FR2943885A1 - ADMISSION CONTROL FOR A SET OF HETEROGENEOUS ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES. - Google Patents

Abstract

An admission control method (CAC_L3) for transmitting a data stream through a gateway comprising a plurality of heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network (WAN), the gateway comprising a set of admission controllers (CA (1) .. CA (N), CA_M) respectively associated with access technologies. The method comprises steps of analyzing a request for access to a service from a device connected to the gateway, the request being associated with an access technology of the set of heterogeneous access technologies, estimation of available access resources (R_CAC2) between the equipment and the gateway according to the access technology, estimation of the available transport resources (RT_d) on the shared transport network, and determination of a response to the request based on a comparison between the available transport resources and required transport resources (RT_n) determined from the available access resources.

Description

The field of the invention is that of telecommunication networks. More particularly, the invention relates to admission control for the transmission of a data stream through a gateway comprising heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network. A home gateway makes it possible to connect telecommunications networks having architectures or supporting different protocols. In particular, it makes it possible to connect a local network with a core network of an operator's fixed telecommunication network. Data streams, referred to as fixed streams, between any equipment of the local network, called fixed equipment, and a service platform are transported by a transport network, also called WAN (Wide Area Network), from a gateway interface. The home gateway provides at least one transport termination and fixed stream routing function in the local area network. The local network is for example a LAN ("Local Aera Network") of a company or an individual. The gateway is thus a central point for managing fixed flows between a fixed telecommunication network and a local network.

It is essential that the gateway integrate a plurality of interfaces according to the different technologies supported by the local network. In particular a gateway may include an Ethernet interface, a USB interface or even a radio access point such as WI-FI, or bluetooth. On the other hand, the gateway must allow the establishment of a connection between different service platforms and fixed user equipment for example telephones, TV boxes, or computers. Services, for example IP telephony, television, or internet services. The signaling exchanges relating to the connection and exchange of data between the fixed LAN equipment, a fixed core network and a service platform are performed at the data link layer with reference to the OSI communication model ( for "Open Systems Interconnection" in English defined by the ISO (for "International Organization for Standardization"). Access to the transport network transport resources, for example an ADSL network (for "Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line"), is controlled by an admission control method specific to the specifications of the fixed core network. The method, referred to as the fixed admission control method, is generally implemented in the gateway. The deployment of mobile telecommunications networks, and in particular the possibility of implementing base stations with low radio coverage, also called femto base stations, also makes it possible to set up a home gateway that also includes such a station. base connected to a mobile core network. The mobile telecommunications networks are for example the third generation mobile radio networks such as the UMTS network (for "Universal Mobile Telecommunications System" in English) or later generations, for example the LTE network (for "long term Evolution" in English).

The signaling exchanges relating to the connection and data exchange between a mobile device connected to the femto base station, a mobile core network and a service platform are also performed at the data link layer in accordance with the data link layer. architecture of the mobile telecommunication network. Access to transportation resources in the transmission network is controlled by an admission control process specific to the core mobile network specifications. The method, referred to as the mobile admission control method, is generally implemented in the base station. Transport resources in the case of this home gateway supporting heterogeneous access technologies, typically fixed access and mobile access, are thus shared.

In such a configuration, requests for access to a service by mobile equipment are satisfied depending on the radio resources available on a mobile radio interface between the mobile equipment and the home gateway base station. The requests are subject to the mobile admission control method of the base station of the gateway, and the signaling exchanges with the mobile core network are performed according to a protocol specific to mobile radio telecommunications networks, for example the RRC protocol. It turns out that these protocols are not aware of the available transport resources of the transport network, for example IP or XDSL transport resources (for "X Digital Subscriber Line" in English). The mobile equipment may be granted its request while the transport resource necessary for the delivery of the service is not available on the shared transport network. Similarly, requests for access to a service by fixed equipment of the local network are granted according to the resources available between the fixed equipment and the gateway. The requests are subject to the fixed admission control method of the gateway, and signaling exchanges with the fixed core network are carried out according to a protocol specific to fixed telecommunication networks, for example the SIP protocol (for "Session Initiation Protocol" in English). These protocols do not have knowledge of the transport resources in use for mobile flows, and the fixed equipment can thus be granted its request while the transport resource has been allocated for the transmission of one or several mobile streams required by one or more mobile equipment connected to the base station of the gateway.

There is therefore a need for convergent admission control adapted for transmitting a data stream through a gateway comprising heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network.

To achieve this objective, the invention proposes an admission control method for transmitting a data stream through a gateway comprising a set of heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network, the gateway. comprising a set of admission controllers respectively associated with said access technologies. The method comprises the steps of: • analyzing a request for access to a service coming from a device connected to the gateway, the request being associated with an access technology of the set of heterogeneous access technologies • estimation of access resources available between the equipment and the gateway according to the access technology, • estimation of the available transport resources on the shared transport network, • determination of a response to the request based on a comparison between the available transport resources and the required transport resources determined from the available access resources.

Thus, the response to the service access request from mobile or fixed equipment is decided by considering firstly the different access resources required for the processing of the service but also the estimated capacity of the transport network. The estimated available access resources are provided by an admission controller of the set of admission controllers determined according to the request. Thus admission control rules related to an access technology are respected to ensure compatibility for both fixed and mobile equipment for the core networks. The response to the query is weighted by priority information. Thus, the priority information makes it possible to refine the decision in case of insufficient transport resources. Depending on this priority, the call may be rejected, redirected or accepted at the expense of another non-priority service in progress. On the other hand, the query analysis relates to information of a network layer.

Thus, information in the network layer is used to estimate the available access resources, for example a user priority, a service priority, or even a load indication. In a particular embodiment, the set of access technologies comprises a mobile radio access technology. Indeed, the invention is particularly advantageous in the case where the gateway comprises a base station with low radio coverage, such as a femto base station, as previously presented. The invention also relates to an admission control device for transmitting a data stream through a gateway comprising a set of heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network, the gateway comprising a set of admission controllers respectively associated with access technologies. The device comprises means for: • analyzing a request for access to a service from a device connected to the gateway, the request being associated with an access technology of the set of heterogeneous access technologies Estimating the access resources available between the equipment and the gateway according to said access technology, estimating the available transport resources on the shared transport network, determining a response to the request in based on a comparison between the available transport resources and the necessary transportation resources determined from the available access resources. The invention also relates to a gateway comprising an admission control device according to the invention. The invention also relates to a gateway comprising a device 30 according to the invention and furthermore a mobile radio base station. The invention also relates to a computer program for a gateway comprising the software instructions for controlling the implementation by said gateway of the steps of the method when the program is executed by the gateway. The device and the gateway have advantages similar to those previously described.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of several particular embodiments of the admission control method for the transmission of a data stream through a gateway comprising heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network, given as simple illustrative and non-limiting examples, and appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 schematically represents an architecture for interconnecting a gateway, FIG. 2 schematically represents a gateway according to the invention, FIG. 3 schematically represents a convergent admission control device of a gateway according to the invention, FIG. 4 schematically represents a module. management of a service request transmitted by a device connected to a gateway according to the invention, - the FIG. 5 represents the stages of implementation of the convergent admission control according to the invention.

Figure 1 schematically illustrates an interconnection architecture of a home gateway having heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network. In this illustrative example, a fixed LAN equipment accesses services delivered by a service platform not shown via a GW gateway. Fixed equipment is for example a telephone equipment F1, a computer F2 or even a television F3. The fixed equipment of the local network is connected to the GW gateway by an interface, for example an Ethernet interface, a USB interface or even a local radio pairing of Wifi or Bluetooth type. The signaling exchanges relating to the end-to-end connection between the fixed equipment and the service platform are performed via a fixed core network CR_F. Fixed data flows between the gateway and the fixed core network are transported by a WAN transport network from a bridge connection interface not shown in FIG. 1.

The gateway further comprises a base station SB, for example a mobile radio base station with a low femto type radio coverage. The base station SB can be integrated in the gateway or, in an equivalent manner, connected to the gateway by a link, such as an Ethernet link, as shown in FIG. 1. A mobile equipment M connected to the base station SB of the gateway accesses services delivered by an unrepresented service platform. Mobile equipment is for example a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA) communicating or any equipment equipped with a communicating card. The mobile equipment M is thus connected to the base station of the gateway GW by a specific radio interface of a mobile radio telecommunications network (not shown). The signaling exchanges relating to the end-to-end connection between the mobile equipment and the service platform are carried out via a mobile core network CR_M. Mobile data streams between the gateway GW and the mobile core network CR_F are carried by the WAN transport network.

Figure 2 schematically shows an architecture of a gateway with heterogeneous access technologies, typically fixed and mobile access. For the sake of clarity, only the elements of the gateway related to the invention are presented.

The gateway GW comprises, on the one hand, interfaces with the local network for example, and in a nonlimiting manner, a radio access point of WI-FI type PA_wifi, an Ethernet interface ETH, a USB interface, an adaptation interface ATA for analog equipment. The gateway further comprises a base station SB of a mobile radio telecommunication network. The base station SB is for example a femto base station for a UMTS mobile radio network or even a base station of a WIMAX radio network.

It also includes an I_WAN connection interface to the WAN shared transport network. Different application relays, called ALG (for "Application Level Gateway" in English), are implemented in the gateway in order to establish an application bridge with an external telecommunication network. The application relays thus interpret queries by reading the higher level protocol, typically the application layer with reference to an OSI communication model, and can for example provide the security and authentication procedures. The relays are for example a relay SIP_ALG compliant with the protocol SIP (for "Session Initiation Protocol" in English) management of multimedia session, a relay RTSP_ALG compliant with the RTSP protocol (for "Real Time Streaming Protocol" in English), or even IGMP_ALG according to the IGMP protocol (for "Internet Group Management Protocol" in English). The base station SB also includes an M_ALG relay, compliant with the specifications of the mobile radio network considered. For example, in the case of a base station with low femto radio coverage, the application relay is defined by the 3GPP standardization group (for "3rd Generation Partnership Project").

A request for access to a service, issued respectively by fixed equipment of the local network or mobile equipment, is subject to a converged admission control device CAC_L3 according to the invention included in the gateway. In a particular embodiment, for which the base station is not integrated in the gateway but connected to the gateway for example by an Ethernet link, the constituent means of the admission control device according to the invention can be distributed between the base station and the gateway.

FIG. 3 schematically represents the converged admission control device CAC_L3 of a gateway comprising heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network. The device further comprises a central control unit, not shown, to which the included means are connected, and intended to control the operation of these means. The device comprises: - management means for managing a service request transmitted by a fixed equipment or a mobile equipment, - means CA (i), i varying from 1 to N, fixed admission control of a request from fixed equipment of the local network. CA (i) means is associated with an access technology supported by the gateway. For example, admission control means for a request from a fixed equipment connected by an Ethernet connection to the gateway is a fixed admission control means defined by the IEEE Institute (for "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ". Similarly, admission control means for a request from fixed equipment connected by a Wi-Fi radio link to the gateway is a fixed admission control means according to the 802.11 specification established by the IEEE Institute. . a means CA_M mobile admission control of a request from a mobile equipment connected to the base station of the gateway. For example, in the case of a femto base station with low radio coverage, the CA_M means is an admission controller as specified by the 3GPP standardization organization. The aforementioned different admission control means, well known to those skilled in the art, are said to be data link level, that is to say capable of making decisions based on information present in the link layer of data with reference to an OSI communication model.

In a particular embodiment, the device further comprises - means QoS (i), i varying from 1 to N, management of the fixed quality of service relating to a service request from a fixed equipment. QoS means (i) is associated with an aforementioned admission control means and thus specific to an access technology supported by the gateway. a QoS_M means for managing the quality of mobile service relating to a service request from mobile equipment connected to the base station of the gateway. The QoS_M means is for example defined for a femto base station of a UMTS mobile radio network in 3GPP specification TS 23.107 entitled "Quality of Service (QoS) concept and architecture" and prepared by 3GPP (for "3rd Generation Partnership Project "

FIG. 4 schematically represents a management module MANAGING a service request sent by a fixed or mobile equipment connected to the gateway GW. The management module comprises: - means of analysis REC of a request for access to a service, a request sent by a fixed or mobile equipment connected to the gateway, and delivered by an application relay ALG, - estimation means ESTIM1 of available access resources between the fixed or mobile equipment and the gateway, - ESTIM2 estimation means of the available transport resources on the shared transport network associated with the gateway, - CONV conversion means arranged to establish an association between the access resources available between the equipment and the gateway and resources of the shared transport network necessary to satisfy the request, DECISION decision means arranged to determine a response to the request according to the estimate available transport resources and necessary transportation resources determined by the means of conversion.

A particular example of the convergent admission control method for transmitting a data stream from a service access request transmitted by a fixed or mobile equipment via a gateway comprising heterogeneous access technologies is now described with reference to FIG. 6. In a step E1, a fixed or mobile equipment transmits an access request RA to a service offered by a service platform. The request usually includes the identity of the fixed or mobile equipment and the cause of the request, for example a type of service such as a voice or video call, a class of service such as a debit. The request may further include service quality requirements such as a minimum rate of flow to be met, or a target error rate. The request may also include a description of the capabilities of the fixed or mobile equipment, a user profile, a priority level of the requested service, a user priority level or any other information relating to the fixed or mobile equipment and / or the user and / or the requested service. In the case of mobile equipment M, the request is sent via the base station of the gateway GW to a mobile core network CR_M according to the specifications of the mobile telecommunications network considered. For example, the request is issued according to TS 25 2531 "Radio Resource Control (RRC) Protocol Specification" for access to the UMTS mobile radio network in the case of a base station with low femto radio coverage. In the case of fixed equipment, the request is sent via an interface of the gateway GW to a fixed core network CR_F 30 according to the specifications of the telecommunication network in question. The interface is for example an Ethernet interface, a USB interface, or even a Wifi type radio access point.

In one step E2, the request RA is analyzed by an application relay ALG of the gateway GW. For example, a request sent by a mobile device via a femto base station of the gateway is analyzed by a femto M_ALG application relay in accordance with the specification of the corresponding mobile radio telecommunications network. Similarly, a request of the SIP type sent by a fixed equipment is analyzed by an SIP type ALG_SIP application relay in accordance with the corresponding fixed telecommunications network.

In one step E3, the analysis means REC of the convergent admission control device CAC-L3 of the gateway receive the request RA. The content of the request is analyzed and in particular the information present in the network layer with reference to the OSI communication model. This information is for example a capacity of the equipment transmitting the request, a user priority, a service priority or a load indication between the equipment and the gateway. The load indication is for example the load on an xDSL link for a fixed access or an indication of use of radio resources for a mobile access. The information can also be an indication of availability of access resources between the equipment and the gateway, for example in the case of mobile equipment a power level, a selection of codes or even a selection of one or several frequencies.

In one step E4, the estimation means ES ~ 1M1 estimate access resources R_CAC2 available between the mobile or fixed equipment and the gateway. This estimate is implemented by exchanges of data link level information with the admission control means specific to the considered telecommunication network CA_M or CA (i), for i between 1 and N. For example, in the case of a request sent by a mobile device, the admission control module and the related signaling complies with the specification established by the 3GPP standardization group for a base station with low radio coverage of femto type . In a particular embodiment, the estimating means ESTIM1 estimate the resources available between the equipment and the gateway by data link level signaling exchanges with the admission control module concerned CA_M or CA (i), for i between 1 and N, in relation to the corresponding quality of service module. The QoS_M or QoS (i) quality of service modules, i varying from 1 to N, are for example capable of managing stream scheduling, prioritization packet marking in order to satisfy quality of service requirements relating to the transmission technology. 'access.

In a step E5, the ESTIM2 estimation means of the management module GESTION estimate the RT_d transport resources available on the shared transport network. For example, the estimation means ESTIM2 estimate the bandwidth available at the connection interface of the gateway to the transport network from a measurement of the synchronization rate of the interface. The sync rate represents the actual bandwidth available on the transport network. The ESTIM2 estimation means may also include a module for evaluating the state of the network. Such a module determines, for example, the state of the transport network from reception delays at the fictitious packet connection interface transmitted periodically by the transport network or the loss rate of these packets.

In a step E6, the conversion means CONV establish an association between the available access resources R_CAC2 between the fixed or mobile equipment and the gateway, evaluated during the step E4, and the transport resources RT_n necessary to establish the service required. The result of step E6 thus determines the necessary transport resources.

For example, an AMR 12.2 voice call (for "Adaptive MultiRate" in English) on a UMTS radio link corresponds after IP encapsulation to an 83kb / s ATM rate including VPN encryption headers on a secure IP network. Similarly, a 64kb / s video service over a 64kb / s radio link corresponds to an ATM throughput of 145kb / s. The correspondence thus makes it possible to deduce the bandwidth required on the shared transport network, for example an ATM network. A correspondence table can be memorized beforehand and updated periodically or during the implementation of new services.

This table corresponds to the ADSL bandwidth required for a fixed or fixed rate mobile service, for example an AMR session or a G711 session.

In a step E7, DECISION decision means determines a response to the request based on a comparison between the available transport resources RT_d estimated in step E5 and the necessary transport resources RT_ n determined from the association made during step E6. If the estimated required transport resources are greater than the available transport resources, steps E8 to E10 are performed.

In step E8, the decision means verify a PRIOR priority of the requested service. If this information is not available in the initial request, the management means are able to set a priority by default. If the service is declared a priority, the decision means perform a step E9. In the opposite case, the decision means perform a step E10. In step E9, the decision means decide to degrade one or more lower priority fixed or mobile data streams being transported by the transport network. For this purpose, they notify the changes in the allocation of transport resources allocated to the least priority data stream (s) to the fixed (s) or mobile (s) corresponding equipment (s).

They also notify modifications to the fixed (s) or mobile (s) network (s) concerned. The notification is for example made according to the specifications of the fixed or mobile telecommunications network concerned.

In a particular embodiment, the decision means decide to stop the transport of one or more fixed or mobile data streams less priority. The decision means then notify the stopping of the transport of this or these selected streams to the fixed (s) or mobile (s) equipment (s). They also notify the stop at the (x) fixed (s) fixed network (s) or mobile (s) respective (s).

The notification is for example made according to the specifications of the fixed or mobile telecommunications network concerned. In a particular embodiment, the decision means decide to stop the transport of one or more fixed or mobile data streams less priority and jointly the degradation of one or more other data streams during transport. The decision means then notify the stopping or the modification of the transport of this or these selected streams to the (x) fixed (s) or mobile (s) equipment (s). They likewise notify the stopping or the modification to the fixed (s) or mobile (s) network (s) respectively. The notification is for example made according to the specifications of the fixed or mobile telecommunications network concerned.

In step E10, the decision means decide to reject the request. For this purpose they notify the mobile or fixed equipment of the rejection of the request. This notification may also include an indication of the reason for rejection. The equipment is then able to generate a new request by first selecting, for example, another mobile radio network in the case of a mobile device. In a particular embodiment and in the case of a request sent by a mobile device, the decision means notify the mobile core network of the rejection of the request. This notification may for example be carried out according to the protocol RANAP (for "Radio Access Network Application Part" in English) by a message of type "RAB establishement failure" with a cause of "Directed Retry". This notification includes a radio cell change instruction ("handover" in English). The mobile core network then performs the radio cell change and informs the mobile equipment accordingly, for example according to the specifications of the mobile radio telecommunications network concerned.

If in step E7 the estimated required transport resources are less than the available transport resources, steps E8 to E10 are not performed, and step E7 is followed by step E1. step E9 a modification of resources allocated to a non-priority service has been decided, step E9 is followed by step El 1. In step El 1, the decision means decide to accept the request. Activation of the service is then performed according to the specifications of the telecommunication network concerned. Thus, in the case of a request sent by a mobile device via a femto base station of the gateway, an access resource establishment message is sent by the base station of the gateway to the equipment. mobile. This setup message includes in particular the type of service and an identification of the allocated access resource. After receiving confirmation of receipt of the message by the mobile equipment, the base station of the gateway informs the mobile core network of the allocation of radio resources.

The disclosed invention relates to an admission control device. Accordingly, the invention also applies to a computer program including a computer program on or in an information recording medium, adapted to implement the invention. This program can use any programming language, and be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source code and object code such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other form desirable to implement the steps of the method according to the invention.

Claims (9)

CLAIMS1- Admission control method (CAC_L3) for the transmission of a data stream through a gateway comprising a set of heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network (WAN), said gateway comprising a set of admission controllers (CA (1) .. CA (N), CA_M) respectively associated with said access technologies, said method being characterized in that it comprises steps of: • analyzing a request for access access to a service from a device connected to said gateway, said request being associated with an access technology of the set of heterogeneous access technologies, estimation of available access resources (R_CAC2 ) between the equipment and the gateway according to said access technology, • estimating the available transport resources (RT d) on the shared transport network, • determining a response to said req. based on a comparison between the available transport resources and required transport resources (RT_n) determined from said available access resources. The admission control method of claim 1 wherein the estimated available access resources are provided by an admission controller of the set of admission controllers determined according to the request. 3- admission control method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the response to said request is weighted by priority information. 4- method of admission control according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the analysis of the query relates to information of a network layer. 5. An admission control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the set of access technologies comprises a mobile radio access technology. 6- Admission control device (CAC_L3) for the transmission of a data stream through a gateway comprising a set of heterogeneous access technologies and sharing a shared transport network, said gateway comprising a set of controllers of admission (CA (1), ... CA (N), CA_M) respectively associated with said access technologies, said device being characterized in that it comprises means of: • analysis of a request of access to a service from equipment connected to the said gateway, the said request being associated with an access technology of the set of heterogeneous access technologies, • estimation of access resources available between the equipment and the gateway according to said access technology, • estimating available transport resources on the shared transport network, • determining a response to said request based on a comparison between the available transport resources and the necessary 30 transport resources determined from said available access resources. 7- Gateway with an admission control device according to claim 6. The gateway of claim 7 further comprising a mobile radio base station. 9- Computer program for a gateway comprising the software instructions for controlling the implementation by said gateway of the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 when the program is executed by the gateway.