CN108966320B

CN108966320B - Method and equipment for selecting network at visiting place

Info

Publication number: CN108966320B
Application number: CN201810743999.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 舒林; 吴晓波
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-04-01
Filing date: 2013-04-01
Publication date: 2021-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 2033-04-01
Also published as: WO2014161140A1; CN108966320A; CN104247517B; CN104247517A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and equipment for selecting a network at a visit place, wherein the method comprises the following steps: user Equipment (UE) receives visited network information sent by home network equipment of the UE, wherein the visited network information comprises at least one network identifier; the UE selects one of the at least one network that is available. The method and the device for selecting the network at the visited place provided by the embodiment of the invention can improve the efficiency of network selection and reduce the power consumption of user equipment, thereby improving the user experience of the roaming place.

Description

Method and equipment for selecting network at visiting place

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to a communication technology, in particular to a method and equipment for selecting a network at a visiting place.

Background

The third Generation Partnership Project (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP) organization defines a Network selection policy when the Mobile terminal is in an idle state, that is, a policy for selecting a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and the selection policy covers roaming and non-roaming scenarios.

In a roaming scenario, a User Equipment (User Equipment, abbreviated as UE) needs to select a Visited public land mobile network (Visited PLMN, abbreviated as VPLMN), and an automatic network selection mode is usually adopted: the UE maintains a plurality of PLMN lists, and each PLMN in each PLMN list is sorted according to priority; when network selection is needed, the UE selects available networks according to the sequence of the PLMN lists, and when a network is selected in one PLMN list, the network with the highest priority and available in the list is selected. For the roaming scene, the selected sequence of the plurality of PLMN lists and the priority of each PLMN in each PLMN list are suitable for all the visited places, namely the same terminal roams to different countries or regions, and the same network priority is adopted for network selection. A typical specific process of network selection when the UE roams is as follows:

(1) the UE is started up in a visit place or returns to a signal coverage area from a blind area, and the UE selects PLMN to register;

(2) the UE prefers a PLMN (Registered PLMN, RPLMN for short) or an equivalent PLMN thereof which is successfully Registered before, if the RPLMN and the equivalent PLMN thereof are not available, the UE selects an available PLMN with the highest priority in a PLMN list which is selected preferentially according to the sequence of selection of a plurality of PLMN lists and the priority of each PLMN in each PLMN list, and if the PLMN is a PLMN A, the PLMN A is a network which has the highest priority and is available in the PLMN list which is selected preferentially;

(3) when the UE performs inter-system transformation on the PLMN a, for example, when Circuit Switched Fall Back (CSFB) is performed or the UE leaves a signal coverage area of the current PLMN a, the UE selects a PLMN B and successfully registers on the PLMN B, wherein the priority of the PLMN list where the UE selects the PLMN B is lower than that of the PLMN list where the PLMN a is located, and if the PLMN B and the PLMN a are on the same PLMN list, the priority of the PLMN B is lower than that of the PLMN a;

(4) assuming that the equivalent PLMN of the PLMN B is PLMN C and that PLMN C and PLMN a have overlapping signal coverage, when the UE leaves PLMN B and enters the overlapping signal coverage of PLMN C and PLMN a, according to the current network selection policy, the UE may select PLMN C, but may not select PLMN a higher priority PLMN a that is in the preferred PLMN list.

When the UE is in the VPLMN network, the UE performs a background scan to select a Home public land mobile network (Home PLMN, abbreviated as HPLMN), or an Equivalent public land mobile network (Equivalent Home PLMN, abbreviated as EHPLMN), or other VPLMNs with higher priority. After step (4), if the UE resides in PLMN C, the UE will perform background scanning, but if neither HPLMN nor EHPLMN is available, the UE will select PLMN a with higher priority in the preferred PLMN list, and return to PLMN a. Then, the UE may go through the above steps (3) and (4) again and return to PLMN a again due to background scanning. The UE may experience triangular cyclic movement of "PLMN a- > PLMN B- > PLMN C- > PLMN a" in the visited place, which may cause unnecessary network handover and background scanning, resulting in low network selection efficiency, and further, frequent network handover and excessive background scanning may greatly consume the power of the UE, resulting in poor user experience in the roaming place.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and equipment for selecting a network at a visited place, so as to improve the efficiency of network selection.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a network at a visited place, where the method includes:

user Equipment (UE) receives visited network information sent by home network equipment of the UE, wherein the visited network information comprises at least one network identifier;

the UE selects one of the at least one network that is available.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the UE receives visited network information sent by a home network device of the UE, the method further includes:

the UE selects an available visited network, and sends a registration request to a mobile management network element of the visited network, so that the mobile management network element sends an identifier of the visited network to the home network equipment, and the home network equipment determines a visited area of the UE and visited network information associated with the visited area according to the identifier of the visited network.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the receiving, by the UE, visited network information sent by a home network device of the UE includes:

the UE receives the visited place network information sent by the home network equipment through a short message; or

And the UE receives the network information of the visited place, which is sent by the home network equipment through the mobile management network element of the visited place.

With reference to the first aspect, any one of the first and second possible implementation manners of the first aspect, and in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the selecting, by the UE, an available network of the at least one network includes:

the UE selects one of the at least one available network as long as the at least one available network is available.

With reference to the first aspect, any one of the first and second possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the selecting, by the UE, an available network of the at least one network includes:

the UE selects one of the at least one network to be available when neither of the network on which the UE is registered nor the network on the equivalent network list of the network on which the UE is registered is available.

With reference to the first aspect, any one of the first and second possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the selecting, by the UE, an available network of the at least one network includes:

the UE selects one of the at least one network that is available when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of networks registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available.

With reference to the first aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the visited network information further includes a priority of each network in the at least one network, and the UE selects an available network in the at least one network, further including:

the UE selects an available network of the at least one network with a highest priority.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a network at a visited place, including:

user Equipment (UE) selects a proper cell;

and the UE learns at least one available network in the suitable cell and selects a network in the network information of the visited place from the at least one available network.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the suitable cell is a cell of a network to which the UE is registered, or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of the network to which the UE is registered.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes:

and the UE contains the visited network information in an equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the suitable cell is a cell of a network in the visited network information; or a cell of a network to which the UE is registered; or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of networks with which the UE is registered.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to third possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, before the selecting, by the UE, a suitable cell, the method further includes:

the UE receives the visited place network information sent by the home network equipment of the UE through a short message; or

And the UE receives the network information of the visited place, which is sent by the home network equipment of the UE through the mobile management network element of the visited place.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to fourth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, and in a fifth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the learning, by the UE, of available networks in the suitable cell includes:

and the UE receives the system message broadcasted by the suitable cell, and learns at least one available network in the suitable cell from the system message.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, and in a sixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, selecting a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network includes:

the UE selects one of the at least one network as long as there is at least one of the at least one available network in the visited network information.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, and in a seventh possible implementation manner of the second aspect, selecting a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network includes:

when neither the network registered by the UE nor the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is in the at least one available network, the UE selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, and in an eighth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, selecting a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network includes:

when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is in the at least one available network, the UE selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to eighth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each of the at least one network, and the selecting a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network further includes:

selecting a network with highest priority in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a network at a visited place, where the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that a wireless access network element of a visited place receives visited place network information sent by a mobile management network element of the visited place;

and when the wireless access network element executes switching or redirection, selecting an available network in the network information of the visit place as a target network of the switching or redirection for User Equipment (UE), wherein the UE roams to the visit place.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the selecting, for the user equipment UE, an available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection includes:

as long as at least one available network exists in the visited network information, the radio access network element selects one of the at least one available network as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE.

With reference to the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the selecting, for the UE, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for handover or redirection includes:

and when the network registered by the UE and the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE are unavailable, the wireless access network element selects one available network in the network information of the visited place as the target network for switching or redirection for the UE.

With reference to the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the selecting, for the user equipment UE, an available network in the visited network information as the target network for handover or redirection includes:

when the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE are unavailable, the wireless access network element selects one available network in the visited network information as the target network for switching or redirection for the UE.

With reference to the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and the selecting, for the UE, an available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection further includes:

and selecting the available network with the highest priority in the visited network information as the target network for the switching or redirection.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a network at a visited place, where the method includes:

a mobile management network element receives visited place network information sent by home network equipment of User Equipment (UE), wherein the UE roams to a visited place, and the mobile management network element is a mobile management network element of a visited place network selected by the UE at the visited place;

and the mobile management network element sends the visited network information to the UE or a wireless access network element of the visited network, and the visited network information is used by the UE or the wireless access network element for network selection.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a network at a visited place, where the method includes:

the home network equipment of User Equipment (UE) receives an identifier of a visited place network selected by the UE, which is sent by a mobile management network element of the visited place, and the UE roams to the visited place;

the home network equipment determines the visited place of the UE and visited place network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the visited place network;

and the home network equipment sends the visited network information to the UE or the mobile management network element.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the sending, by the home network device, the visited network information to the UE includes:

the home network equipment sends the visited network information to the UE through a short message; or

And the home network equipment sends the visited network information to the UE through the mobile management network element.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, including:

the system comprises a first receiving module, a second receiving module and a third receiving module, wherein the first receiving module is used for receiving visited network information sent by home network equipment of User Equipment (UE), and the visited network information comprises at least one network identifier;

a first network selection module to select an available network of the at least one network.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first network selecting module is further configured to select an available visited network, and send a registration request to a mobility management element of the visited network, so that the mobility management element sends an identifier of the visited network to the home network device, so that the home network device determines, according to the identifier of the visited network, a visited location of the UE and visited network information associated with the visited location.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first receiving module is specifically configured to,

receiving the visited place network information sent by the home network equipment through a short message; or

And receiving the network information of the visited place, which is sent by the home network equipment through the mobile management network element of the visited place.

With reference to the sixth aspect, any one of the first and second possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first network selection module is specifically configured to select one of the at least one available network as long as the at least one available network is available.

With reference to the sixth aspect, any one of the first and second possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first network selecting module is specifically configured to select one available network of the at least one network when neither a network registered by the UE nor a network in an equivalent network list of networks registered by the UE is available.

With reference to the sixth aspect, any one of the first and second possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the first network selection module is specifically configured to select one available network of the at least one network when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the networks registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available.

With reference to the sixth aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, when the visited network information further includes a priority of each of the at least one network, the first network selection module is further configured to select an available network with a highest priority in the at least one network.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, where the user equipment includes:

a cell selection module for selecting a suitable cell;

a second receiving module, configured to learn about at least one available network in the suitable cell;

and the second network selection module is used for selecting the network in the network information of the visited place from the at least one available network.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the suitable cell is a cell of a network to which the UE is registered, or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of the network to which the UE is registered.

With reference to the first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the cell selection module is further configured to: and the visited network information is contained in an equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the suitable cell is a cell of a network in the visited network information; or a cell of a network to which the UE is registered; or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of networks with which the UE is registered.

With reference to the seventh aspect, any one of the first to third possible implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the second receiving module is further configured to,

receiving the visited place network information sent by the home network equipment of the UE through a short message; or

And receiving the visited place network information sent by the home network equipment of the UE through the mobile management network element of the visited place.

With reference to the seventh aspect, any one of the first to fourth possible implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the second receiving module is specifically configured to,

and receiving a system message broadcasted by the suitable cell, and acquiring at least one available network in the suitable cell from the system message.

With reference to the seventh aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the second network selecting module is specifically configured to select one of the at least one network as long as there is at least one of the at least one available network in the visited network information.

With reference to the seventh aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in a seventh possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the second network selecting module is specifically configured to select, when none of the networks in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE and the network registered by the UE is in the at least one available network, a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

With reference to the seventh aspect, any one of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the second network selection module is specifically configured to select, when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is in the at least one available network, a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

With reference to the seventh aspect, any one of the first to eighth possible implementation manners of the seventh aspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and the second network selection module is further configured to select, from the at least one available network, a network with a highest priority in the visited network information.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a radio access network element, including:

the third receiving module is used for receiving the visited place network information sent by the mobile management network element of the visited place;

and the third network selection module is used for selecting one available network in the network information of the visited place as a target network for switching or redirection for User Equipment (UE) when switching or redirection is executed, and the UE roams to the visited place.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the third network selection module is specifically configured to select one of the at least one available network as the target network for handover or redirection for the UE as long as at least one available network is in the visited network information.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the third network selection module is specifically configured to select, when neither a network in the equivalent network list of the network where the UE is registered nor a network in the equivalent network list of the network where the UE is registered is available, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the third network selection module is specifically configured to select, when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and the third network selection module is further configured to select an available network with a highest priority in the visited network information as the target network for handover or redirection.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a mobility management network element, including:

a fourth receiving module, configured to receive visited network information sent by a home network device of user equipment UE, where the UE roams to a visited area, and the mobility management network element is a mobility management network element of a visited network selected by the UE in the visited area;

a first sending module, configured to send the visited network information to the UE or a radio access network element of the visited network, where the visited network information is used by the UE or the radio access network element to perform network selection.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a home network device, including:

a fifth receiving module, configured to receive an identifier of a visited network selected by the UE, where the UE roams to a visited place, and the identifier is sent by a mobility management network element of the visited place;

an information determining module, configured to determine, according to the identifier of the visited place network, a visited place of the UE and visited place network information associated with the visited place;

and a second sending module, configured to send the visited network information to the UE or the mobility management element.

With reference to the tenth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the tenth aspect, the second sending module is specifically configured to,

sending the network information of the visited place to the UE through a short message; or

And sending the network information of the visited place to the UE through the mobile management network element.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, including: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores execution instructions, and when the user equipment runs, the processor communicates with the memory, and the processor executes the execution instructions to enable the user equipment to execute any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect and the first to sixth aspects.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, including: a processor and a memory, the memory storing execution instructions, the processor and the memory communicating with each other when the user equipment is running, the processor executing the execution instructions to make the user equipment execute any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect and the first to the ninth aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a radio access network element, including: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores execution instructions, and when the radio access network element is operated, the processor communicates with the memory, and the processor executes the execution instructions to enable the radio access network element to execute any one of the possible implementation manners of the third aspect and the first to the fourth aspects.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a mobility management element, which includes a processor and a memory, where the memory stores an execution instruction, and when the mobility management element is running, the processor communicates with the memory, and the processor executes the execution instruction, so that the mobility management element performs the implementation manner as in the fourth aspect.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a home network device, including: a processor and a memory, the memory storing execution instructions that, when executed by the home network device, cause the home network device to perform the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect.

According to the method and the device for selecting the network at the visited place, provided by the embodiment of the invention, the visited place network information configured by the home network operator and used for selecting the network at the visited place is provided, so that unnecessary network switching and background scanning of UE are avoided, the network selection efficiency is improved, the power consumption of user equipment is reduced, and the user experience of a roaming place is improved.

Drawings

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

Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a third embodiment of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a fifth embodiment of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a first signaling flow diagram of a method for selecting a network at a visited location according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a signaling flow diagram of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a third signaling flow diagram of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

fig. 9 is a signaling flow diagram of a fourth embodiment of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a ue according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a second ue embodiment according to the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio access network element according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobility management network element according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a first embodiment of a home network device according to the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a third ue embodiment according to the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth ue according to the present invention;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a second radio access network element according to the present invention;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a second embodiment of a mobility management element according to the present invention;

fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a second home network device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

In the embodiment of the present invention, User Equipment (UE) may be any of the following, and the UE may be static or mobile. The stationary UE may be a Terminal (Terminal), a Mobile Station (Mobile Station), a Subscriber Unit (Subscriber Unit), or a Station (Station). Mobile UEs may include Cellular phones (Cellular phones), Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Wireless modems (modems), Wireless communication devices, handheld devices (handhelds), Laptop computers (Laptop computers), Cordless phones (hardless phones), or Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, among others. The UEs may be distributed throughout the wireless network.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the Mobility Management element may be any one of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), a Visitor Location Register (VLR), a Mobility Management Entity (MME), or a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), where the MSC and the VLR are generally combined into the same element, which is called as an MSC/VLR or simply a VLR.

The Radio access Network element, also called a Base Station, may be a Base Station Subsystem (BSS) in a 2G Network, or a Radio Network Subsystem (RNS) in a 3G Network, or an evolved Node B (eNodeB) in an LTE Network.

The Home network device is a Home Location Register (HLR) or a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) or a Home short message center.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a public land Mobile Network PLMN may be referred to as a Network for short, and unless otherwise specified, an independent term "Network" in the embodiment of the present invention refers to a public land Mobile Network PLMN, where a Network identifier (PLMN Identity, PLMN ID) includes a Mobile Country Code (MCC) and a Mobile Network Code (MNC), a visited place is also referred to as a roaming place, and includes a roaming Country or region, and the MCC in the PLMN identifier may uniquely identify one visited place.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by the embodiment can be executed by user equipment, and the user equipment can be implemented by software and/or hardware. As shown in fig. 1, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 101, UE receives visited network information sent by home network equipment of the UE, wherein the visited network information comprises at least one network identifier;

step 102, the UE selects one of the at least one network to be available.

The application scenario of this embodiment is as follows: the UE is started at the visit place, or returns to a signal coverage area from a blind area of the visit place, or the user performs network reselection at the visit place, and the UE firstly needs to select a visit place network VPLMN to reside.

In step 101, the visited network information is sent to the UE for the home network device, and is used by the UE to perform network selection at the visited location, where the visited network information includes an identifier of at least one network, and the at least one network is a network preferentially selected at the visited location and configured by the home network operator of the UE for the UE, so as to ensure that the user obtains better network service and user experience at the visited location. It should be noted that at least one network included in the visited network information may include at least one visited network VPLMN, and may also include a home network HPLMN or at least one EHPLMN of the UE. In a specific embodiment, the visited network information can be represented in the form of a list, in which the identifiers of at least one network are sorted according to priority, for example, the higher priority is sorted in the front, and the lower priority is sorted in the back.

Optionally, before step 101, the method further includes: the UE selects an available visited network, and sends a registration request to a mobile management network element of the visited network, so that the mobile management network element sends an identifier of the visited network to the home network equipment, and the home network equipment determines a visited area of the UE and visited network information associated with the visited area according to the identifier of the visited network.

In a specific embodiment, when the UE initiates an initial registration procedure at a visited place, the UE does not yet obtain network information of the visited place, and the UE receives a system broadcast message, where the system broadcast message includes at least one available network in a current cell of the UE at the visited place. And the UE selects an available network from a plurality of PLMN lists maintained by the UE according to the at least one available network, and sends a registration request to a mobile management network element of the selected network, so that the mobile management network element sends an identifier of the visited network to the home network equipment, and the home network equipment determines the visited place of the UE and the visited network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the visited network. And the UE initiates different registration requests in the selected PLMN according to the current registration state. When one is that the UE is started up or is in a non-registration state currently, the UE initiates an attachment request; the other is that the UE is currently in a registration state, for example, if the user initiates network reselection, the UE initiates a location update request. Further, after determining visited place network information associated with a visited place of the UE, the home location network device sends visited place network information to the UE, and the UE receives and stores the visited place network information sent by the home location network device, where the specific receiving manner includes, but is not limited to, the following possible receiving manners:

in a possible receiving mode, the UE receives the visited network information sent by the home network device through a short message.

In another possible receiving mode, the UE receives the visited network information sent by the home network device through the mobility management element of the selected network, and the mobility management element sends a registration request to the UE.

In another possible receiving mode, the UE receives the visited network information sent by the home network device through an over-the-air technology or a mobile device management protocol.

Those skilled in the art can understand that, in a specific implementation process, a manner in which the UE receives the visited network information sent by the home network device of the UE is not limited to the foregoing manner, and various methods for sending a message to the UE by the home network device in the prior art can be applied to this embodiment, which is not described in detail herein. In step 102, the UE selects one of the at least one network that is available, i.e., the UE selects one of the visited network information that is available. In one possible embodiment, the UE selects the available network with the highest priority in the visited network information.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, in step 102, the UE selects an available network of the at least one network, including the following possible implementations.

A possible implementation is that the UE selects one of the at least one available network as long as there is at least one available network of the at least one network.

In a specific implementation process, when the UE selects a network, the priority of the selected visited network information is always higher than the multiple PLMN lists maintained by the UE, and the UE prefers available networks in the visited network information. Specifically, when performing PLMN selection, regardless of whether there is an available network in the multiple PLMN lists maintained by the UE, the UE preferentially selects an available network from the visited network information. Only when the UE does not have visited network information or has no available network in the visited network information, the UE performs network selection according to the existing preference policy from the maintained multiple PLMN lists.

In another possible implementation, the UE selects one of the at least one available network when neither of the networks registered by the UE nor the networks in the equivalent network list of the networks registered by the UE are available.

In the specific implementation process, when the UE selects a network, the priority of the network registered by the UE and the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is always higher than that of the visited network information, the UE preferentially selects available networks in the available network list of the network registered by the UE and the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, and when the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are unavailable, one available network is selected from the visited network information. Specifically, when selecting the PLMN, the UE preferentially checks whether the RPLMN of the currently registered network is available, and if so, selects the RPLMN, and if the RPLMN is not available but at least one equivalent PLMN of the RPLMN is available, the UE selects one equivalent PLMN; and if the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are unavailable, the UE preferentially selects an available network from the visited network information.

In yet another possible implementation, when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available, the UE selects one of the at least one network that is available.

In the specific implementation process, when the UE selects the network, the priority of the network RPLMN registered by the UE, the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the HPLMN of the home network of the UE and the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is always higher than the network information of the visited place. Specifically, when selecting the PLMN, the UE preferentially checks whether the currently registered network RPLMN is available, and if so, selects the RPLMN; if the RPLMN is unavailable but at least one equivalent PLMN of the RPLMN is available, the UE selects one equivalent PLMN; if the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are not available, the UE checks whether the HPLMN of the home network is available again, if so, the HPLMN is selected, and if the HPLMN is not available but at least one equivalent PLMN of the HPLMN is available, the UE selects the Equivalent HPLMN (EHPLMN) with the highest priority; if the HPLMN of the UE and all EHPLMNs are not available, the UE preferentially selects an available network from the visited network information.

The technical personnel in the field can understand that the network selection of the UE during initial registration at the visited place and the network selection during network conversion after registration can be performed according to the possible implementation manners, by referring to the same priority order of the network selection, and the priority order of the network selection referred to when the UE scans the background is consistent with the priority order of the network selection referred to when the UE scans the background, the problem that the UE selects the PLMN a preferentially when initially registering at the visited place and considers the priority of the equivalent network PLMN C for selecting the PLMN B to be higher than that of the PLMN a when the UE leaves the PLMN B to perform network selection in the following process is avoided, and therefore the problem of triangular circular movement when the UE performs initial network selection and network conversion after registration at the visited place is solved.

Further, in all possible implementation manners, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and when a network is selected from the visited network information, a network with a highest priority in the visited network information is selected.

The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by the embodiment ensures that the UE can select an optimal network configured by the home network operator at the visited place by providing the visited place network information configured by the home network operator for network selection at the visited place, avoids unnecessary network switching and background scanning by the UE, improves network selection efficiency, reduces power consumption of the user equipment, and improves user experience at the roaming place.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by the embodiment can be executed by user equipment, and the user equipment can be implemented by software and/or hardware. As shown in fig. 2, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 201, selecting a proper cell by User Equipment (UE);

step 202, the UE learns at least one available network in the suitable cell, and selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

The present embodiment differs from the embodiment shown in fig. 1 in the application scenario first. The application scenario of this embodiment is as follows: the UE has successfully registered in a visited network VPLMN, and the UE needs to select a new network due to the flow (such as redirection initiated by the network side in the CSFB process) or the movement (such as normal cell reselection in the signal cross coverage area of two networks). In this scenario, an Access Stratum (AS) of the UE selects a suitable cell (usable cell), and then a Non-Access Stratum (NAS) of the UE selects an available network from at least one available network of the suitable cell.

In step 201, the AS of the UE selects a suitable cell, which may include the following implementation manners.

In one possible implementation, the suitable cell is a cell of the network RPLMN the UE is currently registered with, or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of the network RPLMN the UE is currently registered with.

The AS of the UE selects a cell first, and if the cell is a cell of a network RPLMN currently registered by the UE or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of the network RPLMN currently registered by the UE, the cell is a suitable cell.

In a specific implementation process, the NAS of the UE receives and stores visited network information sent by the home network device of the UE, and includes the visited network information in an equivalent network list of a network in which the UE is registered. The NAS of the UE sends an equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE containing the network information of the visited place and the identification of the network registered by the UE to the AS of the UE. When selecting the proper cell, the AS of the UE selects the proper cell according to the identification of the network registered by the UE and the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE. Wherein, it is prior art to select a suitable cell according to the registered network and the equivalent network of the registered network, and this embodiment is not described herein again. In this embodiment, the NAS of the UE includes the visited network information in the equivalent network list of the network in which the UE is registered and transmits the visited network information to the AS of the UE, and the NAS of the UE operates and is not aware of the AS of the UE.

In another possible implementation manner, the AS of the UE selects a suitable cell, where the suitable cell is a cell of a network in the network information of the visited place; or a cell of a network to which the UE is registered; or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of networks with which the UE is registered.

The AS of the UE selects a cell first, if the cell is the cell of the network in the network information of the visited place; or a cell of a network to which the UE is registered; or a cell of a network in the equivalent network list of the network to which the UE is registered, the cell is a suitable cell.

In the specific implementation process, the NAS of the UE receives and stores the visited network information sent by the home network device of the UE, and then sends the visited network information, the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, and the identifier of the network registered by the UE to the AS of the UE. And for the AS of the UE, not only receiving the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE and the identification of the network registered by the UE, which are sent by the NAS of the UE, but also receiving the network information of the visited place, and when the proper cell is selected, the AS of the UE selects the proper cell according to the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the network registered by the UE and the network information of the visited place.

In step 202, the UE learns of at least one available network in the selected suitable cell, and selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

In one possible embodiment, after the AS of the UE selects a suitable cell, the AS of the UE receives a system message broadcasted by the selected suitable cell, and learns from the system message at least one available network of the suitable cell. The AS of the UE then reports the at least one available network learned to the NAS of the UE. Finally, the NAS of the UE selects a network in the visited network information from at least one available network. Particularly, if the selected suitable cell is the shared cell, the UE knows that there are a plurality of available networks, and the NAS of the UE selects a network existing in the visited network information from the plurality of available networks.

It should be noted that the visited network information is sent to the UE for the home network device, and is used by the UE to perform network selection in the visited place, where the visited network information includes an identifier of at least one network, and the at least one network is a network preferentially selected by the UE in the visited place and configured by a home network operator of the UE, so as to ensure that the user obtains better network service and user experience in the visited place. It should be noted that at least one network included in the visited network information may include at least one visited network VPLMN, and may also include a home network HPLMN or at least one EHPLMN of the UE. In a specific embodiment, the visited network information can be represented in the form of a list, in which the identifiers of at least one network are sorted according to priority, for example, the higher priority is sorted in the front, and the lower priority is sorted in the back.

In a specific implementation process, the UE selects a network in the visited network information from at least one available network in a suitable cell, which specifically includes the following possible implementation manners.

In one possible implementation, the UE selects one of the at least one network as long as there is at least one of the at least one available network in the visited network information.

In a specific implementation process, when the UE selects a network, the priority of the selected visited network information is always higher than the multiple PLMN lists maintained by the UE, and the UE prefers available networks in the visited network information. Specifically, when performing PLMN selection, regardless of whether there is an available network in the multiple PLMN lists maintained by the UE, the UE preferentially selects an available network from the visited network information as long as there is at least one of the available networks in the suitable cell in the visited network information. And only when the UE does not have the visited network information or does not have at least one network in at least one available network in a suitable cell in the visited network information, the UE can select the network from the maintained PLMN lists according to the existing preference strategy.

In another possible implementation, when neither the network registered by the UE nor the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is in the at least one available network, the UE selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

In the specific implementation process, when the UE selects a network, the priority of the equivalent network list of the network selected for UE registration and the network registered by the UE is always higher than the network information of the visited place. Specifically, when selecting the PLMN, the UE preferentially checks whether the currently registered network RPLMN is in at least one available network in the suitable cell, and if so, selects the RPLMN, and if not, but an equivalent PLMN of at least one RPLMN is in at least one available network in the suitable cell, the UE selects one of the equivalent PLMNs; and if the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are not in at least one available network in the suitable cell, the UE preferentially selects one available network from the network information of the visited place.

In yet another possible implementation, when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is in the at least one available network, the UE selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

In the specific implementation process, when the UE selects the network, the priority of the network RPLMN registered by the UE, the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the HPLMN of the home network of the UE and the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is always higher than the network information of the visited place. Specifically, when selecting the PLMN, the UE preferentially checks whether the currently registered network RPLMN is in at least one available network in the suitable cell, and if so, selects the RPLMN, and if not, but an equivalent PLMN of at least one RPLMN is in at least one available network in the suitable cell, the UE selects one of the equivalent PLMNs; if the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are not in at least one available network in the suitable cell, the UE checks whether the HPLMN of the home network is in at least one available network in the suitable cell, if so, the HPLMN is selected, if not, but the equivalent PLMN of at least one HPLMN is in at least one available network in the suitable cell, the UE selects the Equivalent HPLMN (EHPLMN) with the highest priority; if the HPLMN and all EHPLMNs of the UE are not in at least one available network in the suitable cell, the UE preferentially selects one available network from the visited network information.

In particular, in the above possible implementation manner, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and when a network is selected from the visited network information, a network with a highest priority in the visited network information is selected.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, further, after determining visited place network information associated with a visited place of the UE, the home location network device sends visited place network information to the UE, and the UE receives and stores the visited place network information sent by the home location network device, where the specific receiving manner includes, but is not limited to, the following possible receiving manners:

Those skilled in the art can understand that, in a specific implementation process, a manner in which the UE receives the visited network information sent by the home network device of the UE is not limited to the foregoing manner, and various methods for sending a message to the UE by the home network device in the prior art can be applied to this embodiment, which is not described in detail herein.

The method for selecting the network at the visited place provided by the embodiment of the invention selects the proper cell by considering the network in the visited place network information configured by the home network operator and used for network selection at the visited place, and selects the network in the visited place network information from at least one available network in the proper cell, thereby ensuring that the UE can select the optimal network configured by the home network operator at the visited place, avoiding the UE from carrying out unnecessary network switching and background scanning, improving the network selection efficiency, reducing the power consumption of the user equipment and further improving the user experience of the roaming place.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a third embodiment of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by this embodiment may be executed by a radio access network element at the visited place, where the radio access network element at the visited place may be implemented by software and/or hardware. As shown in fig. 3, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 301, a wireless access network element of a visited place receives visited place network information sent by a mobile management network element of the visited place;

step 302, when the radio access network element executes handover or redirection, selecting an available network in the network information of the visited place as a target network for the handover or redirection for user equipment UE, where the UE roams to the visited place.

In step 301, in the 2G network, the BSS may receive visited network information of a visited place sent by the MSC through the a interface message or visited network information of a visited place sent by the SGSN through the Gb interface message; in the 3G network, the RNS can receive the visiting network information of the visiting place sent by the MSC or SGSN through Iu interface information; in an LTE network, the eNodeB may receive visited network information for a visited place sent by the MME through an S1 interface message.

In step 302, for the UE in the connected state, when deciding to initiate a handover or redirection procedure, a radio access network of a visited network, such as a BSS or RNS or eNodeB, to which the UE is registered selects one available network in the visited network information as a target network for handover or redirection for the UE.

It should be noted that the visited network information includes an identifier of at least one network, and the at least one network is a network preferentially selected by the UE at the visited location, configured by the home network operator of the UE, so as to ensure that the user obtains better network service and user experience at the visited location. It should be noted that at least one network included in the visited network information may include at least one visited network VPLMN, and may also include a home network HPLMN or at least one EHPLMN of the UE. In a specific embodiment, the visited network information can be represented in the form of a list, in which the identifiers of at least one network are sorted according to priority, for example, the higher priority is sorted in the front, and the lower priority is sorted in the back.

In step 302, the radio access network element selects an available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE, which specifically includes the following implementation manners.

In a possible implementation manner, as long as at least one available network exists in the visited network information, the radio access network element selects one of the at least one available network as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE.

In the specific implementation process, when the wireless access network element selects a network, the priority of the network information of the selected visited place is always higher than that of other networks, and the wireless access network element preferentially selects the available network in the network information of the visited place. Specifically, when performing target PLMN selection, the radio access network element preferentially selects an available network from the visited network information. Only when the wireless access network element does not have the visited network information or has no available network in the visited network information, the wireless access network element will select other available networks.

In another possible implementation manner, when neither the network registered by the UE nor the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is available, the radio access network element selects, for the UE, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection.

In the specific implementation process, when the wireless access network element selects a network, the priority of the network selected to be registered by the UE and the priority of the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE are always higher than the network information of the visited place. Specifically, when selecting a target PLMN, the radio access network element preferentially checks whether a network RPLMN currently registered by the UE is available, if so, selects the RPLMN, and if the RPLMN is not available but at least one equivalent PLMN of the RPLMN is available, the radio access network element selects one equivalent PLMN; and if the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are unavailable, the wireless access network element preferentially selects an available network from the network information of the visited place.

In another possible implementation manner, when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available, the radio access network element selects, for the UE, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection.

In the specific implementation process, when the wireless access network element selects a network, the priority of a network RPLMN registered by the UE, an equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, a home network HPLMN of the UE and the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is always higher than the network information of the visited place. Specifically, when selecting a target PLMN, the radio access network element preferentially checks whether a network RPLMN currently registered by the UE is available, and if so, selects the RPLMN; if the RPLMN is not available but at least one equivalent PLMN of the RPLMN is available, the wireless access network element selects one equivalent PLMN; if the current RPLMN of the UE and the equivalent PLMN of all RPLMNs are not available, the wireless access network element checks whether the home network HPLMN of the UE is available, if so, the HPLMN is selected, and if the HPLMN is not available but at least one equivalent PLMN of the HPLMN is available, the wireless access network element selects the Equivalent HPLMN (EHPLMN) with the highest priority; if the HPLMN of the UE and all EHPLMNs are not available, the radio access network element preferentially selects an available network from the visited network information.

According to the method for selecting the network at the visited place, provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the wireless access network element at the visited place executes redirection or switching, the target network for switching or redirection is selected for the UE according to the visited place network information configured by the home network and used for network selection at the visited place, so that the UE can be registered on the optimal network configured by the home network operator at the visited place, unnecessary network switching and background scanning of the UE are avoided, the network selection efficiency is improved, the power consumption of user equipment is reduced, and the user experience of the roaming place is improved.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth embodiment of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by this embodiment may be executed by a mobility management element at the visited place, where the mobility management element may be implemented by software and/or hardware. As shown in fig. 4, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 401, a mobility management network element receives visited network information sent by a home network device of user equipment UE, where the UE roams to a visited area, and the mobility management network element is a mobility management network element of a visited network selected by the UE at the visited area;

step 402, the mobility management element sends the visited network information to the UE or the radio access element of the visited network, where the visited network information is used by the UE or the radio access element to perform network selection.

On the basis corresponding to the embodiments shown in fig. 1 to fig. 3, this embodiment provides an implementation manner for acquiring visited network information for a UE and a radio access network element from the perspective of a mobility management network element.

In step 401, when the UE roams to a visited place and selects a visited place network currently available at the visited place, a registration request is sent to a mobility management network element of the selected visited place network, and after receiving the registration request, the mobility management network element sends an identifier of the visited place network to a home network device of the UE, so that the home network device determines the visited place of the UE and visited place network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the visited place network. Then, the mobility management network element receives the visited network information sent by the home network device of the user equipment UE, and stores the visited network information.

In step 402, the mobility management element sends the visited network information to the UE or a radio access element of the visited network.

In a specific implementation procedure, the mobility management element may include the visited network information in a mobility management accept message (e.g., an attach accept message or a location update accept message) or a mobility management reject message (e.g., an attach reject message or a location update reject message) to send to the UE. The mobile management network element can send the visited network information to the wireless access network element periodically or in real time when the UE is in a connected state.

In the method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by the embodiment of the invention, the visited place network information used for network selection at the visited place and sent by the home network equipment of the user equipment UE is received by the mobile management network element at the visited place, and the visited place network information is sent to the UE or the wireless access network element of the visited place network, so that the UE or the wireless access network element can select the optimal network configured by the home network operator of the UE at the visited place according to the visited place network information, thereby avoiding the UE from carrying out unnecessary network switching and background scanning, improving the network selection efficiency, reducing the power consumption of the user equipment and further improving the user experience of the roaming place.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a fifth embodiment of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by the present embodiment may be performed by a home network device of the UE, and the home network device may be implemented by software and/or hardware. As shown in fig. 5, the method of this embodiment may include:

step 501, a home network device of a user equipment UE receives an identifier of a visited network selected by the UE, which is sent by a mobility management network element of a visited place, and the UE roams to the visited place;

step 502, the home network device determines the visited place of the UE and visited place network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the visited place network;

step 503, the home network device sends the visited network information to the UE or the mobility management element.

On the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 1, fig. 2, and fig. 4, the embodiment provides an implementation manner for the UE or the mobility management element to acquire the visited network information from the perspective of the home network device.

In the specific implementation process, a home network operator of the UE configures corresponding visited network information for each visited area in advance on home network equipment according to roaming requirements of the UE. The home network equipment of the UE receives the identifier of the visited network selected by the UE, which is sent by the mobility management network element of the visited network, where the mobility management network element is the mobility management network element of the visited network selected by the UE, and the home network equipment of the UE can determine the visited network of the UE according to the mobile country code MCC in the identifier of the visited network. The home network device can store the mapping relation between the network information of the visited place and the visited place, and according to the mapping relation, the network information of the visited place related to the visited place is obtained.

The home network device sends the visited network information to the UE through a short message, or directly sends the visited network information to the UE through a mobile management network element of the visited network, and then sends the visited network information to the UE through the mobile management network element.

According to the method for selecting the network at the visited place, the home network equipment of the user equipment UE sends the visited place network information for network selection at the visited place to the UE according to the visited place of the UE, so that the UE can select the optimal network configured by a home network operator at the visited place, unnecessary network switching and background scanning of the UE are avoided, the network selection efficiency is improved, the power consumption of the user equipment is reduced, and the user experience of the roaming place is improved.

The following describes in detail a signaling flow of interaction between network devices of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to this embodiment. Those skilled in the art will understand that the radio access network element described below is a BSS, an RNS, or an eNodeB, the mobility management network element is an MSC, an SGSN, or an MME, and the home network device is an HLR or an HSS.

Fig. 6 is a first signaling flow chart of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to this embodiment includes:

601, a home network operator configures visited network information in home network equipment;

step 602, the UE selects an available visited network;

in step 602, if the UE has stored visited network information, the UE may select an available visited network by referring to the network selection method in the embodiment shown in fig. 1; if the UE does not store the visited network information, the UE selects an available visited network according to the existing network selection method;

step 603, the UE sends a registration request to the mobile management network element on the selected available visited network;

step 604, the mobile management network element sends the identifier of the selected visited network to the home network device;

step 605, the home network device determines the visited place of the UE and visited place network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the selected visited place network;

step 606, the home network device sends the visited network information to the mobility management network element;

step 607, the mobility management network element saves the visited network information;

step 608a, the mobility management element sends visited network information to the UE;

step 608b, the mobile management network element sends the visited network information to the wireless access network element;

those skilled in the art will appreciate that step 608a is not strictly time-sequential with step 608 b.

Step 609a, the UE stores the network information of the visited place and selects an available network from the network information of the visited place;

step 609b, the wireless access network element stores the network information of the visited place, and selects an available network in the network information of the visited place as a target network for switching or redirection when switching or redirection is executed for the UE.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that step 609a does not have a strict timing relationship with step 609 b. The specific implementation process of step 609a can be referred to as the embodiment shown in fig. 1, and the specific implementation process of step 609b can be referred to as the embodiment shown in fig. 3.

The method for selecting a network at a visited place provided by this embodiment ensures that the UE can select an optimal network configured by its home network operator at the visited place through interaction between network devices, avoids the UE performing unnecessary network switching and background scanning, improves network selection efficiency, reduces power consumption of the user equipment, and thereby improves user experience at a roaming place.

Fig. 7 is a signaling flow chart of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to this embodiment includes:

701, a home network operator configures visited place network information in home network equipment;

step 702, UE selects an available visited network;

in step 702, if the UE has stored visited network information, the UE may select an available visited network by referring to the network selection method in the embodiment shown in fig. 1; and if the UE does not store the visited network information, the UE selects an available visited network according to the existing network selection method.

Step 703, the UE sends a registration request to the mobility management element on the selected available visited network;

step 704a, the mobility management element sends the identifier of the selected visited network to the home network device;

step 704b, the home network device determines the visited place of the UE and the visited place network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the selected visited place network;

step 705, the home network device sends visited network information to the UE;

step 706, the UE saves the visited network information and selects an available network from the visited network information.

The difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in fig. 6 is that the home network device directly sends the visited network information to the UE, that is, the visited network information is transparently transmitted in all the network devices of the visited locations (including the mobility management network element and the radio access network element of the visited location). For a specific sending method, reference may be made to the embodiment shown in fig. 5, and details of this embodiment are not described herein again.

Fig. 8 is a signaling flow chart of a method for selecting a network at a visited place according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to this embodiment includes:

step 801, a home network operator configures visited place network information in home network equipment;

step 802, the home network equipment sends network information of the visited place to the UE;

the present step is performed after the visited place is successfully registered to the selected visited place network by the UE. The home network device sends the visited network information to the UE, which may specifically be in the following manner:

one possible implementation is: in the registration process initiated by the UE to the selected available visited network, the home network device sends the visited network information of the roaming country to the UE through the mobile management network element of the visited network.

Another possible implementation: after the UE successfully registers to the selected available visited network, the home network device sends visited network information to the UE using existing mechanisms, such as: via short messages or via over-the-air techniques.

Step 803, the UE saves the visited network information and includes the visited network information in the equivalent network list of the registered network of the UE.

Step 804, when the UE performs cell selection in the roaming area, a suitable cell is selected according to the currently registered network and the network in the equivalent network list of the registered network containing the visited area network information.

For a specific implementation process of selecting a suitable cell, refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 2, which is not described herein again.

Step 805, receiving a system message broadcasted by the suitable cell, learning at least one available network in the suitable cell from the system message, and selecting a network in the network information of the visited place from the at least one available network.

According to the method for selecting the network at the visited place, provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the cell reselection is carried out, the UE selects the proper cell according to the network in the visited place network information configured by the home network operator, and in at least one available network in the proper cell, the optimal network configured by the home network operator is selected according to the visited place network information, so that the UE is prevented from carrying out unnecessary network switching and background scanning, the network selection efficiency is improved, the electric quantity consumption of user equipment is reduced, and the user experience of the roaming place is improved.

Fig. 9 is a signaling flow chart of a fourth embodiment of the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 9, the method for selecting a network at a visited place according to this embodiment includes:

step 901, a home network operator configures visited network information in home network equipment;

step 902, the home network device sends visited network information to the UE;

step 903, the UE stores the network information of the visited place;

step 904, when the UE executes the cell selection in the roaming place, selecting a proper cell according to the network in the current registered network, the network information of the visited place and the equivalent network list of the registered network;

Step 905, the UE receives the system message broadcasted by the suitable cell, learns at least one available network in the suitable cell from the system message, and selects a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

The embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in fig. 8 in that, in step 904, the UE selects a suitable cell according to the currently registered network, the visited network information, and the networks in the equivalent network list of the registered network.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a ue according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 10, the user equipment 100 provided in this embodiment includes a first receiving module 1001 and a first network selecting module 1002.

The first receiving module 1001 is configured to receive visited network information sent by a home network device of a user equipment UE, where the visited network information includes an identifier of at least one network;

the first network selection module 1002 is configured to select an available network of the at least one network.

The user equipment of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the method embodiment shown in fig. 1, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the first network selecting module 1002 is further configured to select an available visited network, and send a registration request to a mobility management network element of the visited network, so that the mobility management network element sends an identifier of the visited network to the home network device, so that the home network device determines, according to the identifier of the visited network, a visited location of the UE and visited network information associated with the visited location.

Optionally, the first receiving module 1001 is specifically configured to,

Optionally, the first network selecting module 1002 is specifically configured to select one of the at least one available network as long as there is at least one available network in the at least one available network.

Optionally, the first network selecting module 1002 is specifically configured to select one available network of the at least one network when neither the network registered by the UE nor a network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is available.

Optionally, the first network selecting module 1002 is specifically configured to select one available network of the at least one network when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available.

Optionally, when the visited network information further includes a priority of each network in the at least one network, the first network selecting module 1002 is further configured to select an available network with a highest priority in the at least one network.

The user equipment of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the foregoing method embodiment, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a second ue embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the user equipment 110 provided in this embodiment includes a cell selection module 1101, a second receiving module 1102 and a second network selection module 1103.

The cell selection module 1101 is configured to select a suitable cell;

the second receiving module 1102 is configured to learn about at least one available network in the suitable cell;

the second network selection module 1103 is configured to select a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

The user equipment of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the embodiment in fig. 2, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the suitable cell is a cell of a network to which the user equipment UE is registered, or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of networks to which the UE is registered.

Optionally, the cell selection module 1101 is further configured to: and the visited network information is contained in an equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE.

Optionally, the suitable cell is a cell of a network in the visited network information; or a cell of a network to which the UE is registered; or a cell of a network in an equivalent network list of networks with which the UE is registered.

Optionally, the second receiving module 1102 is further configured to,

Optionally, the second receiving module 1102 is specifically configured to,

Optionally, the second network selecting module 1103 is specifically configured to select one of the at least one network as long as there is at least one of the at least one available network in the visited network information.

Optionally, the second network selecting module 1103 is specifically configured to select a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network when neither the network registered by the UE nor the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is in the at least one available network.

Optionally, the second network selecting module 1103 is specifically configured to select a network in the visited network information from the at least one available network when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is in the at least one available network.

Optionally, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and the second network selection module 1103 is further configured to select a network with a highest priority in the visited network information from the at least one available network.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio access network element according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The radio access network element 120 provided by this embodiment includes a third receiving module 1201 and a third network selecting module 1202.

The third receiving module 1201 is configured to receive visited network information sent by a mobility management network element of a visited place;

the third network selection module 1202 is configured to select, when performing handover or redirection, one available network in the visited network information as a target network for the handover or redirection for a user equipment UE, where the UE roams.

The radio access network element of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the embodiment in fig. 3, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the third network selecting module 1202 is specifically configured to select one of the at least one available network as the target network for handover or redirection for the UE as long as at least one available network exists in the visited network information.

Optionally, the third network selecting module 1202 is specifically configured to select, when neither the network registered by the UE nor a network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE is available, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE.

Optionally, the third network selecting module 1202 is specifically configured to select, when none of the network registered by the UE, the network in the equivalent network list of the network registered by the UE, the home network of the UE, and the network in the equivalent network list of the home network of the UE is available, one available network in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection for the UE.

Optionally, the visited network information includes at least one network and a priority of each network in the at least one network, and the third network selection module 1202 is further configured to select an available network with a highest priority in the visited network information as the target network for the handover or the redirection.

The radio access network element of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the foregoing method embodiment, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a mobility management network element according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The mobility management network element 130 provided in this embodiment includes a fourth receiving module 1301 and a first sending module 1302.

The fourth receiving module 1301 is configured to receive visited network information sent by a home network device of a user equipment UE, where the UE roams to a visited area, and the mobility management network element is a mobility management network element of a visited network selected by the UE in the visited area;

the first sending module 1302 is configured to send the visited network information to the UE or a radio access network element of the visited network, where the visited network information is used by the UE or the radio access network element for network selection.

The mobility management network element of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the embodiment in fig. 4, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a home network device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The home network device 140 provided in this embodiment includes a fifth receiving module 1401, an information determining module 1402, and a second sending module 1403.

A fifth receiving module 1401, configured to receive an identifier of a visited network selected by the UE, sent by a mobility management element of a visited place, where the UE roams;

the information determining module 1402 is configured to determine, according to the identifier of the visited network, a visited location of the UE and visited network information associated with the visited location;

a second sending module 1403 is configured to send the visited network information to the UE or the mobility management element.

The home network device of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the embodiment in fig. 5, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the second sending module 1403 is specifically configured to,

The home network device of this embodiment may be configured to execute the technical solution of the foregoing method embodiment, and the implementation principle and the technical effect are similar, which are not described herein again.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a third ue embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 15, the present embodiment provides a user device 150 including a processor 1501 and a memory 1502. The user equipment 150 may further comprise a transmitter 1503, a receiver 1504. The transmitter 1503 and the receiver 1504 may be connected to a processor 1501. The memory 1502 stores execution instructions, when the user device 150 runs, the processor 1501 communicates with the memory 1502, and the processor 1501 calls the execution instructions in the memory 1502 to execute the method embodiment shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth ue according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 16, the present embodiment provides a user device 160 including a processor 1601 and a memory 1602. The user equipment 160 may also include a transmitter 1603, a receiver 1604. The transmitter 1603 and the receiver 1604 may be coupled to a processor 1601. The memory 1602 stores an execution instruction, when the user equipment 160 runs, the processor 1601 communicates with the memory 1602, and the processor 1601 invokes the execution instruction in the memory 1602 to execute the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a second radio access network element according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 17, the present embodiment provides a radio access network element 170 including a processor 1701 and a memory 1702. Radio access network element 170 may also include a transmitter 1703, a receiver 1704. The transmitter 1703 and receiver 1704 may be coupled to the processor 1701. The memory 1702 stores execution instructions, when the radio access network element 170 runs, the processor 1701 communicates with the memory 1702, and the processor 1701 invokes the execution instructions in the memory 1702 to execute the embodiment of the method shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a second embodiment of a mobility management element in accordance with the present invention. As shown in fig. 18, the mobility management element 180 of the present embodiment includes a processor 1801 and a memory 1802. The mobility management element 180 may further include a transmitter 1803, a receiver 1804. Transmitter 1803 and receiver 1804 may be coupled to processor 1801. The memory 1802 stores an execution instruction, when the mobility management element 180 runs, the processor 1801 communicates with the memory 1802, and the processor 1801 invokes the execution instruction in the memory 1802, so as to execute the method embodiment shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a second home network device according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 19, the home network device 190 provided by the present embodiment includes a processor 1901 and a memory 1902. The home network device 190 may also include a transmitter 1903, a receiver 1904. The transmitter 1903 and receiver 1904 may be coupled to the processor 1901. The memory 1902 stores an execution instruction, when the home network device 190 runs, the processor 1901 communicates with the memory 1902, and the processor 1901 calls the execution instruction in the memory 1902 to execute the method embodiment shown in fig. 5.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or a portion of the steps of implementing the above-described method embodiments may be performed by hardware associated with program instructions. The program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When executed, the program performs steps comprising the method embodiments described above; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, and not to limit the same; while the invention has been described in detail and with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a network at a visited site, comprising:

user Equipment (UE) receives visited place network information sent by home network equipment through a mobile management network element of a visited place, wherein the visited place network information comprises an identifier of at least one Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN);

the UE selects an available VPLMN of the at least one VPLMN;

wherein the selecting, by the UE, one of the at least one VPLMN that is available comprises:

when at least one available VPLMN exists in the at least one VPLMN, the UE selects one of the at least one available VPLMN; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when the VPLMN registered by the UE and the network in the equivalent network list of the VPLMN registered by the UE are unavailable, the UE selects one available VPLMN in the at least one VPLMN; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when none of the VPLMNs registered by the UE, the VPLMNs in the equivalent network list of the VPLMNs registered by the UE, the HPLMNs of the UE, and the equivalent network list of the HPLMNs of the UE are available, the UE selects one of the at least one available VPLMNs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before the UE receives the visited network information sent by the UE's home network device, the method further comprises:

and the UE selects an available visited network and sends a registration request to a mobile management network element of the visited network, wherein the registration request is used for the mobile management network element to send the identifier of the visited network to the home network equipment according to the registration request.

3. The method of claim 2,

the identifier of the visited network is used for the home network equipment to determine the visited network information according to the identifier of the visited network.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the visited network information further includes a priority for each of the at least one network, and wherein the UE selects one of the at least one available VPLMNs, further comprising:

the UE selects an available VPLMN with a highest priority among the at least available VPLMNs.

5. A method for selecting a network at a visited site, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a mobile management network element receives visited place network information sent by home network equipment of User Equipment (UE), wherein the UE roams to a visited place, the mobile management network element is a mobile management network element of a visited place network selected by the UE at the visited place, and the visited place network information comprises at least one Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN) identifier;

the mobility management network element sends the visited network information to the UE, and when at least one available VPLMN exists in the at least one VPLMN, one of the at least one available VPLMN is a VPLMN selected by the UE; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when neither the VPLMN registered by the UE nor the network in the equivalent network list of the VPLMN registered by the UE is available, one available VPLMN of the at least one VPLMN is the VPLMN selected by the UE; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

when none of the VPLMNs registered by the UE, the VPLMNs in the equivalent network list of the VPLMNs registered by the UE, the HPLMNs of the UE, and the equivalent network list of the HPLMNs of the UE are available, one available VPLMN of the at least one VPLMN is the VPLMN selected by the UE.

6. A method for selecting a network at a visited site, comprising:

a home network device of User Equipment (UE) receives an identifier of a visited place network selected by the UE, which is sent by a mobile management network element of a visited place, wherein the UE is the UE roaming to the visited place;

the home network equipment determines a visited place of the UE and visited place network information associated with the visited place according to the identifier of the visited place network, wherein the visited place network information comprises the identifier of at least one Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN);

the home network equipment sends the visited network information to the UE through the mobile management network element;

when at least one available VPLMN exists in the at least one VPLMN, one of the at least one available VPLMN is a VPLMN selected by the UE; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

7. A terminal device, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive visited place network information sent by a home network device of the terminal apparatus through a mobility management network element of a visited place, where the visited place network information includes an identifier of at least one visited public land mobile network VPLMN;

a network selection module, configured to select one of the at least one available VPLMN when there is at least one available VPLMN in the at least one VPLMN; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

selecting an available VPLMN of the at least one VPLMN when neither a network in the equivalent network list of the VPLMN registered by the terminal device nor the VPLMN registered by the terminal device is available; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

selecting one of the at least one VPLMN that is available when none of the VPLMN registered by the terminal device, the VPLMN in the equivalent network list of the VPLMN registered by the terminal device, the home public land mobile network HPLMN of the terminal device, and the equivalent network list of the HPLMN of the terminal device are available.

8. The terminal apparatus of claim 7, wherein the network selection module is further configured to select an available visited network, and send a registration request to a mobility management element of the visited network, where the registration request is used for the mobility management element to send an identifier of the visited network to the home network device according to the registration request.

9. A terminal device according to claim 8,

10. The terminal apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein when the visited network information further includes a priority of each of the at least one network, the network selection module is further configured to select an available network with a highest priority in the at least one network.

11. A mobility management network element, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive visited network information sent by a home network device of user equipment UE, where the UE is a UE roaming to a visited place, the mobility management network element is a mobility management network element of a visited network selected by the UE at the visited place, and the visited network information includes an identifier of at least one visited public land mobile network VPLMN;

a sending module, configured to send the visited network information to the UE, where when there is at least one available VPLMN in the at least one VPLMN, one of the at least one available VPLMN is a VPLMN selected by the UE; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

12. A home network device, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive an identifier of a visited place network selected by a UE, where the UE is a UE roaming to the visited place, and the identifier is sent by a mobility management network element of the visited place;

an information determining module, configured to determine, according to an identifier of the visited network, a visited network of the UE and visited network information associated with the visited network, where the visited network information includes an identifier of at least one visited public land mobile network VPLMN; a sending module, configured to send the visited network information to the UE through the mobility management network element, where when at least one available VPLMN exists in the at least one VPLMN, one of the at least one available VPLMN is a VPLMN selected by the UE; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

13. A terminal device, comprising: a processor and a memory, the memory storing execution instructions that, when the apparatus is run, communicate between the processor and the memory, execution of the execution instructions by the processor causing the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 4.

14. A mobility management element comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions for execution, the processor being in communication with the memory when the mobility management element is operating, the execution of the instructions by the processor causing the mobility management element to perform the method of claim 5.

15. A home network apparatus, comprising: a processor and a memory, the memory storing execution instructions that, when executed by the home network apparatus, communicate between the processor and the memory, execution of the execution instructions by the processor causing the home network apparatus to perform the method of claim 6.

16. A communication system, characterized in that the communication system comprises a mobility management element according to claim 11 and a home network device according to claim 12.