CN112449339B

CN112449339B - Network roaming method, device, terminal and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN112449339B
Application number: CN201910755087.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韦安妮; 马帅
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2019-08-15
Filing date: 2019-08-15
Publication date: 2023-05-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-15
Also published as: CN112449339A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a network roaming method, a device, a terminal and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: determining a home network of a terminal requesting to visit a current network; if the home network is different from the current network, converting authentication information of the terminal in the home network and current authentication information of the terminal in the current network so as to finish authentication of the terminal in the current network; converting a network protocol between the home network and the current network; based on the converted protocol, the interaction of signaling and data between the current network and the home network is realized.

Description

Network roaming method, device, terminal and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to network handover technology, and relates to, but is not limited to, a network roaming method, device, terminal and storage medium.

Background

In international standards, independent networking (SA) supports fourth generation mobile communication technology or fifth generation mobile communication technology (the 4th Generation mobile communication technology/the5th Generation mobile communication technology, 4G/5G) interoperation, but access through a visitor SA is not possible when the SA is not deployed by the home. If a Non-independent Networking (NSA) user holds a dual-mode terminal to access an SA network at a visited place, an authentication flow of SA access needs to be solved, but in the related art, because a roaming interworking scheme of a visited operator 5G core network and a home 4G core network is not available, the visited place accesses the SA network, and cannot find a home subscriber server (Home Subscriber Server, HSS) to which the home subscriber server belongs, so that mutual authentication between the terminal and the network cannot be performed, and finally roaming between 4G is changed, and a user cannot enjoy a high-quality experience brought by the visited operator 5G network.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a network roaming method, a network roaming device, a terminal and a storage medium, which can realize roaming of the terminal among different core networks.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application is realized as follows:

the embodiment of the application provides a network roaming method, which comprises the following steps:

determining a home network of a terminal requesting to visit a current network;

if the home network is different from the current network, converting authentication information of the terminal in the home network and current authentication information of the terminal in the current network to finish authentication of the terminal in the current network;

converting a network protocol between the home network and the current network;

based on the converted protocol, the interaction of signaling and data between the current network and the home network is realized.

An embodiment of the present application provides a network roaming device, including:

a first determining module, configured to determine a home network of a terminal that requests to visit a current network;

a first conversion module, configured to convert, if the home network is different from the current network, authentication information of the terminal in the home network and current authentication information of the terminal in the current network, so as to complete authentication of the terminal in the current network;

A second conversion module, configured to convert a network protocol between the home network and the current network;

and the first interaction module is used for realizing the interaction of signaling and data between the current network and the home network based on the converted protocol.

An embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus, including at least: a controller and a storage medium configured to store executable instructions, wherein:

the controller is configured to execute stored executable instructions configured to perform the network roaming method provided above.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions configured to perform the network roaming method provided above.

The embodiment of the application provides a network roaming method, a device, a terminal and a storage medium, which realize roaming of the terminal among different networks by deploying protocol conversion between a home network and a current network in a current network of a visiting place under the condition that the terminal with the home network is the current network.

Drawings

In the drawings (which are not necessarily drawn to scale), like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like reference numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example and not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed herein.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of an embodiment 5G of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of an embodiment 4G of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a non-independent networking architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an independent networking architecture in accordance with an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a network roaming method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another implementation of the network roaming method according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating another implementation of the network roaming method according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7B is a flowchart illustrating another implementation of the network roaming method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8A is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SA network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8B is a roaming flow chart of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SA network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9A is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 9B is a roaming flow chart of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10A is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10B is a roaming flow chart of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route for a terminal of a home NSA network to access a SB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network accessing an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a network roaming device according to an embodiment of the application;

fig. 14 is a schematic view of the composition structure of the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the present application.

In the following description, suffixes such as "module", "component", or "unit" for representing elements are used only for facilitating the description of the present application, and are not of specific significance per se. Thus, "module," "component," or "unit" may be used in combination.

The terminal may be implemented in various forms. For example, terminals described in the present application may include mobile terminals such as cell phones, tablet computers, notebook computers, palm computers, personal digital assistants (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), portable media players (Portable Media Player, PMP), navigation devices, wearable devices, smart bracelets, pedometers, and stationary terminals such as digital TVs, desktop computers, and the like.

The following description will be given taking a mobile terminal as an example, and those skilled in the art will understand that the configuration according to the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a fixed type terminal in addition to elements particularly used for a moving purpose.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following will be explained first:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, the 5G network architecture includes:

the system architecture comprises an end-to-end node or network element comprising: a 5G terminal 101; AN Access Network (R) AN) 102, a user plane function (User plane Function, UPF) 103, and a Data Network (DN) 104; the 5G control plane adopts a service-based architecture, and the control plane network elements include an authentication server function (Authentication Server Function, AUSF) 105, a mobility management function (Mobility Management Function, AMF) 106, a session management function (Session Management Function, SMF) 107, a network slice selection function (Network Slice Selection Function, NSSF) 108, a network opening function (Network Exposure Function, NEF) 109, a network storage function (NF Repository Function, NRF) 110, a policy control function (Policy Control Functio, PCF) 111, a unified data management (Unified Data Management, UDM) 112, and an application function (Applications Function, AF) 113.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 4G network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 2, the 4G network architecture includes: a terminal 201, third generation mobile communication (The 3rd Generation Mobile Communications,E-UTRAN) 202, UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, UTRAN) 203, access network GERAN204, mobility management entity (Mobility Management Entity, MME) 205, home subscriber server (Home Subscriber Server, HSS) 206, serving network support node (Serving GPRS Support Node, SGSN) 207, serving Gateway (SGW) 208, PDN Gateway (PGW) 209, policy charging function (Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF) 210 and operator IP services 211.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of a non-independent networking architecture according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 3, from the perspective of a core network, an NSA wireless operation mode is similar to 4G, and is an enhancement of a 4G technology (similar to carrier aggregation, 5G is used as a 4G subcarrier to transmit data), NSA signaling goes away from 4G, and a data portion goes away from 5G, and a 4G core network is used. In NSA networks, terminal 301 provides only the non-access stratum data plane for data supplemental heating by transmitting 5G non-access stratum signaling and partial access stratum broadcast to 5G network base station 303 and 4G core network 304 using long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) network 302.

Fig. 4 is an independent networking architecture diagram in the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, the SA is a completely new 5G from end to end, the SA wireless working mode is a completely new 5G, signaling and data all walk 5G, and a 5G core network is used. The terminal 401 can communicate between the 4G network base station 402 and the 5G network base station 403 of the network, and the signaling and data of the access layer and the non-access layer are all transmitted through 5G, and the information transferred by the 5G core network 404 is sent to the terminal through the 5G network base station 403; the information delivered by the 4G core network 405 is sent to the terminal through the 4G network base station 402.

In the related art, the roaming essence is roaming of the core network. At present, international roaming generally adopts an HR (Home Routed) scheme, and authentication, subscription, data and the like of a user need to interact with a Home location. The roaming nature of SA and NSA is interworking of 5G core network and 4G core network. I.e. the user plane data needs to be routed back to the home operator while the user data (authentication and subscription data) has to be retrieved from the home operator network. The requirement that the roaming terminal uses the 5G SA network is that the home operator of the terminal should deploy network elements (such as UDM/HSS, SMF/PGW-C or UPF/PGW-U) of 5G SA, such as user data, session management, user plane and the like, and perform international roaming intercommunication through corresponding interfaces (such as a brand new 5G SA interface).

An embodiment of the present application provides a network roaming method, and fig. 5 is a schematic implementation flow diagram of the network roaming method of the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, and is described with reference to the method shown in fig. 5:

step S501, determining the home network of the terminal requesting to visit the current network.

Here, the terminal has the capability of registering with the home network and registering with the current network, and supports both NSA and SA network modes. The terminal may comprise a removable electronic device such as a cell phone, tablet computer, etc. In this embodiment, a mobile phone is taken as an example for illustration, and the home network may be understood as a network of a home location to which a mobile phone number of the mobile phone belongs, for example, the home location of the mobile phone number of the mobile phone is the united states, then the home location network is a network for mobile phone communication in the united states, the current network is a network that the mobile phone requests to visit, for example, the home location of the mobile phone number of the mobile phone is the united states, enters into the china, requests to visit a mobile 5G network in the china, and then the mobile 5G network is the current network.

Step S502, if the home network is different from the current network, converting the authentication information of the terminal in the home network and the current authentication information of the terminal in the current network, so as to complete the authentication of the terminal in the current network.

Here, if the home network is an NSA network and the current network is an SA network, the authentication information of the terminal in the home network is converted into current authentication information of the terminal in the current network to complete authentication of the terminal in the current network. And acquiring authentication information of the terminal in the home network from the HSS of the home network by adopting a converted protocol, namely adopting the MME in the current network, then transmitting the authentication information to the AMF of the current network by the MME, and mapping the authentication information of the terminal in the home network into the current authentication information of the current network by the AMF. And under the condition that the terminal can register with the home network and register with the current network, when detecting that the terminal requests to visit the request information of the current network, converting the authentication information between the home network and the current network. For example, the terminal can register in the home network 4G network and register in the current network 5G network, so that the terminal can directly apply for accessing to the current 5G network under the condition that the terminal roams from the home network 4G network to the current 5G network, namely, the registration of the terminal in the 5G network can be realized through authentication information conversion of the 4G network and the 5G network. On the contrary, when the terminal can only register in the home network and cannot support the registration of the current network, and when the request information of the terminal for visiting the current network is detected, the terminal needs to be accessed into a first network which is the same as a core network of the home network, then a second network of the current network is accessed from the first network, and roaming of the terminal from the home network to the current network is realized.

The home network is different from the current network, and it may be understood that the core network of the home network is different from the core network of the current network, for example, the core network of the home network is NSA of the 4G network, and the core network of the current network is SA of the 5G network.

Step S503, converting a network protocol between the home network and the current network.

Here, since the core network of the home network is different from the core network of the current network, when the terminal in the home network requests to visit the current network, it is necessary to convert authentication information between the two networks to complete authentication of the terminal in the current network, and then convert network protocols between the two networks, so that the converted protocols can realize information interaction between the two networks. For example, the current network is a mobile 5G network, and the interaction protocol between the AMF in the current network and the HSS in the home network is converted into the interaction protocol between the MME in the current network and the HSS in the home network, so that the information sent from the home network to the AMF in the current network is converted into the information sent from the HSS in the home network to the MME in the current network, and the home network and the current network are different, so that the HSS in the home network cannot directly perform interaction communication with the AMF in the current network, and after the protocol conversion, the interaction communication between the current network and the home network is realized.

Step S504, based on the converted protocol, implementing interaction of signaling and data between the current network and the home network.

Here, the registration and authentication of the terminal in the current network are completed using the current authentication information, thereby realizing roaming from the home network to the current network.

In the embodiment of the application, for the situation that the home network is different from the current network requiring visiting, the authentication information of the terminal in the home network is converted into the authentication information of the current network, the authentication of the terminal in the current network is completed, and then the protocol conversion is carried out between the home network and the current visiting network so as to realize the authentication of the terminal in the current network, namely the roaming among different networks is realized.

In some embodiments, the processing is performed for the terminal requesting to visit the current network in real time, and the step S501 may be implemented as follows:

and when the request information of the terminal for requesting to visit the current network is detected, determining the home network of the terminal for requesting to visit the current network.

Here, after detecting the request information of the terminal requesting to visit the current network, the home network of the terminal is determined so as to judge whether the home network and the current network are the same.

In some embodiments, to enable roaming of a terminal from a home network to a current network, the following protocol conversions may be performed for the SGW interface of the home network:

firstly, it is: and converting an interaction protocol between the AMF and the SGW in the home network into an interaction protocol between the MME and the SGW.

Here, since the home network cannot directly perform information interaction with the AMF in the current network through the SGW interface, an interaction protocol between the AMF and the SGW in the home network is converted into an interaction protocol between the MME and the SGW, so that when the home network sends information to the current network through the SGW interface, the MME receives the information first, and then the MME transmits the information to the AMF; otherwise, in the case that the AMF of the current network transmits the interaction information to the home network, the AMF transmits the interaction information to the MME first, and then the MME transmits the interaction information to the SGW interface of the home network.

And secondly, converting an interaction protocol between the NG-RAN and the SGW in the current network into an interaction protocol between the E-UTRAN and the SGW in the current network.

Here, since the home network cannot directly perform information interaction with the NG-RAN in the current network through the SGW interface, an interaction protocol between the NG-RAN and the SGW in the home network is converted into an interaction protocol between the E-UTRAN and the SGW, so that when the home network sends information to the current network through the SGW interface, the MME receives the information first, and then the MME transmits the information to the NG-RAN; otherwise, in case that the NG-RAN of the current network delivers the interworking information to the home network, the NG-RAN delivers the interworking information to the E-UTRAN first, and then the E-UTRAN delivers the interworking information to the SGW interface of the home network.

In the embodiment of the application, in the current network of the visiting place, the roaming of the terminal among different networks is realized by deploying protocol conversion between the home network and the current network.

In some embodiments, in order to implement the authentication process of the terminal in the current network, the step S502 includes the following steps, as shown in fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of still another implementation of the network roaming method according to the embodiment of the present application, and based on fig. 5, the following description is made:

step S631, acquiring an authentication vector of the terminal in the home network from the HSS in the home network.

Here, an MME in the current network is employed to obtain an authentication vector of a terminal in a home network from an HSS in the home network.

Step S632, mapping the authentication vector of the terminal in the home network to the current authentication vector of the current network, so as to complete the authentication of the terminal in the current network.

Here, after acquiring an authentication vector of a terminal in an HSS in a home network, the MME transfers the authentication vector to an AMF of a current network, and the AMF maps the authentication vector in the home network to the current authentication vector of the current network; for example, the home network is a 4G network, the current network is a 5G network, the AMF maps the authentication vector of the terminal in the 4G website to the current authentication vector in the 5G network, and then, based on the current authentication vector, the registration process of the terminal in the 5G network is completed, so that the roaming of the terminal from the 4G network to the 5G network is realized.

In some embodiments, in order to enable the terminal that successfully registers with the current network to perform interactive communication with the home network in the current network, after step S502, the method further includes:

step S641, maintaining the interface of communication between the MME and the AMF in the current network in an on state.

Here, if the current network includes a 5G network, the interface N26 that keeps communication between the MME and the AMF is not released, so that in the case where the home network transmits information to the current network, the information is received by the MME, and then the MME passes to the AMF through the interface.

Step S642, the information sent by the terminal in the home network to the MME in the current network is transferred to the AMF through the interface.

In the embodiment of the application, since the signaling sent by the terminal to the MME at the home network can only be in the 4G network reaching the current network of the visited place, the interface N26 for communication between the MME and the AMF in the current network is kept in the on state, so that the signaling is sent to the 5G network through the interface N26.

In some embodiments, if the terminal supports registration with the home network and does not support registration with the current network, after determining that the terminal requests to visit the home network of the current network when detecting the request information of the terminal to visit the current network, a roaming process is shown in fig. 7A, and fig. 7A is a schematic flow chart of still another implementation of the network roaming method according to the embodiment of the present application, and the following description is made in connection with fig. 7A:

Step S701, if the home network is different from the current network, accessing the terminal to a first network matching with the home network of the terminal in the current network.

Here, the first network in the current network that matches the home network of the terminal may be understood as the same network as the home network core network in the current network, for example, the home network is a 4G network, and then the first network is a 4G network in the current network. That is, in the case where the terminal supports registration with the home network and does not support registration with the current network, the terminal is first accessed to the 4G network of the current network when it is detected that the terminal requests request information to visit the current network.

Step S702, acquiring authentication information of the terminal in a home network by using the first network.

Here, for example, the MME of the 4G network (i.e., the first network) in the current network is used to obtain authentication information of the terminal from the HSS of the home network.

Step S703, transmitting the authentication information from the first network to a second network of the current network.

Here, for example, the second network is a 5G network of the current network, and the MME of the 4G network in the current network sends the acquired authentication information to the AMF of the 5G network.

Step S704, converting the received authentication information into current authentication information of the second network by using the second network.

Here, the AMF in the 5G network of the current network maps the authentication information transferred by the MME to authentication information required by the 5G network, for example, the AMF maps the authentication vector of the terminal in the home 4G network acquired by the MME to the authentication vector of the 5G network.

Step S705, based on the current authentication information, completing the authentication of the terminal in the second network.

Here, the current authentication information is adopted to realize the registration process of the terminal in the 5G network, and after the terminal is accessed to the 5G network, the 5G signaling and data of the second network are subjected to 5G and 4G protocol conversion (i.e. the protocol conversion of the current network and the home network) through the protocol conversion function in the 5G network, so that the interactive communication between the 5G network and the core network of the home network is completed.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the terminal is only able to register with the home network and is unable to support the registration of the current network, and when detecting that the terminal requests to visit the request information of the current network, it is necessary to access the terminal to a first network that is the same as a core network of the home network, and then access a second network of the current network from the first network, so as to implement roaming of the terminal from the home network to the current network. For example, the home network of the terminal is a 4G network, the current network is a 5G network, and when the terminal needs to visit the 5G network, the terminal is accessed into the 4G network of the 5G network, and then roaming from the home 4G network to the 5G network is realized through protocol conversion in the 5G network.

In some embodiments, if the terminal is in a connected state, after step S701, the method further includes the following steps, referring to fig. 7B, fig. 7B is a schematic flowchart of another implementation of the network roaming method according to the embodiment of the present application, and based on fig. 7A, the following description is made:

step S721, acquiring capability information of a terminal accessing the first network.

Here, the capability information is whether the terminal supports SA and NSA.

In step S722, if the capability information indicates that the terminal supports the SA and/or NSA network, roaming indication information is generated to trigger the HSS of the first network to send a handover request to the E-UTRAN of the first network.

Here, the roaming indication information includes: NSA or SA roaming security parameters or random numbers, etc. The NSA or SA roaming indication is used to instruct the terminal to perform 5G registration in the SA network of the current network. NSA or SA roams the security parameters and the random number is used for security authentication of the terminal registered in the current network 5G. The handover request is for requesting a handover of the terminal from a first network to the second network. And under the condition that the terminal is in a connection state, the current network of the visiting place sends roaming indication information to the E-UTRAN, and the E-UTRAN sends a switching request to the MME according to the roaming indication information.

Step S723, in response to the handover request, acquiring authentication information of the terminal in a home network by using the first network.

In the embodiment of the application, under the condition that the terminal is in a connection state, the current network of the visiting place sends roaming indication information to the E-UTRAN so as to trigger network switching, thereby realizing switching from the first network to the second network.

In some embodiments, if the terminal is in a standby state, after step S701, the method further includes the steps of:

firstly, acquiring security information of the terminal in the first network by adopting an MME in the first network.

Here, the security information includes: registration information of the terminal in the home network, identification of the terminal, and the like. Namely, the MME automatically detects a terminal requesting to visit the current network and then acquires security information of the terminal in the first network.

And a second step of sending the security information to an AMF of a second network through the MME so that the AMF maps the security information to the current security information of the second network and completes the authentication of the terminal in the second network.

Here, after the MME acquires the security information, the E-UTRAN is triggered to generate a handover request for indicating handover of the terminal from the first network to the second network, thereby implementing handover from the first network to the second network.

The embodiment of the application provides a network roaming method, a terminal is in a connection state, and the terminal supports both an NSA network and an SA network, and fig. 8A is a roaming structure diagram of a local route of a terminal of an NSA network belonging to the embodiment of the application, and the following description is made with reference to fig. 8A:

firstly, the network 801 is a home network, that is, NSA, and after entering the visited network 802 from the home network 801, the user holds the dual mode terminal 815, and cannot access the 5G network of the SA through the mutual authentication of the 5G, and after failure, the user tries to search the LTE band, and connects to the 4G network 803 (that is, the first network) of the visited network 802, so that 4G roaming is successfully performed.

Here, the UE home public land mobile network (Home Public Land Mobile Network, HPLMN) deploys only the 4G core network, the visited public land mobile network (Visited Public Land Mobile Network, VPLMN) is a SA, and the 4G and 5G networks are deployed. The UPF+SGW-U and the UPF+SGW-C are fusion network elements of the visiting place and are responsible for protocol conversion between 5G and 4G.

Second, when accessing the visited 4G network 803, the MME804 acquires 4G security information and triggers a 4G to 5G handover through the E-UTRAN 805. The E-UTRAN805 may detect that the user belongs to a home NSA dual mode user through capability information reported by the UE at registration, i.e. after registration is successful, the E-UTRAN805 initiates a handover request to the MME 804.

Here, the base station of the visited network may also send a NSA to SA roaming indication to the E-UTRAN805, and according to the roaming indication information, the E-UTRAN805 initiates a handover request to the MME 804. MME804 sends the 4G security information to AMF807 via N26 interface 806. The switching process of 4G and 5G in the same PLMN is as follows: if security authentication is performed when 5G registration of the terminal 815 is required, 4G security information is sent to the AMF807 through the MME 804. The AMF performs mapping of the 4G security information and the 5G security information; and finally, adopting the mapping as authentication between the 5G UE and the network in the network switching process. As shown in fig. 8B, in the case where the UE815 accesses the visited 4G network 803 from the home location, the MME804 acquires 4G security information from the HSS816 of the home network 801; then, the E-UTRAN805 acquires the handover request, i.e., the E-UTRAN805 automatically generates the handover request or receives a roaming indication from a base station of the visited network to the E-UTRAN805, and generates the handover request based on the roaming indication.

Again, after the terminal 815 accesses the 5G network 807 (i.e., the second network), the 5G signaling and data of the visited place perform 5G and 4G protocol conversion through the protocol conversion function of the visited place, so as to complete interaction with the home 4G core network.

Here, for example, for SGW808, the interworking protocol between SMF809 in 5G network 807 and PGW-C810 in home network 801 is converted into the interworking protocol between PGW-C810 and SGW811 (SGW-C) in 4G network 803 by smf+sgw-C819, so that the information interaction between SMF809 and PGW-C810 is completed from home network 801PGW-C810 and SGW811 in 4G network 803, so that terminal 815 is roaming between the completed 4G networks as viewed from the home network. Similarly, when a message needs to be sent from the SMF809 in the 5G network 807 to the PGW-C810 in the home network 801, the message sent by the SMF809 is converted into the format of data sent by the SGW811, and then the converted data is sent to the PGW-C810 through the SGW 808. Similarly, the interworking protocol between UPF812 in 5G network 807 and PGW-U813 in home network 801 is converted by UPF+SGW-U817 to the interworking protocol between PGW-U814 and SGW808 (SGW-U) in 4G network 803. As shown in fig. 8B, for the interworking information sent by PGW-U814 in home network 801, the interworking information of terminal 815 at the 4G user plane is converted into the 5G user plane by conversion of upf+sgw-U817, and then the converted interworking information is sent to NG-RAN818 in 5G network 807, and NG-RAN818 applies the interworking information to terminal 815; similarly, for the interworking information sent by PGW-C810 in home network 801, the interworking information of terminal 815 at the 4G control plane is converted into the 5G control plane by the conversion of smf+sgw-C819, and then the converted interworking information is sent to NG-RAN818 in 5G network 807, and NG-RAN818 applies the interworking information to terminal 815. The MME804 in the first network may pass the data of the terminal 815 in the udm+hss820 of the home location to the AMF in the second network.

Finally, N26 interface 814 of MME804 and AMF807 is not released for forwarding the signaling sent by home network 801 to MME804 for AMF807.

At this point, the location of the terminal 815 will be registered and updated at the UDM of the visited place. The terminal 815 4g roams from the home perspective and is always in the MME of the initial roaming access.

In some embodiments, the terminal is in a standby state, and the terminal supports both NSA network and SA network, fig. 9A is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal accessing SB network of the NSA network of the home location in the embodiment of the present application, and the following description is made with reference to fig. 9A:

first, the network 901 is a home network, that is, NSA, and after entering the visited place 902 from the home network 901, the user holds the dual-mode terminal 915, and cannot access the 5G network of the SA due to the failure of the 5G mutual authentication, and after failure, the user tries to search the LTE band, and connects to the 4G network 903 (that is, the first network) of the visited place 902, so that the 4G roaming is successfully performed.

Secondly, when accessing the visited 4G network 903, the MME904 acquires the 4G security information and triggers a 4G to 5G handover through the E-UTRAN 905.

Here, MME904 sends 4G security information to AMF907 via N26 interface 906. The switching process of 4G and 5G in the same PLMN is as follows: if security authentication is performed when 5G registration of the terminal 915 is required, 4G security information is transmitted to the AMF916 through the MME 904. The AMF performs mapping of the 4G security information and the 5G security information; and finally, adopting the mapping as authentication between the 5G UE and the network in the network switching process. As shown in fig. 9B, in case UE915 accesses the visited 4G network 903 from the home, MME904 obtains 4G security information from HSS916 of home network 901; then, the AMF907 maps the 4G security information to 5G security information to enable registration of the terminal 915 in the second network. Once again, after the terminal 915 accesses the 5G network 907 (i.e. the second network), the 5G signaling and data of the visited place perform 5G and 4G protocol conversion through the protocol conversion function of the visited place, so as to complete interaction with the home 4G core network.

Here, for example, for SGW interface 908, the interworking protocol between SMF909 in 5G network 907 and PGW-C910 in home network 901 is converted into the interworking protocol between PGW-C910 and SGW911 (SGW-C) in 4G network 903, so that the information interaction between PGW-C910 and SGW811 in 4G network 903 from home network 901 is completed, that is, the information interaction between SMF909 and PGW-C910 is completed, so that terminal 915 is roaming between the completed 4G networks from the viewpoint of the home network. Similarly, when a message needs to be sent from the SMF909 in the 5G network 907 to the PGW-C910 in the home network 901, the message sent by the SMF909 is first converted into the format of data sent by the SGW911, and then the converted data is sent to the PGW-C910 through the SGW 911. Similarly, the interworking protocol between UPF912 in 5G network 907 and PGW-U913 in home network 901 is converted into interworking protocol between PGW-U914 and SGW911 (SGW-U) in 4G network 903. As shown in fig. 9B, for the interworking information sent by PGW-U914 in home network 901, the interworking information of terminal 915 at 4G user plane is converted into 5G user plane by conversion of upf+sgw-U917, and then the converted interworking information is sent to NG-RAN918 in 5G network 907, and NG-RAN918 applies the interworking information to terminal 915; similarly, for interworking information sent by PGW-C910 in home network 901, the interworking information of terminal 915 at the 4G control plane is converted into the 5G control plane by the conversion of smf+sgw-C919, and then the converted interworking information is sent to NG-RAN918 in 5G network 907, and NG-RAN918 applies the interworking information to terminal 915. The MME904 in the first network may pass the data of the terminal 915 in the udm+hss920 of the home location to the AMF in the second network.

Finally, N26 interface 914 of MME904 and AMF907 is not released for forwarding the signaling sent by home network 901 to MME904 by AMF907.

At this point, the location of the terminal 915 would be registered and updated at the UDM of the visited place. The terminal 4G is roaming from home point of view and is always in the MME of the initial roaming access.

In some embodiments, the terminal supports both 4G network registration and 5G network registration, and the terminal supports both NSA network and SA network, but there is no N26 interface between MME and AMF of the current network, fig. 10A is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal accessing SB network of NSA network belonging to the embodiment of the present application, and the following description is made with reference to fig. 10A:

first, the network 1001 is a home network, that is, NSA, and after entering the visited place 1002 from the home network 1001, the user holds the dual mode terminal 1015, since the 5G network of the SA cannot be accessed by the 5G mutual authentication, after failure, tries to search the LTE band, and connects to the 4G network 1003 (i.e., the first network) of the visited place 1002, thereby successfully performing 4G roaming.

Next, when accessing the visited 4G network 1003, NSA or SA roaming indication information is transmitted by the visited 4G network 1003 to the terminal 1015 and the E-UTRAN1005, MME1004, etc.

Here, the NSA or SA roaming indication information includes at least one of: NSA or SA roaming indication, NSA or SA roaming security parameters, random numbers, etc. The NSA or SA roaming indication is used to instruct the terminal to perform a 5G registration in the SA network of the visited place. NSA or SA roams security parameters, random numbers are used for security authentication of visitor 5G registration.

Again, after receiving the roaming instruction information sent by the visited 4G network 1003 to the terminal 1015, the terminal performs 5G registration in the visited 5G network 1007.

Here, during registration, the terminal does not interact with the home HSS1016, but rather with the visitor UDM, authenticates with the network using NSA or SA roaming security parameters, or authenticates with the network using security contexts generated by NSA or SA roaming security parameters, random numbers, etc. As shown in fig. 10B, in the case where the UE1015 accesses the visited 4G network 1003 from the home, the MME1004 obtains 4G security information from the HSS1016 of the home network 901; then, the AMF1007 maps the 4G security information to 5G security information to enable registration of the terminal 1015 in the second network. Once again, after the terminal 1015 accesses the 5G network 1007 (i.e., the second network), the 5G signaling and data of the visited place perform 5G and 4G protocol conversion through the protocol conversion function of the visited place, so as to complete interaction with the home 4G core network. The MME1004 in the first network may pass data of the terminal 1015 in the udm+hss1006 of the home location to the AMF in the second network.

Here, for example, for SGW interface 1008, the interworking protocol between SMF1009 in 5G network 1007 and PGW-C1010 in home network 1001 is converted into the interworking protocol between PGW-C1010 and SGW1011 (SGW-C) in 4G network 1003, so that the information interaction between PGW-C1010 and SGW811 in 4G network 1003 from home network 1001 is completed, that is, the information interaction between SMF1009 and PGW-C1010 is completed, so that terminal 1015 is roaming between the completed 4G networks from the viewpoint of the home network. Similarly, when a message needs to be sent from the SMF1009 in the 5G network 1007 to the PGW-C1010 in the home network 1001, the message sent from the SMF1009 is converted into the format of data sent from the SGW1011, and then the converted data is sent to the PGW-C1010 through the SGW 1011. Similarly, the interworking protocol between the UPF1012 in the 5G network 1007 and the PGWU1013 in the home network 1001 is converted into the interworking protocol between the PGW-U1014 and the SGW1011 (SGW-U) in the 4G network 1003. As shown in fig. 10B, for the interworking information sent by PGW-U1014 in home network 1001, the interworking information of terminal 1015 at the 4G user plane is converted into the 5G user plane by conversion of upf+sgw-U1017, and then the converted interworking information is sent to NG-RAN1018 in 5G network 1007, and NG-RAN1018 applies the interworking information to terminal 1015; similarly, for the interworking information sent from PGW-C1010 in home network 1001, the interworking information of terminal 1015 at the 4G control plane is converted into the 5G control plane by the conversion of smf+sgw-C1019, and then the converted interworking information is sent to NG-RAN1018 in 5G network 1007, and NG-RAN1018 applies the interworking information to terminal 1015.

Finally, after the terminal accesses the 5G network 1007, the 5G signaling and data of the visiting place perform 5G and 4G protocol conversion through the protocol conversion function of the visiting place, so as to complete the interaction with the home 4G core network.

At this time, the location of the terminal is registered and updated at the UDM of the visiting place. The terminal 4G is roaming from home point of view and is always in the MME of the initial roaming access.

In some embodiments, the terminal can support both 4G network registration and 5G network registration, and the terminal supports both NSA network and SA network, but there is no N26 interface between MME and AMF of the current network, and after the home NSA network user holds the dual mode terminal to enter the visited place, the dual mode terminal is not first accessed to 4G and then switched to 5G, but directly registered to access to 5G SA network. Fig. 11 is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network to an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application, and the following description is made with reference to fig. 11:

first, the network 1101 is a home network, that is, NSA, and after entering the visited place 1102 from the home network 1101, the user holds the dual mode terminal 1104 to access the 4G network 1103 and then switch to the 5G network 1105, but directly register to access the 5G network 1105, thereby successfully performing 4G roaming.

Secondly, the AMF1106 performs protocol conversion, converts the interaction protocol between the MME1108 and the HSS1107 on the interface with the HSS1107, and obtains authentication information from the HSS 1107.

Finally, an authentication procedure of the terminal 1104 on the 5G network 1105 is completed based on the authentication information.

Here, the AMF1106 maps the 2/3/4G authentication vector acquired from the HSS1107 to a 5G authentication vector in the authentication process. I.e. roaming between 4G networks in view of the home.

In some embodiments, the terminal can support both 4G network registration and 5G network registration, and the terminal supports both NSA network and SA network, but there is no N26 interface between MME and AMF of the current network, and after the home NSA network user holds the dual mode terminal to enter the visited place, the dual mode terminal is not first accessed to 4G and then switched to 5G, but directly registered to access to 5G SA network. Fig. 12 is a roaming architecture diagram of a local route of a terminal of a home NSA network to an SB network according to an embodiment of the present application, and the following description is made with reference to fig. 12:

first, the network 1201 is a home network, that is, NSA, and after entering the visited place 1202 from the home network 1201, the user holds the dual-mode terminal 1204, instead of first accessing the 4G network 1203 and then switching to the 5G network 1205, directly registers to access the 5G network 1205, thereby successfully performing 4G roaming.

Next, the AMF1206 performs protocol conversion, converts the protocol to an interaction protocol between the MME1208 and the HSS1207 on the interface with the HSS1207, and obtains authentication information from the HSS 1207.

Here, on the interface of the AMF1206 and the HSS1207, the AMF1206 performs protocol conversion, converting the interaction between the home HSS1207 and the AMF1206 into an interaction between the HSS1207 and the MME 1208; meanwhile, AMF1206 performs protocol conversion to convert the interaction protocol between SGW1209 and AMF1206 into the interaction protocol between MME1208 and SGW 1209; and the NG-RAN1210 performs protocol conversion to convert the interworking protocol between the NG-RAN1210 and the SGW1209 into the interworking protocol between the E-UTRAN1211 and the SGW 1209.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a network roaming device, fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of the network roaming device according to the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 13, where the device 1300 includes:

a first determining module 1301 configured to determine a home network of a terminal that requests to visit a current network;

A first conversion module 1302, configured to convert, if the home network is different from the current network, authentication information of the terminal in the home network and current authentication information of the terminal in the current network, so as to complete authentication of the terminal in the current network;

a second converting module 1303, configured to convert a network protocol between the home network and the current network;

a first interaction module 1304, configured to implement interaction of signaling and data between the current network and the home network based on the converted protocol.

In the above apparatus, the apparatus further includes:

the first detection module is used for converting the network protocol between the home network and the current network when detecting that the terminal requests to visit the current network when the terminal can register with the home network and register with the current network.

In the above apparatus, the first determining module 1301 includes:

and the first determining submodule is used for determining a home network of the terminal requesting to visit the current network when detecting the request information of the terminal requesting to visit the current network.

In the above apparatus, the second converting module 1303 includes:

and the first conversion sub-module is used for converting an interaction protocol between the AMF in the current network and the HSS in the home network into an interaction protocol between the MME in the current network and the HSS in the home network if the home network is different from the current network, so as to obtain a converted protocol.

In the above apparatus, the first conversion module 1302 includes:

a first obtaining sub-module, configured to obtain an authentication vector of the terminal in the home network from an HSS in the home network;

the first mapping submodule is used for mapping the authentication vector of the terminal in the home network into the current authentication vector of the current network so as to finish authentication of the terminal in the current network.

In the above apparatus, the apparatus further includes:

a third conversion module, configured to convert an interaction protocol between the AMF and the SGW in the home network into an interaction protocol between the MME and the SGW;

and the fourth conversion module is used for converting the interaction protocol between the NG-RAN in the current network and the SGW into the interaction protocol between the E-UTRAN in the current network and the SGW.

In the above apparatus, the apparatus further includes:

a first storage module, configured to keep an interface of communication between an MME and an AMF in the current network in an on state;

and the first transfer module is used for transferring the information sent by the terminal to the MME in the current network in the home network to the AMF through the interface.

In the above apparatus, the apparatus further includes:

a first matching module, configured to access the terminal to a first network that matches the home network of the terminal in a current network if the home network is different from the current network;

the second acquisition module is used for acquiring authentication information of the terminal in a home network by adopting the first network;

a first transmitting module, configured to transmit the authentication information from the first network to a second network of the current network;

a fifth conversion module, configured to convert, using the second network, the received authentication information into current authentication information of the second network;

and the second authentication module is used for completing the authentication of the terminal in the second network based on the current authentication information.

In the above apparatus, the apparatus further includes:

A third obtaining module, configured to obtain capability information of a terminal accessing the first network;

a first generating module, configured to generate roaming indication information if the capability information indicates that the terminal supports a network of SA and/or NSA, so as to trigger an HSS of the first network to send a handover request to an E-UTRAN of the first network; the handover request is for requesting a handover of the terminal from a first network to the second network.

Correspondingly, a first response module is used for responding to the switching request and acquiring authentication information of the terminal in a home network by adopting the first network.

In the above apparatus, the apparatus further includes:

a fourth obtaining module, configured to obtain security information of the terminal in the first network by using an MME in the first network;

and the second sending module is used for sending the security information to an AMF of a second network through the MME so that the AMF maps the security information to the current security information of the second network and completes the authentication of the terminal in the second network.

The embodiment of the application further provides a network roaming device, which comprises all the included modules, all the sub-modules and all the units included by all the modules, and can be realized by a processor in the terminal; of course, the method can also be realized by a specific logic circuit; in an implementation, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Microprocessor (MPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or the like.

Correspondingly, an apparatus is provided in the embodiment of the present application, fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a terminal in the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 14, and the terminal 1400 at least includes: a controller 1402 and a storage medium 1401 configured to store executable instructions, wherein:

the controller 1402 is configured to execute stored executable instructions for implementing the provided network roaming method.

It should be noted that the description of the above apparatus embodiments is similar to the description of the method embodiments described above, with similar advantageous effects as the method embodiments. For technical details not disclosed in the apparatus embodiments of the present application, please refer to the description of the method embodiments of the present application for understanding.

Correspondingly, the embodiment of the application provides a computer storage medium, wherein computer executable instructions are stored in the computer storage medium, and the computer executable instructions are configured to execute the network roaming method provided by other embodiments of the application.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The foregoing embodiment numbers of the present application are merely for describing, and do not represent advantages or disadvantages of the embodiments.

From the above description of the embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the above-described embodiment method may be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, but of course may also be implemented by means of hardware, but in many cases the former is a preferred embodiment. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium (e.g. ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk), comprising several instructions for causing a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, etc.) to perform the method described in the various embodiments of the present application.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The foregoing description is only of the preferred embodiments of the present application, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, and all equivalent structures or equivalent processes using the descriptions and drawings of the present application, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields are included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of network roaming, the method comprising:

determining a home network of a terminal requesting to visit a current network;

if the home network is different from the current network, the method converts authentication information of the terminal in the home network and current authentication information of the terminal in the current network to complete authentication of the terminal in the current network, and comprises the following steps: if the home network is a non-independent networking NSA network and the current network is an independent networking SA network, acquiring an authentication vector of the terminal in the home network from an HSS in the home network; mapping the authentication vector of the terminal in the home network into the authentication vector of the current network to finish the authentication of the terminal in the current network;

converting a network protocol between the home network and the current network; wherein said translating network protocols between said home network and said current network comprises: converting an interaction protocol between the AMF in the current network and the HSS in the home network into an interaction protocol between the MME in the current network and the HSS in the home network, and obtaining a converted protocol;

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said method further comprises:

and under the condition that the terminal can register with the home network and register with the current network, converting the network protocol between the home network and the current network when detecting that the terminal requests to visit the request information of the current network.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said determining a home network of a terminal requesting to visit a current network comprises:

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein after said translating a network protocol between said home network and said current network, said method further comprises:

converting an interaction protocol between an AMF and an SGW in a home network into an interaction protocol between an MME and the SGW;

and converting an interaction protocol between the NG-RAN in the current network and the SGW into an interaction protocol between the E-UTRAN in the current network and the SGW.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein after said converting authentication information of said terminal in said home network and current authentication information of said terminal in a current network if said home network is different from said current network to complete authentication of said terminal in said current network, said method further comprises:

maintaining an interface of communication between an MME and an AMF in the current network in an on state;

and transmitting the information sent by the terminal to the MME in the current network in the home network to the AMF through the interface.

6. A method according to any of claims 3 to 5, wherein if the terminal supports registration with the home network and does not support registration with the current network, after determining the home network of the terminal requesting to visit the current network when detecting the request information of the terminal requesting to visit the current network, the method comprises:

if the home network is different from the current network, accessing the terminal to a first network matched with the home network of the terminal in the current network;

acquiring authentication information of the terminal in a home network by adopting the first network;

Transmitting the authentication information from the first network to a second network of the current network;

converting the received authentication information into current authentication information of the second network by adopting the second network;

and based on the current authentication information, completing the authentication of the terminal in the second network.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein if the terminal is in a connected state, after the terminal is accessed to a first network of a current network that matches a home network of the terminal if the home network is different from the current network, the method further comprises:

acquiring capability information of a terminal accessed to the first network;

if the capability information indicates that the terminal supports the SA and/or NSA network, roaming indication information is generated to trigger the HSS of the first network to send a handover request to the E-UTRAN of the first network; the handover request is for requesting handover of the terminal from a first network to the second network;

correspondingly, responding to the switching request, and acquiring authentication information of the terminal in a home network by adopting the first network.

8. The method as in claim 6, wherein if the terminal is in a standby state, after the terminal is accessed to a first network of a current network that matches a home network of the terminal if the home network is different from the current network, the method further comprises:

Acquiring security information of the terminal in the first network by using an MME in the first network;

and sending the security information to an AMF of a second network through the MME, so that the AMF maps the security information to the current security information of the second network, and the authentication of the terminal in the second network is completed.

9. A network roaming device, the device comprising:

a first conversion module, configured to convert, if the home network is different from the current network, authentication information of the terminal in the home network and current authentication information of the terminal in the current network, so as to complete authentication of the terminal in the current network; if the home network is different from the current network, the authentication information conversion of the terminal in the home network and the authentication information of the terminal in the current network are converted to complete the authentication of the terminal in the current network, and the method comprises the following steps: if the home network is a non-independent networking NSA network and the current network is an independent networking SA network, acquiring an authentication vector of the terminal in the home network from an HSS in the home network; mapping the authentication vector of the terminal in the home network into the authentication vector of the current network to finish the authentication of the terminal in the current network;

A second conversion module, configured to convert a network protocol between the home network and the current network; wherein said translating network protocols between said home network and said current network comprises: converting an interaction protocol between the AMF in the current network and the HSS in the home network into an interaction protocol between the MME in the current network and the HSS in the home network, and obtaining a converted protocol;

10. A network roaming device, the device comprising at least: a controller and a storage medium configured to store executable instructions, wherein:

the controller is configured to execute stored executable instructions configured to perform the network roaming method provided in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 8.

11. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer executable instructions configured to perform the network roaming method provided in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 8.