CN115103443B - Positioning method, positioning device and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a positioning method, a positioning device and a storage medium, relates to the technical field of communication, and can increase safety in the positioning process. The method comprises the following steps: the positioning device receives a positioning request message from a gateway mobile positioning center (GMLC), and the positioning device determines a target positioning management network element (LMF); the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF; the positioning device receives second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends a positioning response message to the GMLC; the location response message includes location information of the terminal to be located. The embodiment of the application is used in the process of acquiring the positioning information.

Description

Positioning method, positioning device and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a positioning method, a positioning device, and a storage medium.

Background

In the field of communication technology, with the popularization of the fifth generation communication technology (5th generation mobile communication technology,5G) network, the requirement of obtaining location information under the 5G network is also becoming more and more common. When the current terminal acquires the location information, it is required to initiate a location information request to a gateway mobile location center (gateway mobile location center, GMLC) through an external location service (location Services, LCS) client (client), and the GMLC determines, through a unified data management network element (unified DATA MANAGEMENT, UDM), an access and mobility management network element (ACCESS AND mobility management function, AMF) to which the terminal belongs. The GMLC obtains location information of a terminal to be located through an AMF to which the terminal belongs and a target management network element (location management function, LMF).

However, in the above process, the GMLC/LMF directly interacts with the AMF/UDM, and in the interaction process, the GMLC/LMF can directly sense the address of the core network element, which results in the problem of exposing the address of the core network element in the related art.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a positioning method, a positioning device and a storage medium, which can avoid exposing the address of a core network element in the positioning process.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the application adopts the following technical scheme:

In a first aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, the method comprising: the method comprises the steps that a positioning device receives a positioning request message from a GMLC, wherein the positioning request message comprises information of an AMF to which a terminal to be positioned belongs; the positioning device determines a target LMF; the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF; the positioning device receives second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends a positioning response message to the GMLC; the positioning response message comprises the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, after the positioning device receives the positioning request message from the GMLC, the method includes: the positioning device forwards the positioning request message to the AMF; the positioning device receives a position determination request message from the AMF, where the position determination request message is used to request to determine a position message of the terminal to be positioned.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the positioning device, the target LMF includes: under the condition that the positioning device receives a position determination request message from the AMF, the positioning device inquires the LMF which is in an idle state currently; the locating device determines that the LMF in the idle state is the target LMF.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the sending, by the positioning device, first indication information to the AMF includes: the positioning device forwards the location determination request message to the target LMF; the positioning device receives address information sent by the target LMF; the positioning device generates the first indication information according to the address information and sends the first indication information to the AMF.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, before the positioning device receives a positioning request message from the GMLC, the method includes: the positioning device receives a positioning service request message from the GMLC; the positioning service request message comprises the identification of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device determines the information of the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned; the location device sends information of the AMF to the GMLC.

With reference to the first aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the method includes: the positioning device determines the information of the AMF of the terminal to be positioned according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned, and the method comprises the following steps: the positioning device determines the UDM to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to a service discovery function of a network warehousing function (network repository function, NRF); the positioning device sends a query request message to the UDM; the inquiry request message is used for inquiring the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs; the positioning device receives a query response message sent by the UDM; the inquiry response message is used for indicating the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a positioning device comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit; a communication unit, configured to receive a positioning request message from a gateway mobile positioning center GMLC, where the positioning request message includes information of an access and mobility management network element AMF to which a terminal to be positioned belongs; the processing unit is used for determining a target location management network element LMF; the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the communication unit is further used for sending first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF can determine the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF; the communication unit is further used for receiving second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; a communication unit, further configured to send a location response message to the GMLC; the positioning response message comprises the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to: forwarding the location request message to the AMF; and receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, wherein the position determination request message is used for requesting to determine the position message of the terminal to be positioned.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: under the condition of receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, querying the LMF which is in an idle state currently; and determining the LMF in the idle state as the target LMF.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is specifically configured to forward the location determination request message to the target LMF; the communication unit is also specifically used for receiving the address information sent by the target LMF; the processing unit is specifically configured to generate the first indication information according to the address information, and send the first indication information to the AMF.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to receive a location service request message from the GMLC; the positioning service request message comprises the identification of the terminal to be positioned; the processing unit is also used for determining the information of the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned; and the communication unit is also used for sending the information of the AMF to the GMLC.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to a service discovery function of a network storage function network element NRF, a unified data management network element UDM to which the terminal to be located belongs; the communication unit is specifically used for sending a query request message to the UDM; the inquiry request message is used for inquiring the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs; the communication unit is also specifically used for receiving the query response message sent by the UDM; the inquiry response message is used for indicating the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a positioning device comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is coupled to a processor for running a computer program or instructions to implement the positioning method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect and the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein which, when run on a terminal, cause the terminal to perform a positioning method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect and the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a positioning device, cause the positioning device to perform the positioning method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect and the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface and the processor being coupled, the processor being for running a computer program or instructions to implement a positioning method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect and the first aspect.

Specifically, the chip provided in the embodiment of the application further includes a memory, which is used for storing a computer program or instructions.

In the present disclosure, the names of the above positioning devices do not constitute limitations on the devices or functional modules themselves, and in actual implementations, these devices or functional modules may appear under other names. Insofar as the function of each device or function module is similar to the present disclosure, it is within the scope of the claims of the present disclosure and the equivalents thereof.

These and other aspects of the disclosure will be more readily apparent from the following description.

The technical scheme provided by the disclosure at least brings the following beneficial effects:

the present disclosure provides a positioning method, apparatus, and storage medium, including: the positioning device receives a positioning request message from the GMLC, wherein the positioning request message comprises information of an AMF to which a terminal to be positioned belongs; the positioning device determines a target LMF, wherein the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of a terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF; the positioning device receives second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends a positioning response message to the GMLC; the location response message includes location information of the terminal to be located. In this way, in the technical scheme disclosed by the disclosure, the GMLC does not interact with the core network element directly, but interacts with the core network element through the positioning device, so that isolation between the GMLC and the core network element is realized. The positioning device does not need to provide the real address of the core network element for the GMLC in the positioning process, solves the problem of exposing the address of the core network element for the GMLC in the positioning process, and improves the security of the core network element.

In addition, in the present disclosure, since LCS and GMLC do not interact directly with the core network element and cannot acquire the address of the core network element, the LCS client cannot attack the core network element through the GMLC, thereby further improving the security of the core network element.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic hardware structure of a positioning device provided in the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a location services networking architecture under a non-roaming type provided by the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of a positioning system provided by the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a positioning method provided by the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of yet another positioning method provided by the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a positioning device for determining AMF information of a terminal to be positioned according to the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a positioning device provided in the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The positioning method, the positioning device and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The term "and/or" is herein merely an association relationship describing an associated object, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone.

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description and in the drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects or between different processes of the same object and not for describing a particular order of objects.

Furthermore, references to the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof in the description of the present application are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed but may optionally include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

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

Positioning methods, apparatuses and storage media provided by embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The term "and/or" is herein merely an association relationship describing an associated object, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone.

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description and in the drawings of the present disclosure are used for distinguishing between different objects or for distinguishing between different processes of the same object and not for describing a particular sequential order of objects.

Furthermore, references in the description of this disclosure to the terms "comprise" and "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those listed but may optionally include other steps or elements not listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, words such as "exemplary" or "such as" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g." in the examples of this disclosure should not be taken as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present related concepts in a concrete fashion.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a positioning device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the positioning device 100 comprises at least one processor 101, a communication line 102, and at least one communication interface 104, and may further comprise a memory 103. The processor 101, the memory 103, and the communication interface 104 may be connected through a communication line 102.

Processor 101 may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), an Application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement embodiments of the present disclosure, such as: one or more digital signal processors (DIGITAL SIGNAL processors, dsps), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (field programmable GATE ARRAY, fpgas).

Communication line 102 may include a pathway for communicating information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 104, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, may use any transceiver-like device, such as ethernet, radio access network (radio access network, RAN), wireless local area network (wireless local area networks, WLAN), etc.

The memory 103 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (random access memory, RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (ELECTRICALLY ERASABLE PROGRAMMABLE READ-only memory, EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory) or other optical disc storage, a compact disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to include or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In a possible design, the memory 103 may exist independent of the processor 101, i.e. the memory 103 may be a memory external to the processor 101, where the memory 103 may be connected to the processor 101 through a communication line 102 for storing execution instructions or application program codes, and the execution is controlled by the processor 101 to implement the positioning method provided in the embodiments of the disclosure described below. In yet another possible design, the memory 103 may be integrated with the processor 101, i.e., the memory 103 may be an internal memory of the processor 101, e.g., the memory 103 may be a cache, and may be used to temporarily store some data and instruction information, etc.

As one implementation, processor 101 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 1. As another implementation, the positioning device 100 may include multiple processors, such as the processor 101 and the processor 107 in fig. 1. As yet another implementation, the positioning apparatus 100 may further include an output device 105 and an input device 106. From the foregoing description of the embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, only the above-described division of functional modules is illustrated, and in practical application, the above-described functional allocation may be implemented by different functional modules according to needs, i.e. the internal structure of the network node is divided into different functional modules to implement all or part of the functions described above. The specific working processes of the above-described system, module and network node may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein.

It should be noted that, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th generation mobile communication technology,5G) communication system, where the 5G communication system includes a 5G core network, a radio access network, and a bearer network, where the core network is located between a base station and a network and is used for handling mobility management, session management, service management, and the like of an end user; the wireless access network is positioned between the terminal and the base station and is used for accessing the terminal into the communication network; the bearer network is located between the radio access network and the core network and is responsible for providing network connectivity for the radio access network and the core network. The core network elements include UDM, AMF, NRF, network open function network elements (network exposure function, NEF), authentication service function network elements (authentication server function, AUSF), policy control function network elements (Policy Control Function, PCF), session management function network elements (session management function, SMF), user plane function network elements (user plane function, UPF).

It is to be appreciated that the present disclosure is applicable to other communication systems, such as fourth generation communication technology (4th generation mobile communication technology,4G) communication systems, communication system hybrid networking systems, and the like, in addition to the 5G communication systems described above.

In the related art, a location service required for a terminal may be performed by an access network defined by a third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP), and the access network involves processing of various location procedures including location of the terminal, provision of location related information, interaction of location information between an AMF or LMF and the terminal, and the like.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a location service networking system under a non-roaming type according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, in this system, there is included: a User Equipment (UE) 201, (R) AN202, LMF203, AMF204, UDM205, NEF206, GMLC207, LRF208, LCS client 209, application functions (application function, AF) 210.

Wherein, (R) AN202 is AN access network device, and is configured to provide wireless air interface network services for a terminal device by accessing the terminal to a communication network.

The LMF203 is used to manage overall coordination and scheduling of resources required by terminals registered to or accessing the core network, calculate or confirm the final location of the terminals, estimate the speed of the terminals, and give the accuracy of the predicted values.

The AMF204 is used to receive connection and session information, and is responsible for handling access and mobility management tasks.

The UDM205 is responsible for management of user identification, subscription data, authentication data, and registration management of the user's serving network element.

The NEF206 is used to manage open data to the outside and provide corresponding security.

GMLC207 is used to provide the functionality required to support LCS clients.

The LRF208 is configured to provide a location retrieval function, may be co-configured with the GMLC or separately configured, is responsible for retrieving or verifying location information, and provides routing and related information for the terminal initiating the emergency session.

The LCS client 209 is configured to receive a location request of a terminal, and to use the Le reference point to access LCS services from the GMLC and to issue a location request to the GMLC.

The AF210 is used to provide services to operators or third parties at the application layer.

For example, a location service method under the location service architecture described above is as follows: after the GMLC receives a location request sent by the terminal through the LCS client, the GMLC obtains information of the AMF to which the terminal belongs through the UDM. After the GMLC determines the information of the AMF to which the terminal belongs, it sends a positioning request to the AMF to which the terminal belongs. After the AMF receives the location service request from the GMLC, the location information of the terminal is determined through the LMF, and the location information of the terminal is sent to the GMLC.

According to the above process of locating the terminal in the related art, the LCS client directly makes a locating request to the GMLC, and the GMLC/LMF directly interacts with the core network element such as the AMF/UDM to determine the location of the terminal. This results in that LCS and GMLC can directly perceive the location information of the core network element, which is in danger of being exposed. In addition, in the interaction process of the core network elements such as the GMLC/LMF and the AMF/UDM, the security and the reliability of the LCS client are not guaranteed, and the possibility that the LCS client attacks the core network elements through the GMLC exists in the process.

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a positioning method, a device, and a storage medium, including: the positioning device receives a positioning request message from the GMLC, wherein the positioning request message comprises information of an AMF to which a terminal to be positioned belongs; the positioning device determines a target LMF, wherein the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of a terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF; the positioning device receives second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends a positioning response message to the GMLC; the location response message includes location information of the terminal to be located. In this way, in the technical scheme disclosed by the disclosure, the positioning device receives the positioning request message of the GMLC and replaces the GMLC to interact with the core network elements such as the AMF, so that the LCS client can be prevented from directly interacting with the core network through the GMLC, the client can solve the problem that the LCS client attacks the core network through the GMLC in the related technology, and the security of the core network elements can be improved.

In addition, in the technical scheme disclosed by the disclosure, the positioning device receives the positioning request message of the GMLC and sends the position information to the GMLC, so that the direct interaction of the GMLC with core network elements such as AMF and the like is avoided, and the possibility of exposing the position of the core network is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in fig. 3, a system architecture diagram of a positioning system is provided in an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in fig. 3, the system architecture includes: GMLC301, LMF302, positioning device 303, NRF304, UDM305, AMF306.

The specific functions of the GMLC301, the LMF302, the UDM305, and the AMF306 may be understood with reference to the description in fig. 2, which is not described herein.

The positioning device 303 is configured to conceal/convert address information of a core network, avoid interaction between devices in a positioning platform and network elements in the core network, cause address leakage of the core network elements, and avoid devices in the positioning platform from attacking the network elements in the core network.

The NRF304 is responsible for registering network function services, detecting status, etc., and can implement automatic management, selection and scalability of network function services, so that each network function discovers services provided by other network functions.

It should be noted that, in the process of implementing the positioning method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the GMLC sends a positioning request message to the positioning device through the NLh port. Accordingly, the location device receives the location request message from the GMLC through the NLh port.

The positioning device interacts with the NRF through Nnrf ports, and determines the UDM to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the service discovery function of the NRF.

The positioning device sends a query request message to the UDM to which the terminal belongs through NLh ports. Accordingly, the UDM receives the query request message from the positioning device through the NLh port.

After receiving the inquiry request message from the positioning device through NLh ports, the UDM determines the AMF information of the terminal to be positioned.

The UDM sends a query response message containing the AMF information to the positioning device through a NLh port; correspondingly, the positioning device receives the query response message sent by the UDM through a NLh port.

After receiving the query response message sent by the UDM through the NLh port, the positioning device sends the AMF information to the GMLC through the NLh port; accordingly, the GMLC receives information from the AMF transmitted by the positioning device through the NLh port.

After receiving the information from the AMF sent by the positioning device through the NLh port, the GMLC sends a positioning request message to the positioning device through the NLg port; correspondingly, the positioning device receives the positioning request message sent from the GMLC through the NLg port.

After receiving the positioning request message sent by the GMLC through the NLg port, the positioning device sends a position calculation request to the AMF through the NLg port; accordingly, the AMF receives the position request calculation from the positioning device through the NLg port.

After receiving the position request calculation from the positioning device through the NLg port, the AMF sends a position determination request message to the positioning device through the NLg port; accordingly, the positioning device receives the location determination request message from the AMF through the NLg port.

After receiving the location determination request message from the AMF through the NLg port, the positioning device interacts with the LMF through the NLs port to determine the target LMF in the idle state.

The positioning device forwards the position determination request message to the target LMF through NLs ports; accordingly, the target LMF receives the location determination request message from the positioning device through the NLs port.

After receiving the position determination request message from the positioning device through the NLs port, the target LMF sends address information to the positioning device through the NLs port; correspondingly, the positioning device receives address information from the target LMF through a NLs port.

After receiving the address information from the target LMF through the NLs port, the positioning device sends the address information of the target LMF to the AMF through the NLs port; accordingly, the AMF receives address information of the target LMF from the positioning device through the NLs port.

After receiving address information of a target LMF from a positioning device through a NLs port, the AMF sends parameters required by position calculation to the target LMF through a NLs port; accordingly, the target LMF receives parameters required for the position calculation from the AMF transmission through the NLs port.

After receiving parameters required by position calculation sent by an AMF through a NLs port, the target LMF sends position information of a terminal to be positioned to the AMF through a NLs port; correspondingly, the target AMF receives the position information of the terminal to be positioned sent by the target LMF through the MLS port.

After receiving the position information of the terminal to be positioned sent by the target LMF through the MLS port, the target AMF sends the position information of the terminal to be positioned to the positioning device through the NLg port; correspondingly, the positioning device receives the position information of the terminal to be positioned sent by the AMF through a NLg port.

After receiving the position information of the terminal to be positioned from the AMF through the NLg port, the positioning device sends the position information of the terminal to be positioned to the GMLC through the NLg port.

Note that NLh, NLg, NLs, nnrf appearing herein is a port or reference point in the 5G network for supporting information transfer between devices and devices, devices and network elements, network elements and network elements under the definition of the 3GPP protocol.

The positioning system according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above.

The positioning method according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail below.

The positioning method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure can be applied to a positioning device as shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 4, a flowchart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be specifically implemented through the following steps 401 to 405, which are described in detail below.

Step 401, the GMLC sends a positioning request message to a positioning device; accordingly, the location device receives a location request message from the GMLC.

The positioning request message includes information of AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs. Optionally, the information of the AMF may be address information of the AMF.

In a specific implementation, this step may be implemented specifically by the following procedure: the GMLC sends a location request message to the location device. After receiving the positioning request message, the positioning device determines the UDM to which the terminal belongs through the service discovery function of the NRF; the positioning device determines AMF of the terminal through UDM; the location device sends AMF information to the GMLC.

It should be noted that, the positioning device according to the present application may be a signaling security gateway (e.g., a 5G signaling security gateway). The signaling security gateway is arranged between the positioning platform and the 5G core network. The method is used for hiding/converting the address information of the core network, avoiding the interaction between the devices in the positioning platform and the network elements in the core network, causing the address leakage of the network elements of the core network, and avoiding the devices in the positioning platform from attacking the network elements in the core network.

Step 402, the positioning device determines a target LMF.

The target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the LMF is used to manage the overall coordination and scheduling of resources required by terminals registered to or accessing the core network, calculate or confirm the final position of the terminal, estimate the speed of the terminal and give the accuracy of the predicted value.

In one possible implementation, the specific step of determining the LMF by the positioning device is as follows, and after receiving the positioning request message, the positioning device sends the positioning request message to the AMF; after receiving the positioning request message from the positioning device, the AMF sends a position calculation request to the positioning device. After receiving the position calculation request, the positioning device searches the LMF in an idle state, determines the currently idle LMF as a target LMF, and determines the position information of the target LMF.

Step 403, the positioning device sends first indication information to the AMF. Accordingly, the AMF receives the first indication information from the positioning device.

The first indication information is used for indicating the target LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information includes address information of the target LMF, and the AMF establishes a channel between the AMF and a control plane of the LMF according to the address information of the LMF. The AMF sends terminal information to the LMF through the channel; the LMF calculates the position information of the terminal to be positioned according to the terminal information from the AMF; and the LMF sends the position information of the terminal to be positioned to the AMF through the interaction channel.

Step 404, the AMF sends second indication information to the positioning device. Correspondingly, the positioning device receives second indication information from the AMF.

The second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

In one possible implementation, the AMF receives location information of a terminal to be located from the LMF through an interaction channel, and sends the location information of the terminal to be located to the locating device.

Step 405, the positioning device sends a positioning response message to the GMLC; accordingly, the GMLC receives a location response message from the location device.

The positioning response message comprises the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

In one possible implementation, after receiving a location response message containing location information of a terminal to be located, the GMLC sends the location information of the terminal to be located to the location device; and the positioning device sends the position information of the terminal to be positioned to the LCS client after receiving the position information of the terminal to be positioned sent by the GMLC.

The scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: the present disclosure provides a positioning method, apparatus, and storage medium, including: the positioning device receives a positioning request message from the GMLC, wherein the positioning request message comprises information of an AMF to which a terminal to be positioned belongs; the positioning device determines a target LMF, wherein the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of a terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF; the positioning device receives second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the positioning device sends a positioning response message to the GMLC; the location response message includes location information of the terminal to be located. In this way, in the technical scheme disclosed by the disclosure, the positioning device receives the positioning request message of the GMLC and replaces the GMLC to interact with the core network element such as the AMF, so that the LCS client is prevented from directly interacting with the core network through the GMLC, and the possibility that the LCS client attacks the core network element through the GMLC is reduced. The method solves the problem that the LCS client attacks the core network through the GMLC in the related technology, and improves the security of network elements of the core network.

In addition, in the technical scheme disclosed by the disclosure, the positioning device receives the positioning request message of the GMLC and sends the position information to the GMLC, so that the direct interaction of the GMLC with core network elements such as AMF and the like is avoided, and the possibility of exposing the position of the core network is reduced.

The positioning method provided by the embodiment of the disclosure is described in detail above.

The positioning method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure will be further described below with reference to each step in the above positioning method.

In one possible implementation of the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 5 in conjunction with fig. 4, before step 401, the method further comprises:

Step 501, the GMLC sends a positioning service request message to a positioning device; accordingly, the location device receives a location service request message from the GMLC.

The positioning service request message comprises an identifier of a terminal to be positioned;

In one possible implementation, the identity of the terminal to be located includes the mobile station international ISDN number (mobile subscriber international ISDN number, MSISDN) of the terminal to be located. Wherein the MSISDN is composed of a country code, a national destination code and a subscriber number for identifying the subscriber in the public telephone network switching network numbering plan.

Specifically, the terminal to be positioned sends a positioning request to the LCS client, and the LCS client receives the positioning request from the terminal to be positioned correspondingly; the LCS client initiates a positioning request to the GMLC, wherein the positioning request comprises the identification of the terminal to be positioned. After receiving the location request, the GMLC generates a location service request message according to the location request and transmits the location service request message to the location device.

It should be noted that the identity of the terminal to be located is from the LCS client. The LCS client is a functional entity that interacts with a network element related to LCS of the entire location service system in order to obtain location information of the mobile terminal, and may be an application entity in the mobile network, or may be external to the mobile network, and access the mobile location service system through the network.

Step 502, the positioning device determines the information of the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned.

In one possible implementation, the positioning device determines, according to the service discovery function of the NRF, the UDM to which the terminal to be positioned belongs; the positioning device sends the registration information of the terminal to the UDM to which the terminal belongs, and the UDM determines the AMF information of the terminal to be positioned after receiving the registration information of the terminal from the positioning device.

Optionally, the AMF to which the terminal belongs is an AMF that establishes a context with the terminal in a connected state (CM-connected).

It should be noted that the AMF related to the present application may be other network elements with the same function in other standard networks. For example, in a 4G network, an AMF may be replaced with a mobility management node network element (mobility MANAGEMENT ENTITY, MME). In other networks in the future, the AMF may be replaced with other network elements that enable access and mobility management.

Step 503, the positioning device sends AMF information to the GMLC; accordingly, the GMLC receives information from the AMF of the positioning device.

In a possible implementation, the information of the AMF sent by the positioning device includes address information of the AMF.

It should be noted that the AMF information received by the GMLC from the positioning device, although containing address information of the AMF, is transmitted in encrypted or sealed form. The GMLC cannot recognize the address information of the AMF, and only forwards the information including the address information of the AMF in a subsequent process.

It is understood that after step 503, the positioning device may continue to perform step 401 described above, which is not described herein.

The technical scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the process, the GMLC sends positioning service request information containing the identification of the terminal to be positioned to the positioning device, the positioning device determines the AMF of the terminal according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned, and then sends the AMF information to the GMLC. Therefore, when the GMLC determines the AMF of the terminal according to the positioning service request information containing the terminal identification to be positioned, the direct interaction between the GMLC and the AMF is avoided, and the safety in the positioning process is improved.

In the above, the AMF to which the positioning device determines the terminal belongs in the present disclosure is described in detail.

The positioning method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure will be further described below with reference to each step in the above positioning method.

In one possible implementation of the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 5 in conjunction with fig. 4, after step 401, the method further comprises:

step 504, the positioning device forwards the positioning request message to the AMF.

In one possible implementation, the location device sends a location calculation request of the GMLC to the AMF.

Step 505, the AMF sends a location determination request message to the positioning device; accordingly, the positioning device receives the location determination request message from the AMF.

The location determination request message is used for requesting to determine a location message of the terminal to be located.

In one possible implementation, the location determination request message is used to request the positioning device to query the target LMF in an idle state and send the location request message to the target LMF.

The technical scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the above process, the positioning device forwards the location calculation request of the GMLC to the AMF, and after receiving the location calculation request, the AMF sends location determination request information to the positioning device. After receiving the location determination request message from the AMF, the positioning device transmits location determination request information to the GMLC. In this way, in the technical scheme provided by the disclosure, the GMLC is prevented from directly sending the location calculation request to the AMF, so that interaction between the GMLC and the AMF is avoided, and the possibility that the LCS client initiates a malicious attack to the AMF through the GMLC is reduced.

The process of information interaction between the AMF and GMLC in the present disclosure is described in detail above.

The process of determining the LMF by the positioning device in step 402 is described in detail below.

As shown in fig. 5, the above step 402 may be implemented by the following steps 506 to 507.

Step 506, the positioning device queries the LMF currently in idle state.

After receiving the location determination request message from the AMF, the positioning device queries the LMF that is currently in an idle state.

In one possible implementation, the locating device looks up the LMF that is not currently performing the operations of resource global coordination and scheduling, computing location, validating location, computing speed, or validating speed.

Step 507, the positioning device determines that the LMF currently in the idle state is the target LMF.

The target LMF is used for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, it may also be determined that an LMF that satisfies other conditions is a target LMF. For example, in the case that there is no idle LMF currently, the positioning device determines the LMF with the lowest load currently, and takes the LMF with the lowest load as the target LMF. For another example, the positioning device determines the LMF currently closest to the target LMF.

The technical scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the above process, after receiving the location request determining message from the AMF, the positioning device searches for the LMF in the idle state, and determines the target LMF. In this way, the target LMF is determined by the positioning device, so that the target LMF cannot interact with the AMF, and the risk of revealing the address information of the core network element AMF is reduced.

The process of determining the target LMF by the positioning device in the present disclosure is described in detail above.

Hereinafter, the process of the positioning device transmitting the first instruction information to the AMF in step 403 will be described in detail.

As shown in fig. 5, the above-mentioned step 403 may be implemented by the following steps 508 to 511.

Step 508, the positioning device forwards the location determination request message to the target LMF.

The location request information is a location determination request message sent by the AMF to the positioning device.

That is, the positioning device forwards the location determination request information to the LMF after receiving the location determination request information from the AMF.

Step 509, the target LMF sends address information to the positioning device; correspondingly, the positioning device receives the address information sent by the target LMF.

The address information sent by the target LMF is the address information of the target LMF.

Step 510, the positioning device generates first indication information according to the address information, and sends the first indication information to the AMF.

The first indication information is used for indicating the LMF, and enabling the AMF to determine the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the LMF. The first indication information includes address information of the target LMF.

That is, the positioning device sends the first indication information including the address information of the target LMF to the AMF after receiving the address information sent by the target LMF.

And step 511, the target LMF and the AMF interactively determine the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

In one possible implementation, after the AMF receives the address information of the target LMF sent by the positioning device, a channel is established between the AMF and the target LMF according to the address information of the target LMF. And the AMF transmits terminal parameters required for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned to the target LMF through the channel. And after receiving the terminal parameters from the AMF, the target LMF calculates the position information of the terminal to be positioned. After the position information of the terminal to be positioned is calculated, the target LMF sends the position information of the terminal to be positioned to the AMF through a channel.

The technical scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: after receiving the position determination request message forwarded by the positioning device, the target LMF sends address information to the positioning device; the positioning device sends first indication information containing address information of the target LMF to the AMF, and the first indication information indicates the AMF to interactively acquire the position information of the terminal to be positioned with the target LMF. In the process, the positioning device indicates the target LMF to the AMF, so that the possibility of address information leakage of the core network element AMF is reduced.

In the above, the process of the positioning device sending the first instruction information to the AMF in the present disclosure is described in detail.

Next, the positioning device in step 502 determines information of the AMF of the terminal to be positioned according to the identifier of the terminal to be positioned.

As shown in fig. 6, the above step 502 may be specifically implemented by the following steps 601 to 603.

Step 601, the positioning device determines the UDM to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the service discovery function of the NRF.

The NRF is responsible for registering network function services, detecting states and the like, and can realize automatic management, selection and expandability of the network function services, so that each network function can find services provided by other network functions. The UDM is responsible for management of user identification, subscription data, authentication data, and registration management of the user's serving network element.

Note that the service network element registration management includes AMF, SMF, and the like.

Step 602, the positioning device sends a query request message to the UDM.

The query request information is used for querying the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

In one possible implementation, the UDM receives identification information of the terminal from the positioning device, and determines the AMF in which the terminal is located.

Step 603, the UDM sends a query response message to the positioning device; correspondingly, the positioning device receives the inquiry response message sent by the UDM.

The first response message is used for indicating the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

In one possible implementation, the first response information sent by the UDM includes address information of the AMF to which the terminal to be located belongs. After receiving the first response message sent by the UDM, the positioning device sends address information of the AMF to the GMLC.

The scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the present disclosure, the positioning device determines, through NRF, a UDM to which the terminal belongs, and determines, according to the UDM to which the terminal belongs, an AMF to which the user belongs. The positioning device and the UDM are interacted to determine the AMF of the terminal, so that the interaction of the GMLC and the UDM to determine the AMF is avoided, and the risk of revealing address information of the core network elements AMF and UDM is reduced.

It can be seen that the foregoing description has mainly been presented with respect to a method of providing a technical solution according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. To achieve the above functions, it includes corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules that perform the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative modules and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The embodiment of the disclosure may divide the functional modules of the positioning device according to the above method example, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules. Optionally, the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present disclosure is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be actually implemented.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a positioning device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The positioning device comprises: a communication unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

A communication unit 701, configured to receive a positioning request message from a gateway mobile positioning center GMLC, where the positioning request message includes information of an access and mobility management network element AMF to which a terminal to be positioned belongs; a processing unit 702, configured to determine an LMF; the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned; the communication unit 701 is further configured to send first indication information to the AMF, where the first indication information is used to indicate the LMF, so that the AMF determines location information of the terminal to be located through the target LMF; the communication unit 701 is further configured to receive second indication information from the AMF, where the second indication information is used to indicate location information of the terminal to be located; a communication unit 701 further configured to send a location response message to the GMLC; the positioning response message comprises the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

In one possible implementation, the communication unit 701 is further configured to: forwarding the location request message to the AMF; and receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, wherein the position determination request message is used for requesting to determine the position message of the terminal to be positioned.

In one possible implementation, the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to: under the condition of receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, querying the LMF which is in an idle state currently; and determining the LMF in the idle state as the target LMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 701 is specifically configured to forward the location determination request message to the target LMF; the communication unit 701 is further specifically configured to receive address information sent by the target LMF; the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to generate the first indication information according to the address information, and send the first indication information to the AMF.

In a possible implementation, the communication unit 701 is further configured to receive a location service request message from the GMLC; the positioning service request message comprises the identification of the terminal to be positioned; the processing unit 702 is further configured to determine, according to the identifier of the terminal to be located, information of an AMF to which the terminal to be located belongs; the communication unit 701 is further configured to send information of the AMF to the GMLC.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to determine, according to a service discovery function of the network storage function network element NRF, a unified data management network element UDM to which the terminal to be located belongs; a communication unit 701, specifically configured to send a query request message to the UDM; the inquiry request message is used for inquiring the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs; the communication unit 701 is further specifically configured to receive a query response message sent by the UDM; the inquiry response message is used for indicating the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a positioning device for executing the positioning method. The positioning device may be a positioning device referred to in this disclosure, or a module in a positioning device; or a chip in the positioning device, or other devices for performing the positioning method, which is not limited in this disclosure.

The present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a computer, perform the steps of the method flow shown in the method embodiments described above.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the positioning method of the above-described method embodiments.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface coupled to the processor for running a computer program or instructions to implement a positioning method as in the method embodiments described above.

The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable storage medium would include the following: electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer diskette, hard disk. Random access memory (random access memory, RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (erasable programmable read only memory, EPROM), registers, hard disk, optical fiber, portable compact disc read-only memory (compact disc read-only memor y, CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any other form of computer-readable storage medium suitable for use by a person of ordinary skill in the art, or any other form of data storage medium. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In the disclosed embodiments, a computer-readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Since the apparatus, device, computer readable storage medium, and computer program product in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to the above-mentioned method, the technical effects that may be obtained by the apparatus, device, computer readable storage medium, and computer program product may also refer to the above-mentioned method embodiments, and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not repeated herein.

The foregoing is merely a specific embodiment of the disclosure, but the protection scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the disclosure should be covered by the protection scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A positioning method, comprising:

receiving a positioning request message from a gateway mobile positioning center (GMLC), wherein the positioning request message comprises information of an access and mobile management network element (AMF) to which a terminal to be positioned belongs;

Forwarding the location request message to the AMF;

Receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, wherein the position determination request message is used for requesting to determine a position message of the terminal to be positioned;

Under the condition of receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, inquiring a positioning management network element LMF in an idle state at present;

Determining the LMF in the idle state as a target LMF; the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned;

sending first indication information to the AMF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the LMF so that the AMF determines the position information of the terminal to be positioned through the target LMF;

Receiving second indication information from the AMF, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating the position information of the terminal to be positioned;

Transmitting a location response message to the GMLC; the positioning response message comprises the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the first indication information to the AMF comprises:

Forwarding the location determination request message to the target LMF;

receiving address information sent by the target LMF;

and generating the first indication information according to the address information, and sending the first indication information to the AMF.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that before receiving a location request message from a gateway mobile location center, GMLC, the method further comprises:

Receiving a location service request message from the GMLC; the positioning service request message comprises the identification of the terminal to be positioned;

determining information of AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned;

and sending the information of the AMF to the GMLC.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining the AMF information of the terminal to be located according to the identifier of the terminal to be located includes:

according to the service discovery function of the network storage function network element NRF, determining a unified data management network element UDM to which the terminal to be positioned belongs;

sending a query request message to the UDM; the inquiry request message is used for inquiring the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs;

Receiving a query response message sent by the UDM; the inquiry response message is used for indicating the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

5. A positioning device, comprising: a communication unit and a processing unit;

The communication unit is used for receiving a positioning request message from a gateway mobile positioning center (GMLC), wherein the positioning request message comprises information of an access and mobile management network element (AMF) to which a terminal to be positioned belongs;

the communication unit is further configured to: forwarding the location request message to the AMF; receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, wherein the position determination request message is used for requesting to determine a position message of the terminal to be positioned;

The processing unit is specifically configured to: under the condition of receiving a position determination request message from the AMF, inquiring a positioning management network element LMF in an idle state at present; determining the LMF in the idle state as a target LMF; the target LMF is an LMF for calculating the position information of the terminal to be positioned;

The communication unit is further configured to send first indication information to the AMF, where the first indication information is used to indicate the LMF, so that the AMF determines location information of the terminal to be located through the target LMF;

The communication unit is further configured to receive second indication information from the AMF, where the second indication information is used to indicate location information of the terminal to be located;

The communication unit is further configured to send a location response message to the GMLC; the positioning response message comprises the position information of the terminal to be positioned.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:

the communication unit is specifically configured to forward the location determination request message to the target LMF;

the communication unit is further specifically configured to receive address information sent by the target LMF;

The processing unit is specifically configured to generate the first indication information according to the address information, and send the first indication information to the AMF.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein:

The communication unit is further configured to receive a location service request message from the GMLC; the positioning service request message comprises the identification of the terminal to be positioned;

the processing unit is further used for determining information of AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs according to the identification of the terminal to be positioned;

the communication unit is further configured to send information of the AMF to the GMLC.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein:

The processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to a service discovery function of a network storage function network element NRF, a unified data management network element UDM to which the terminal to be located belongs;

the communication unit is specifically configured to send a query request message to the UDM; the inquiry request message is used for inquiring the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs;

The communication unit is further specifically configured to receive a query response message sent by the UDM; the inquiry response message is used for indicating the AMF to which the terminal to be positioned belongs.

9. A positioning device, comprising: a processor and a memory; wherein the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the positioning device, cause the positioning device to perform the positioning method of any of claims 1-4.

10. A computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor of a positioning device, cause the positioning device to perform the positioning method of any of claims 1-4.