CN110972330B

CN110972330B - Terminal equipment upgrading method and related equipment

Info

Publication number: CN110972330B
Application number: CN201811144512.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘蕾; 刘继武; 舒林
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-28
Filing date: 2018-09-28
Publication date: 2021-12-14
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-28
Also published as: CN110972330A

Abstract

The application discloses a terminal equipment upgrading method, which comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives a software updating triggering message sent by core network equipment, the software updating triggering message carries free APN information, a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection between the terminal equipment and a server is established according to the free APN information, the server is received based on the PDN connection, a software updating package sent by the core network equipment is used, and software updating is carried out according to the software updating package. The application also discloses a terminal equipment upgrading device. The method and the device for establishing the PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software through the preset APN are beneficial to solving the problem of inflexibility of establishing the PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software through the preset APN, and have no scene limitation.

Description

Terminal equipment upgrading method and related equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method for upgrading a terminal device and a related device.

Background

Due to the evolution rhythm of standards and industries, it is likely that a terminal device supports only long term evolution-new radio access (LTE-NR) Dual Connectivity (E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity, EN-DC), LTE, or LTE-NR Dual Connectivity (NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity, nen-DC) to a 5G core network in the early stage, but does not support stand-alone networking (SA) NR and NR-LTE Dual Connectivity (NE-DC). As operator networks are gradually upgraded from SA NR to NE-DC, many functions of the access network and the core network are added or changed greatly. At this time, a terminal device supporting only the original architecture is likely to be unable to normally access and perform services in the SA NR or NE-DC.

The terminal device can support some new functions by means of software upgrading, so that when the operator network is upgraded to SA NR or NE-DC, the terminal device can also be upgraded to a supported version by means of software upgrading. At this time, the terminal device needs to obtain the software update package from the server, and in a wireless environment, if the terminal device downloads the software update package from the server by using the original Access Point Name (APN) for the normal service, the flow for downloading the software update package needs to be charged to the user, whereas general software update packages are large, and if the user pays for the software update package, the user experience is poor. If the traffic generated for downloading the software update package is free, a free APN needs to be assigned to the terminal device.

Generally, a certain operator has a fixed APN, for example, the APN of china unicom has 3gwap and 3gnet, and these APN information are all preset in the terminal device. At this time, if a free APN is to be used to download the software update package, it is necessary to preset the free APN information to the terminal device. However, this approach is not flexible enough and cannot be implemented in some scenarios.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a terminal equipment upgrading method and related equipment, which are beneficial to solving the problem that PDN connection for upgrading terminal equipment software is not flexible by presetting APN, and have no scene limitation.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for upgrading a terminal device, including:

the method comprises the steps that terminal equipment receives a software updating trigger message sent by core network equipment, wherein the software updating trigger message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information; the terminal equipment establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection with a server according to the free APN information; the terminal equipment receives a software update package which is connected by the server based on the PDN and is sent by the core network equipment; and the terminal equipment updates the software according to the software updating package. Before the terminal equipment carries out software upgrading, a software updating triggering message carrying free APN information is sent to the terminal equipment, PDN connection is established based on the free APN information, the terminal equipment obtains a software updating package based on the PDN connection, the problem that the PDN connection for the terminal equipment software upgrading established through the preset APN is inflexible is solved, and no scene limitation exists.

In a possible embodiment, the software update trigger message carries free APN information of an access point name, which includes:

and the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of a context request message carried by an EPS (evolved distributed System) of a deactivated distribution system in a software updating trigger message.

In a possible embodiment, the deactivate EPS bearer context request message further includes a first cause value, where the first cause value indicates a cause for the network device to deactivate EPS bearers and is used to indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration options. Because the free APN information is carried in the request message for deactivating the EPS bearing context, and the function for indicating the terminal equipment to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration route selection is added to the original reason value (the original reason value after the function is added is the first reason value), the terminal equipment knows that the software upgrading is needed after receiving the message, and establishes the PDN connection with the server through the free APN information carried in the message, thereby realizing the downloading and updating of the software package, solving the problem that the PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software established through the preset APN is inflexible, and having no scene limitation.

In a possible embodiment, the software update trigger message further carries a second cause value, where the second cause value is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

In a possible embodiment, the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information and the second cause value, and includes:

the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of a request message for modifying EPS bearer context included in the software update trigger message, and the second cause value is carried in the request message for modifying EPS bearer context included in the software update trigger message. Because the free APN information is carried in the request message for modifying the EPS bearing context and the second cause value is added, the terminal equipment knows that software upgrading is needed after receiving the message, and establishes PDN connection with the server through the free APN information carried in the message, thereby realizing downloading and updating of the software package, solving the problem that the PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software established through the preset APN is inflexible, and having no scene limitation.

In a possible embodiment, the software update trigger message carries free APN information of an access point name, including:

and the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of an EPS session management container in an attachment acceptance message in the software updating triggering message.

In one possible embodiment, the EPS session management container is an activate default EPS context request message. Because the free APN information is carried in the activated default EPS bearing information contained in the attachment acceptance information, the terminal equipment knows that software upgrading is needed after receiving the information, and establishes PDN connection with the server through the free APN information carried in the information, thereby realizing downloading and updating of a software package, solving the problem of inflexibility of establishing PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software through the preset APN, and having no scene limitation.

In a possible embodiment, the software update trigger message further carries a third factor value; the third reason value is used for indicating the reason of detachment of the network equipment and indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the free APN information from the protocol configuration options.

In a possible embodiment, the software update triggering message carrying free access point name APN information and the third cause value includes:

the free APN information and the third cause value are carried in the detach message in the software update trigger message. Because the detach message carries free APN information and the function for indicating the terminal equipment to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration line selection is added to the original reason value (the original reason value after the function is added is the third reason value), the terminal is made to know that software updating is carried out, so that the terminal equipment knows that software upgrading is needed after receiving the message, and PDN connection between the terminal equipment and the server is established through the free APN information carried in the message, so that downloading and updating of a software package are realized, the problem that PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software established through the preset APN is inflexible is solved, and no scene limitation exists.

the free APN information carries a non-access stratum NAS software updating request message in the software updating trigger message; the NAS software updating request message is used for indicating the terminal equipment to carry out software updating.

Because the NAS software updating request message carries free APN information, the terminal knows that software updating is carried out, so that the terminal equipment knows that software updating is needed after receiving the message, and establishes PDN connection with the server through the free APN information carried in the message, thereby further realizing downloading and updating of a software package, solving the problem of inflexibility of establishing PDN connection for software updating of the terminal equipment through the preset APN, and having no scene limitation.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another method for upgrading a terminal device, including:

the method comprises the steps that core network equipment sends a software updating triggering message to terminal equipment, wherein the software updating triggering message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information, and the software updating triggering message is used for indicating the terminal equipment to update software; and the core network equipment receives a software update package sent by a server and sends the software update package to the terminal equipment.

In a possible embodiment, the deactivate EPS bearer context request message further includes a first cause value, where the first cause value is used to indicate a cause of the network device to deactivate EPS bearers and indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration options.

the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of a request message for modifying EPS bearer context included in the software update trigger message, and the second cause value is carried in the request message for modifying EPS bearer context included in the software update trigger message.

In one possible embodiment, the EPS session management container is an activate default EPS context request message.

the free APN information and the third cause value are carried in the detach message in the software update trigger message.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device upgrading apparatus, where the apparatus has a function of implementing a terminal device behavior in the above method design. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions. The modules may be software and/or hardware.

In one possible design, the apparatus structurally includes a receiver and a processor, where the receiver is configured to receive a software update trigger message sent by a core network device, where the software update trigger message carries free APN information of an access point name, and to receive a software update package, where the software update package is sent by the server through the PDN connection established by the processing unit and the core network device. The processor is configured to establish a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection between the terminal device and a server according to the free APN information received by the receiving unit, and perform software update according to the software update package received by the receiving unit.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device upgrading apparatus, where the apparatus has a function of implementing a core network device behavior in practice in the foregoing method. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In one possible design, the core network device includes a transmitter, a receiver, and a memory, where the memory is used to store instructions related to a program, and the transmitter is configured to send a software update trigger message to a terminal device, where the software update trigger message carries free APN information, and the software update trigger message is used to instruct the terminal device to perform software update, and send the software update package received by the receiving unit to the terminal device. The receiver is configured to receive a software update package sent by a server.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a terminal device upgrading system, including:

a terminal device for performing part or all of the method according to the first aspect;

a core network device configured to perform part or all of the method according to the second aspect;

the server is used for sending a software update package to the terminal equipment through the core network equipment based on the PDN connection after the PDN connection between the server and the terminal equipment is established;

and the PDN connection is established by the terminal equipment based on free Access Point Name (APN) information.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, including: computer software instructions; the computer software instructions, when executed in the information indicating apparatus, cause the information indicating apparatus to perform the methods of the first to second aspects described above.

In a seventh aspect, this embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product containing instructions, which when run in an information indicating apparatus, causes the information indicating apparatus to execute the methods described in the first aspect to the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor and may further include a memory, and is configured to implement the functions of the network device or the terminal device in the foregoing method. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices.

It can be seen that, in the scheme of the embodiment of the present application, before performing software upgrade, the terminal device receives a software update trigger message carrying free APN information sent by the core network device, establishes a PDN connection with the server according to the free APN information, acquires a software update package from the server based on the PDN connection, and performs software update according to the software update package. The method and the device for establishing the PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software through the preset APN are beneficial to solving the problem that the PDN connection for upgrading the terminal equipment software is not flexible through the preset APN, and scene limitation does not exist.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of EN-DC;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a SA NR network architecture;

fig. 3 is a schematic frame diagram of a terminal device upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is an interactive flowchart of a method for upgrading a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is an interactive flowchart of another method for upgrading a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a core network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of another terminal device provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring first to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of EN-DC. As shown in fig. 1, the network architecture includes: a mobile management entity/serving gateway (MME/S-GW), an eNB and an en-gNB.

The MME is a key control node of an LTE access network in a 3GPP protocol, and is responsible for positioning, paging, and relaying of terminal equipment in an idle mode, and simply, the MME is responsible for a signaling processing part.

The main functions of the S-GW include: when switching between the base stations eNB of the LTE is carried out, the base stations eNB can be used as a local anchor point and assist in finishing the reordering function of the eNB; when switching among different access systems of 3GPP, the system is used as a mobility anchor point and also has a reordering function; performing a lawful interception function; routing and forwarding the data packet; grouping and marking are carried out on an uplink transmission layer and a downlink transmission layer; in idle state, the downlink packet buffer and the service request function triggered by the initiation network; for inter-operator charging, etc.

The base station eNB of LTE is connected with the MME/S-GW through an S1 interface, and comprises a control plane and a user plane. And an interface does not exist between the NR base station en-gNB and the MME, and only an S1-U control plane interface exists between the NR base station en-gNB and the S-GW. The eNB and the en-gbb interact via an X2 interface, that is, the control plane must pass through the LTE base station eNB.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of SA NR. As shown in fig. 2, the network architecture includes: access and mobile management entity/user plane function (AMF/UPF) and gNB.

The AMF is used for being responsible for mobility and access management of a control plane and comprises functions of registration management, reachability management, mobility management, access authentication, access authorization and the like; replaces the function of the MME in the original LTE.

The UPF is used to implement a user plane function of a core network, and is mainly responsible for transmission of service data, such as forwarding of packet data packets, and replaces an S-GW (PDN gateway, P-GW) that performs routing and forwarding functions in the original LTE.

The NR base station gNB is directly connected with a 5G core network AMF/UPF through an NG interface and does not need to be transferred through an LTE base station eNB.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic frame diagram of a terminal device upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the system framework includes: terminal device 301, server 302 and core network device 303.

The terminal device 301 may also be referred to as a user device, and may be a wireless terminal device capable of receiving network device scheduling and indication information, and the wireless terminal device may be a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device having a wireless connection function, or other processing device connected to a wireless modem. Wireless terminal devices, which may be mobile terminal devices such as mobile telephones (or "cellular" telephones), computers, and data cards, such as portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, may communicate with one or more core networks or the internet via a radio access network (e.g., a RAN). Examples of such devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), tablet computers (pads), and computers with wireless transceiving functions. A wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile station), a Mobile Station (MS), a remote station (remote station), an Access Point (AP), a remote terminal device (remote terminal), an access terminal device (access terminal), a user terminal device (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), a Subscriber Station (SS), a user terminal device (CPE), a terminal (terminal), a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc. The wireless terminal device may also be a wearable device and a next generation communication system, for example, a terminal device in a 5G network or a terminal device in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network for future evolution, a terminal device in an NR communication system, etc.

The server 302 is a device for providing software upgrading service for the terminal device 301.

A core network is a network that connects a service provider and an access network, or an access network with other access networks, and generally refers to the parts of the network other than the access network and the subscriber premises network. The core network device 303 is a device for implementing the above functions. The core network device and the network device may be separate physical devices, or the function of the core network device and the logic function of the network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a physical device may be integrated with a part of the function of the core network device and a part of the function of the network device.

The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of core network devices, servers, and terminal devices included in the communication system.

After the terminal device 301 receives the software update trigger message sent by the core network device 303, the terminal device 301 obtains free APN information for software upgrade from the software update trigger message, and establishes Packet Data Networks (PDNs) connection with the server 302 according to the free APN information. After the PDN connection is established, the server 302 forwards a software update package to the terminal device 301 through the core network device 303 based on the PDN connection, and the terminal device 301 performs software update according to the software update package to support a new network, including SA NR and NE-DC.

It should be noted that the terminal device 301 obtains the software update package from the server 302 based on the PDN connection established according to the free APN information, and the traffic generated by obtaining the software update package is free for the user. The terminal device software update or software upgrade referred to in this application instructs the terminal device to perform a function upgrade in a software manner to support a new network.

The terms "first", "second" and "third", etc. in the description and claims of this application and in the drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for limiting a particular order.

In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is an interactive flowchart of a method for upgrading a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

s401, the core network equipment sends a software updating triggering message to the terminal equipment, wherein the software updating triggering message carries free APN information and is used for indicating the terminal equipment to update software.

The free APN information includes an APN cell identifier (IEI), an APN content length (length of APN contents), and an APN value. The format of the APN information is shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1

the free APN information may be carried in a protocol configuration option of an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer context request (deactivated EPS bearer context request) message in the software update trigger message.

Specifically, the protocol identifier 0006H in the protocol configuration options (protocol configuration options) in the deactivation EPS context request message is used to indicate an apn (apn for software update) for upgrade. The protocol id 0006H is the protocol id of the reserved network device to terminal device. The free APN information is carried in the protocol identifier content (protocol identifier content). The free APN information format is described in table 1 above, and will not be described here.

Further, the message for requesting context for deactivating EPS bearer further includes a first cause value, where the first cause value is used to indicate a cause for the network device to deactivate EPS bearer and indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration option.

For example, the first cause value may be specifically expressed as: 01110010 terminal device software update (UE software update).

The specific format of the above cause values can be seen in table 2 below, and table 2 is a specific format table of the cause values.

TABLE 2

The second original value may be specifically represented as: 00000001 terminal device software upgrade (UEsoftware update), i.e. the second cause value mentioned above is represented by 8 bits. The specific format of the second cause value can be seen in table 3 below.

TABLE 3

Further, the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information and the second cause value, and includes:

the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of an EPS session management container (EPS message container) in an attach accept (attach accept) message in the software update trigger message.

Specifically, the protocol identifier 0006H in the protocol configuration option in the default activated EPS context bearer request message is used to indicate the APN for upgrade. The protocol identifier 0006H is the identifier of the reserved network to terminal device. The protocol identifier content carries the free APN information, and the format of the free APN information is described in table 1, which is not described herein.

Wherein, the third cause value may be represented as: 01100111 terminal equipment software update (UE software update), i.e. the third cause value is represented by 8 bits.

the free APN information and the third cause value are carried in the detach (detach) message in the software update trigger message.

Specifically, the detach message carries the free APN information. The format of the free APN information is specifically referred to table 1, and will not be described herein. The "detach type" in the detach message is set to "re-attach required" to instruct the terminal device to re-initiate an attach and establish a PDN connection. Wherein the third cause value is carried in an EPS mobility management cause value (EMM) in the detach message.

the free APN information carries a non-access stratum (NAS) software updating request message in the software updating triggering message; the NAS software updating request message is used for indicating the terminal equipment to carry out software updating.

The format of the free APN information is specifically shown in table 1, and will not be described herein. Specifically, the contents of the NAS software update trigger message are shown in table 4 below, where table 4 is a table of contents of NAS software update trigger messages.

TABLE 4

It should be noted that the carrying type in the NAS software update triggering message content includes a necessary carrying type and an optional carrying type, the necessary carrying type is denoted by "M", the optional carrying type is denoted by "O", the format may include a numerical value and a length and a numerical value, the numerical value type is denoted by "V", and the length and the numerical value type are denoted by "LV".

S402, the terminal device receives a software updating trigger message sent by the core network device, wherein the software updating trigger message carries free APN information.

And S403, the terminal equipment sends PDN connection establishment information to the core network equipment.

S404, the core network equipment forwards the PDN connection establishing information to the server.

After acquiring the free APN information from the software updating trigger message, the terminal equipment sends PDN connection establishment information to the server through the core network equipment according to the free APN information, and then establishes PDN connection between the terminal equipment and the server.

Specifically, after the terminal device obtains the free APN information from the software update trigger message, the terminal device forwards PDN connection establishment information to the server through the core network device according to the free APN information, so as to establish a PDN connection with the server.

S405, the server sends a software update package to core network equipment based on the PDN connection.

S406, the core network equipment receives the software update package sent by the server.

S407, the core network device sends the software update package to the terminal device.

Specifically, after the PDN connection is established, the server sends a software update packet to the terminal device through the core network device based on the PDN connection,

and S408, the terminal equipment acquires the software updating package and updates the software according to the software updating package.

In a possible embodiment, after acquiring the free APN information from the software update trigger message, the terminal device forwards the PDN connection establishment information to the server through the core network device at regular time according to the free APN information, so as to establish a PDN connection with the server. And after the PDN connection is established, the server sends a software update package to the terminal equipment through the core network equipment, and the terminal equipment updates software according to the software update package. And the terminal equipment realizes the software updating at regular time according to the method.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is an interactive flowchart of another method for upgrading a terminal device provided in this embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

s501, the core network equipment sends an identification obtaining request message to the terminal equipment, wherein the identification obtaining request is used for requesting to obtain the identification of the terminal equipment.

For example, the terminal equipment identifier may be an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the terminal equipment.

S502, the terminal equipment sends a response message to the core network equipment.

The response message is used for responding to the identifier obtaining request, and the response message carries the identifier of the terminal device.

S503, the core network equipment sends the terminal equipment identification to a server.

S504, the server judges whether the terminal equipment needs to be upgraded according to the terminal equipment identification.

Wherein, when the terminal device needs to perform software upgrade, the server executes step S705; or when the terminal equipment does not need to carry out software upgrading, the server does not carry out any operation.

And S505, the server sends a software updating trigger message to the core network equipment.

S506, the core network equipment sends a software updating triggering message to the terminal equipment.

The software update trigger message carries APN information, the APN information is free APN information, and the format of the APN information can be referred to the relevant description in table 1, which is not described herein.

In this embodiment, the software update trigger message includes a request message for deactivating EPS bearer context, a request message for modifying EPS bearer context, an attach accept message, an detach message, or an NAS software update request message. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the specific type of the software update triggering message is not limited.

In a possible embodiment, the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of the deactivation EPS bearer context request message in the software update trigger message.

The protocol identity 0006H in the protocol configuration options (protocol configurations options) in the deactivation EPS context request message is used to indicate an apn (apn for software update) for upgrade. The protocol identity 0006H is the reserved network-to-terminal protocol identity. The free APN information is carried in the protocol identifier content (protocol identifier content). The free APN information format is described in table 1 above, and will not be described here.

The ESM session management cause value in the EPS context deactivation request message includes a first cause value, where the first cause value is used to indicate a reason for the network device to deactivate the EPS bearer and indicate the terminal device to acquire the free APN information from the protocol configuration option.

Wherein, the first cause value may be represented as: 01110010UE software update, i.e. the first cause value is indicated by 8 bits.

In a possible embodiment, the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of the modified EPS bearer context request message in the software update trigger message.

It should be noted that the specific format of the free APN information is shown in table 1, and will not be described herein.

Wherein, the request message for modifying the EPS bearer context further includes a second cause value, and the second cause value is used for instructing the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

It should be noted that the specific format of the cause value can be seen from table 2, and table 2 is a specific format table of the cause value.

Wherein, the second cause value may be represented as: 00000001 terminal device software upgrade (UE software update)), i.e. the second cause value is represented by 8 bits. The specific format of the second cause value can be found in the above table 3, and will not be described again.

In a possible embodiment, the free APN information is carried in an attach accept message in the software update trigger message. The attach accept message includes an EPS session management container (EPS message container).

Optionally, the EPS session management container may be an activate default EPS bearer context request message.

Wherein, the protocol identifier 0006H in the protocol configuration option in the default activated EPS bearer context request message is used to indicate the APN for upgrade. The protocol identifier 0006H is the identifier of the reserved network to terminal device. The protocol identifier content carries the free APN information, and the format of the free APN information is described in table 1, which is not described herein.

In a possible embodiment, the free APN information carries a detach message in the software update trigger message. The detach type in the detach message is set to "detach required" for instructing the terminal device to re-initiate an attach and establish a PDN connection.

The EPS mobility management cause value (EMM cause) in the detach message further includes a third cause value, where the third cause value is used to instruct the terminal device to perform software upgrade and to obtain free APN information from the detach message.

Alternatively, the third factor value may be represented as: 01100111 terminal device software update (UE software update).

In a possible embodiment, the software update triggering message is a NAS software update request message. The NAS software updating request information carries free APN information. The free APN information format is specifically referred to in table 1 above, and will not be described herein.

Specifically, the contents of the NAS software update trigger message are shown in table 4, and table 4 is a table of contents of NAS software update trigger messages, which is not described herein.

And S507, the terminal equipment sends PDN connection establishment information to the core network equipment.

And S508, the core network equipment forwards the PDN connection establishing information to the server.

S509, the server sends the software update package to the core network device.

And S510, the core network equipment sends the software update package to the terminal equipment.

Specifically, after the PDN connection between the terminal device and the server is established, the server forwards the software update packet to the terminal device through the core network device based on the PDN connection.

And S511, the terminal equipment updates the software according to the software updating package.

In a possible embodiment, after the PDN connection for updating the terminal device software is established, the terminal device disconnects the PDN connection for the service with the server; and after the software of the terminal equipment is successfully updated, reestablishing the PDN connection for the service between the terminal equipment and the server.

In a possible embodiment, the terminal device does not disconnect the PDN connection for the service with the server during the PDN connection establishment for the terminal device software update.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device upgrading apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus is configured to execute the function of the terminal device behavior in the foregoing method embodiment, as shown in fig. 6, and includes:

a receiving unit 601, configured to receive a software update trigger message sent by a core network device, where the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information;

a processing unit 602, configured to establish a packet data network PDN connection between the terminal device and a server according to the free APN information received by the receiving unit;

the receiving unit 601 is further configured to receive a software update package, where the software update package is sent by the server through the PDN connection and the core network device that are established by the processing unit;

the processing unit 602 is further configured to perform software update according to the software update package received by the receiving unit.

It should be noted that, the detailed description of the software update triggering message can refer to the related description in step S401, and will not be described here.

It should be noted that the above units (the receiving unit 601 and the processing unit 602) are configured to execute relevant steps of the above method.

In the present embodiment, the terminal device upgrade apparatus 600 is presented in the form of a unit. An "element" may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. Further, the above receiving unit 601 and processing unit 602 may be implemented by a terminal device shown in fig. 9.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device upgrading apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus is configured to execute a function of a core network device behavior in the foregoing method embodiment. As shown in fig. 7, includes:

a sending unit 701, configured to send a software update trigger message to a terminal device, where the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, and the software update trigger message is used to instruct the terminal device to perform software update;

a receiving unit 702, configured to receive a software update package sent by a server;

the sending unit 701 is further configured to send the software update package received by the receiving unit to the terminal device.

and the free APN information is carried in a protocol configuration option of an EPS session management container in an attachment acceptance message in the software updating trigger.

The units (the transmitting unit 701 and the receiving unit 702) are configured to execute the steps related to the method.

In the present embodiment, the terminal device upgrade apparatus 700 is presented in the form of a unit. An "element" may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. Further, the above transmitting unit 701 and receiving unit 702 may be implemented by a network device shown in fig. 8.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a network device (such as a core network device in the above embodiment) involved in the above embodiment.

The network device includes a transmitter/receiver 801, a controller/processor 802, and a memory 803. The transmitter/receiver 801 is used to support information transceiving between the network device and the terminal device in the above embodiments. The controller/processor 802 performs various functions for communicating with terminal devices. In the uplink, uplink signals from the terminal device are received via the antenna, conditioned by the receiver 801, and further processed by the controller/processor 802 to recover traffic data and signaling information sent by the terminal device. On the downlink, traffic data and signaling messages are processed by a controller/processor 802 and conditioned by a transmitter 801 to generate a downlink signal, which is transmitted via an antenna to terminal devices. Controller/processor 802 may also perform the processes described in fig. 4 and 5 with respect to network devices and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The memory 803 is used to store program codes and data of the network device.

Fig. 9 shows a simplified schematic diagram of a possible design structure of the terminal device involved in the above-described embodiment. The terminal equipment includes a transmitter 901, a receiver 902, a controller/processor 903, a memory 904, and a modem processor 905.

The transmitter 901 is configured to transmit an uplink signal, which is transmitted to the network device in the above-described embodiment via the antenna. On the downlink, the antenna receives a downlink signal (DCI) transmitted by the network device in the above-described embodiment. The receiver 902 is configured to receive a downlink signal (DCI) received from an antenna. In modem processor 905, an encoder 906 receives and processes traffic data and signaling messages to be sent on the uplink. A modulator 907 further processes (e.g., symbol maps and modulates) the coded traffic data and signaling messages and provides output samples. A demodulator 909 processes (e.g., demodulates) the input samples and provides symbol estimates. A decoder 908 processes (e.g., decodes) the symbol estimates and provides decoded data and signaling messages for transmission to the terminal device. The encoder 906, modulator 907, demodulator 909, and decoder 908 can be implemented by a combined modem processor 905. These elements are processed according to the radio access technology employed by the radio access network.

The controller/processor 903 controls and manages the operation of the terminal device, and executes the processing performed by the terminal device in the above-described embodiment. For example, the method is used for controlling the terminal device to obtain at least two MCS tables corresponding to at least two transport blocks, where each transport block in the at least two transport blocks corresponds to one MCS table in the at least two MCS tables; receiving at least two transport blocks according to at least two MCS indices corresponding to the at least two transport blocks and at least two MCS tables corresponding to the at least two transport blocks and/or other processes of the techniques described herein. The controller/processor 903 is used to support the terminal device to perform the processes S402 and S408 in fig. 4 and the process S511 in fig. 5, as examples.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory, for example, a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of performing a storage function for storing program instructions and/or data.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules or units is only one logical functional division, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another device, 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 be one physical unit or a plurality of physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed in a plurality of different places. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The method provided by the embodiment of the present application may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network appliance, a terminal, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., SSD), among others.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for upgrading terminal equipment is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a software updating triggering message sent by a core network device, wherein the software updating triggering message is used for indicating the terminal device to update software, and carries free Access Point Name (APN) information;

the terminal equipment establishes a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection with a server according to the free APN information;

the terminal equipment receives a software update package which is connected by the server based on the PDN and is sent by the core network equipment;

and the terminal equipment updates the software according to the software updating package.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, and comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the deactivate EPS bearer context request message further includes a first cause value, and the first cause value is used to indicate a cause for a network device to deactivate an EPS bearer and indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration option.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a second cause value, and wherein the second cause value is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the software update trigger message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information and the second cause value, and wherein the method comprises:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the software update trigger message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information, comprising:

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the EPS session management container is an activate default EPS context request message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a third factor value; the third reason value is used for indicating the reason of detachment of the network equipment and indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the software update trigger message carrying free access point name, APN, information and the third cause value comprises:

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the software update trigger message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information, comprising:

the free APN information carries a non-access stratum NAS software updating request message in the software updating trigger message;

the software update triggering message is used for instructing the terminal device to update software, and includes:

the NAS software update request message is used to instruct the terminal device to perform software update.

11. A method for upgrading terminal equipment is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that core network equipment sends a software updating triggering message to terminal equipment, wherein the software updating triggering message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information, and the software updating triggering message is used for indicating the terminal equipment to update software;

the core network equipment receives a software update package sent by a server;

and the core network equipment sends the software update package to the terminal equipment.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the deactivate EPS bearer context request message further includes a first cause value, and wherein the first cause value is used to indicate a cause for a network device to deactivate an EPS bearer and indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration option.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a second cause value, and wherein the second cause value is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name, APN, information and the second cause value, and wherein the method comprises:

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the EPS session management container is an activate default EPS context request message.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a third factor value; the third reason value is used for indicating the reason of detachment of the network equipment and indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the software update trigger message carrying free access point name, APN, information and the third cause value comprises:

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

21. A terminal device upgrading apparatus, comprising:

the device comprises a receiving unit and a processing unit, wherein the receiving unit is used for receiving a software updating triggering message sent by core network equipment, and the software updating triggering message carries free Access Point Name (APN) information; the software updating triggering message is used for indicating the terminal equipment to update software;

the processing unit is used for establishing a Packet Data Network (PDN) connection between the terminal equipment and the server according to the free APN information received by the receiving unit;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a software update package, where the software update package is sent by the server through the PDN connection and the core network device that are established by the processing unit;

and the processing unit is used for updating software according to the software update package received by the receiving unit.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the software update trigger message carries free APN information, comprising:

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the deactivate EPS bearer context request message further includes a first cause value, and wherein the first cause value is used to indicate a cause for a network device to deactivate an EPS bearer and indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration option.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a second cause value, and wherein the second cause value is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name, APN, information and the second cause value, and wherein the software update trigger message comprises:

26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the EPS session management container is an activate default EPS context request message.

28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a third factor value; the third reason value is used for indicating the reason of detachment of the network equipment and indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the software update trigger message carrying free access point name, APN, information and the third cause value comprises:

30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

31. A terminal device upgrading apparatus, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send a software update trigger message to a terminal device, where the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, and the software update trigger message is used to instruct the terminal device to perform software update;

the receiving unit is used for receiving the software updating package sent by the server;

the sending unit is further configured to send the software update package received by the receiving unit to the terminal device.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the deactivate EPS bearer context request message further includes a first cause value, and wherein the first cause value is used to indicate a cause for a network device to deactivate an EPS bearer and indicate the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from the protocol configuration option.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a second cause value, and wherein the second cause value is used to instruct the terminal device to obtain the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name, APN, information and the second cause value, and wherein the software update trigger message comprises:

36. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name APN information, comprising:

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the EPS session management container is an activate default EPS context request message.

38. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the software update trigger message further carries a third factor value; the third reason value is used for indicating the reason of detachment of the network equipment and indicating the terminal equipment to acquire the free APN information from a protocol configuration option.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the software update trigger message carrying free access point name, APN, information and the third cause value comprises:

40. The apparatus of claim 31 or the apparatus of claims 3 or 4, wherein the software update trigger message carries free access point name, APN, information, and comprises:

41. A terminal device upgrade system, comprising:

for executing a terminal device according to any of claims 21-30;

for executing the core network device according to any of claims 31-40; and

42. A computer storage medium, characterized in that the computer storage medium stores a computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-10.

43. A computer storage medium, characterized in that the computer storage medium stores a computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method according to any of claims 11-20.