied to an access network node side, where after receiving a dedicated core network identifier transmitted by a terminal, the access network node directly allocates a core network to the terminal according to the dedicated core network identifier, thereby efficiently satisfying the selection requirement of the dedicated network node.

Example eight

The method for selecting the special network provided by the eighth embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:

step 821, judging whether the connection to the core network node group corresponding to the special core network identification information is possible;

step 822, if the connection to the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identification information is possible, selecting a core network in the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identification information, and establishing the connection of the terminal;

step 823, if the connection to the core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identifier information is not possible, obtaining a corresponding relationship between the dedicated network and the group identifier of the core network node group;

step 824, according to the corresponding relationship between the dedicated network and the group identifier of the core network node group, selecting a core network node that can be connected to the dedicated core network node group indicated by the dedicated core network identifier information and is located in the core network node group of the same dedicated network, and establishing the connection of the terminal.

It should be noted that the dedicated core network identification information includes identification information of a dedicated core network node or the dedicated core network identification information includes identification information of a dedicated core network node group.

For example: in an LTE network, when the terminal only stores the MMEGI corresponding to the MME group included in the dedicated core network, the process of the access network node performing core network connection for the terminal specifically includes:

the access network node is provided with private networks configured by the network and an MMEGI corresponding to each private network, as follows:

the private network 1: MME Group ID _1, MME Group ID _ 2;

the private network 2: MME Group ID _3, MME Group ID _ 4;

private network 3: MME Group ID _5, MME Group ID _ 6;

the access network node at the moment can be connected to the MME Group ID _1, the MME Group ID _3 and the MME Group ID _ 5;

when the GUMMEI provided by the terminal belongs to the MME Group ID _1, and because the access network node can be connected to the MME Group ID _1, the access network node selects an MME from the MME Group ID _1 for the terminal to connect the terminal;

when the GUMMEI provided by the terminal belongs to the MME Group ID _2, because the access network node can be connected to the MME Group ID _1 but cannot be connected to the MME Group ID _2, at this time, the access network node selects one MME from the MME Group ID _1 belonging to the same dedicated network as the MMEGroup ID _2 to perform the connection of the terminal.

It should be noted that, when the information stored by the terminal includes both the Group identifier MMEGI of the MME Group to which the dedicated core network belongs and the intra-Group identifier of the dedicated core network node MME, i.e. the GUMMEI, in the above example, when the GUMMEI provided by the terminal belongs to the MME Group ID _1, and because the access network node can be connected to the MME Group ID _1, the access network node establishes connection for the MME corresponding to the GUMMEI provided by the terminal selection terminal.

And when the access network node cannot select a corresponding dedicated network for the terminal, for example, the access network node is not connected to the dedicated network, or the access network node does not support the dedicated network selection, the access network node selects a core network node for the terminal according to the local policy, and a possible implementation manner is to select a node of a default dedicated core network for the terminal to establish a connection.

Example nine

Corresponding to the above private network selection method, as shown in fig. 10, a ninth embodiment of the present invention provides an access network node 10, including:

a second receiving module 11, configured to receive an air interface message sent by a terminal, where the air interface message includes core network identifier information dedicated to providing services for the terminal;

a connection establishing module 12, configured to establish a connection between the terminal and the dedicated core network according to the dedicated core network identifier information.

In this embodiment, the connection establishing module 12 includes:

It should be noted that in an LTE network, the access network node may be referred to as a base station.

Example ten

As shown in fig. 11, an access network node according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention may specifically include:

a receiver 111, configured to receive an air interface message sent by a terminal, where the air interface message includes dedicated core network identification information for providing a service for the terminal;

a processor 112, configured to establish a connection between the terminal and a private core network according to the private core network identifier information.

It should be noted that the access network node further includes: the memory 113 may store, for example, air interface messages received by the receiver 111, intermediate data calculated by the processor 112, and the like.

It should be noted that the processor 112 and the memory 113 are each connected to the receiver 111 by a bus interface, and the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by the processor 112 and various circuits of the memory represented by the memory 113 being linked together; the bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein.

The bus architecture may provide a variety of bus interfaces; the receiver 111 may be a number of elements providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 112 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 113 may also store data used by the processor 112 in performing operations.

EXAMPLE eleven

As shown in fig. 12, a private network selection method according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention includes:

step 121, when receiving an NAS request message sent by a terminal and determining that a network serving the terminal is a private network, acquiring private network information serving the terminal;

and step 122, sending an NAS receiving message containing the private network information to the terminal, so that the terminal stores the private network information according to the NAS receiving message.

It should be noted that the dedicated network information includes dedicated network indication information and dedicated core network identification information; wherein,

It should be noted that, when it is determined that the terminal does not use the private network for service, the private network indication information of the terminal should be generated at this time, but the private network indication information at this time indicates the non-private network type.

In the second embodiment, all the descriptions about the core network node are applied to the embodiment of the dedicated network selection method using the core network node, and the same technical effect as that of the embodiment can be achieved.

Example twelve

Corresponding to the above private network selection method, as shown in fig. 13, a core network node 130 according to a twelfth embodiment of the present invention includes:

a second obtaining module 131, configured to obtain dedicated network information serving for the terminal when receiving an NAS request message sent by the terminal and determining that a network serving for the terminal is a dedicated network;

a third sending module 132, configured to send a NAS accept message including the private network information to the terminal, so that the terminal stores the private network information according to the NAS accept message.

Specifically, the private network information includes private network indication information and private core network identification information; wherein,

It should be noted that in an LTE network, the core network node may be referred to as MME, and in a 3G network, the core network node may be referred to as SGSN.

EXAMPLE thirteen

As shown in fig. 14, a core network node according to the thirteenth embodiment of the present invention may specifically include:

a processor 141, configured to obtain dedicated network information for serving a terminal when receiving an NAS request message sent by the terminal and determining that a network serving the terminal is a dedicated network;

a transceiver 142, configured to send a NAS accept message including the private network information to the terminal, so that the terminal stores the private network information according to the NAS accept message.

The transceiver 142 is further configured to receive a NAS request message sent by the terminal.

The core network node further comprises: the memory 143 may store, for example, a NAS accept message including private network information to be transmitted, a received NAS request message, and intermediate data calculated by the processor 141.

It should be noted that processor 141 and memory 143 are each connected to transceiver 142 by a bus interface, and that the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors represented by processor 141 and various circuits of memory represented by memory 143 being linked together; the bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein.

The bus architecture may provide a variety of bus interfaces; the transceiver 142 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 141 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 143 may store data used by the processor 141 in performing operations.

In summary, the private network selection method provided in the present invention satisfies the selection requirement of the private network, and avoids the signaling load caused by network node reselection, and this method also improves the isolation between different private networks.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A private network selection method, comprising:

2. The private network selection method according to claim 1, wherein the air interface connection is a radio resource connection control, RRC, connection, and the air interface message is an RRC connection setup complete message.

3. The private network selection method according to claim 1, wherein, before the step of obtaining the private core network identification information of the terminal, the private network selection method further comprises:

sending a non-access stratum (NAS) request message to a core network node;

and storing the special core network identification information.

4. The private network selection method according to claim 3, wherein the private core network identification information is identification information of a private core network node or identification information of a private core network node group.

5. The private network selection method according to claim 3, wherein when the NAS request message is an attach request message, the NAS accept message is an attach accept message; when the NAS request message is a tracking area update TAU request message, the NAS receiving message is a TAU receiving message; and when the NAS request message is a routing area update RAU request message, the NAS receiving message is an RAU receiving message.

6. The private network selection method according to claim 1, wherein, before the step of obtaining the private core network identification information stored by the terminal itself, the private network selection method further comprises:

7. A terminal, comprising:

8. The terminal according to claim 7, wherein the air interface connection is a radio resource connection control, RRC, connection, and the air interface message is an RRC connection setup complete message.

9. The terminal of claim 7, further comprising:

10. The terminal according to claim 9, wherein the dedicated core network identification information is identification information of a dedicated core network node or identification information of a dedicated core network node group.

11. The terminal of claim 9, wherein when the NAS request message is an attach request message, the NAS accept message is an attach accept message; when the NAS request message is a tracking area update TAU request message, the NAS receiving message is a TAU receiving message; and when the NAS request message is a routing area update RAU request message, the NAS receiving message is an RAU receiving message.

12. The terminal of claim 7, further comprising:

13. A private network selection method, comprising:

14. The private network selection method according to claim 13, wherein the private core network identification information includes identification information of a private core network node or the private core network identification information includes identification information of a private core network node group.

15. The private network selecting method according to claim 14, wherein the step of establishing a connection between the terminal and a private core network according to the private core network identification information comprises:

16. An access network node, comprising:

17. The access network node according to claim 16, wherein the dedicated core network identification information comprises identification information of a dedicated core network node or the dedicated core network identification information comprises identification information of a dedicated core network node group.

18. The access network node of claim 17, wherein the connection establishment module comprises:

19. A private network selection method, comprising:

20. The private network selection method of claim 19, wherein the private network information includes private network indication information and private core network identification information; wherein,

21. The private network selection method according to claim 19, wherein when the NAS request message is an attach request message, the NAS accept message is an attach accept message; when the NAS request message is a tracking area update TAU request message, the NAS receiving message is a TAU receiving message; and when the NAS request message is a routing area update RAU request message, the NAS receiving message is an RAU receiving message.

22. A core network node, comprising:

23. The core network node according to claim 22, wherein the dedicated network information comprises dedicated network indication information and dedicated core network identification information; wherein,

24. The core network node according to claim 22, wherein when the NAS request message is an attach request message, the NAS accept message is an attach accept message; when the NAS request message is a tracking area update TAU request message, the NAS receiving message is a TAU receiving message; and when the NAS request message is a routing area update RAU request message, the NAS receiving message is an RAU receiving message.