JP2017038216A - Management device for managing network, and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a plurality of operators to efficiently use the radio resource of the self-company while maintaining competition among the plurality of operators, and to maintain high performance of a switchover target terminal and another terminal existent in the same area.SOLUTION: A management device which manages a first network of a first operator is connected to a second management device which manages a second network of a second operator, to switch over the connection of a first terminal, which is currently connected to a base station of the first network and contracted with the first operator, to a switchover destination candidate base station of the second network, and switch over the connection of a second terminal, which is currently connected to a base station of the second network and contracted with the second operator, to a switchover destination candidate base station of the first network. The management device then determines the permission/non-permission of switchover processing on the basis of the result of comparison between the communication quality information of the first terminal and the communication quality information of the second terminal, to start the switchover processing when receiving from the second management device a switchover permission response to the combination of the first terminal and the second terminal to which the switchover is permitted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a management apparatus for managing a network and a communication system.

  In recent years, with the rapid spread of smartphones and tablet terminals, the demand for wireless communication continues to increase. Unlike wired communication, which can increase the communication capacity by increasing the number of lines, the frequency band that can be used for wireless communication is limited, and if the communication volume increases, the communication capacity may be tight. At this time, the user of the terminal that performs communication by wireless communication experiences a decrease in the speed of data communication and difficulty in connection.

  Traffic offloading is known as a technique to alleviate this situation. Traffic offloading is a technology that moves part of the load of a system with a high load to a system with a low load by moving data communication to a different wireless system or frequency.

  Further, as a technique for switching a terminal to a network of a different operator, there is a roaming service described in Non-Patent Document 1. In the roaming service, when a terminal moves to a place where radio waves of a contracted operator (cell phone company) do not reach, the terminal uses the network of another operator with which the operator is affiliated. For example, there are international roaming that uses a local operator's service when a terminal moves overseas, and national roaming that provides a roaming service between affiliated domestic operators.

3GPP TS 23.402 V9.13.0, (2014-06), 4.2.3 Roaming Architecture for EPS

  In mobile communication, there are cases where a plurality of operators cover the same area. Due to factors such as the radio wave environment, for example, the region where operator A's wireless communication system has better performance than operator B's wireless communication system, and the region where operator B's wireless communication system has better performance than operator A's wireless communication system. Both can exist. The difference in radio wave environment of the communication system of the operator covering the same area is caused by differences in the number of base stations installed by the operator, the frequency used, the position and direction of the antenna, and the like.

  If roaming is not permitted between the operators A and B, the terminal of the operator B who is in an area where the wireless communication system of the operator A has better performance cannot move to the wireless communication system of the operator A. Therefore, in this case, the terminal must perform communication with poor performance.

  Also, from the operator's point of view, by continuing to hold a terminal with poor radio wave reception environment and low communication speed in its own coverage area, the amount of radio resources allocated to the terminal increases, Since holding time becomes long, the situation which degrades the performance of the other terminal which exists in the same area generate | occur | produces.

  This may reduce the user experience, and operators are taking measures such as offloading and network expansion to avoid such situations, but their resources are limited.

  On the other hand, when roaming is permitted between operators A and B covering the same area, the terminal can maintain a high-performance service by using a network of operators with better performance. However, if roaming is permitted in such a case, differentiation between operators A and B cannot be achieved, and as a result, competition between operators cannot be maintained. This is because the ease of connection and the area of the communication area are points of differentiation among operators. An object of one embodiment of the present invention is to allow a plurality of operators to efficiently use their own radio resources while maintaining competitiveness among a plurality of operators. Furthermore, an object of one embodiment of the present invention is to maintain high performance in a switching target terminal and other terminals existing in the same area.

  In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention employs the following configuration. A management device connected to a second management device that manages a first network of a first operator and manages a second network of a second operator, comprising a processor and a storage device, the storage device comprising: A first switching candidate terminal group selected from terminals connected to a base station of the first network and contracting with the first operator; a connecting base station of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group; 1st switching candidate terminal list which shows the communication quality information of each terminal of 1 switching candidate terminal group, and the switching destination candidate base station of said 2nd network in which each terminal of said 1st switching candidate terminal group can receive an electromagnetic wave And switching the terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group to the switching destination candidate base station of the second network, connecting to the base station of the second network, and the second operator Switching conditions for determining whether or not switching processing is permitted, switching the connection of the terminal of the second switching candidate terminal group under contract to the switching destination candidate base station of the first network, and each of the terminals of the first switching candidate terminal group And the processor receives second terminal information indicating the second terminal of the second switching candidate terminal group and the communication quality information of the second terminal from the second management device. Receiving and comparing the communication quality information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group and the communication quality information of the second terminal, performing a comparison process, and the result of the comparison process satisfies the switching condition, Information indicating the combination of the first terminal and the second terminal included in the first switch candidate terminal group and the communication quality information of the first terminal is transmitted to the second management device, and the second From the management device, the combination When the switching permission response is received, the authentication information of the first terminal is transmitted to the second management device, the authentication information of the second terminal is received from the second management device, and is included in the first network. The second terminal that transmits the authentication information of the second terminal to the user information database, refers to the first switching candidate terminal list, and allows the first terminal to receive radio waves when the first terminal is connected. The management apparatus which transmits the instruction | indication which switches to the switching destination candidate base station of a network with respect to the connecting base station of a said 1st terminal.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible for a plurality of operators to efficiently use their own radio resources while maintaining competitiveness among the plurality of operators. Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, high performance can be maintained in the switching target terminal and other terminals existing in the same area.

  Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will be clarified by the following description of embodiments.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system according to a first embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the condition where the terminal in an Example switches a connection to the network of another operator. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a management device according to a first embodiment. 4 is an example of an RSRP value measurement result in Example 1. 6 is an example of a candidate terminal list in the first embodiment. 3 is an example of a master rule table in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a candidate terminal list update process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating a first half of an example of a switching process between operators in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating a second half of an example of a switching process between operators in the first embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the switch-back process triggered by the improvement of the radio wave environment in the first embodiment. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of the switch-back process triggered by the end of the service in the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in which the management device transmits a candidate terminal list to another management device according to the first exemplary embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation in which the management device searches for a combination of terminals that satisfy a switching condition and performs a switching process in the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for determining whether or not switching is possible in the first embodiment. In Example 1, it is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the management apparatus after receiving the switching result from eNB. 3 is an example of an index used for a switching condition in the first embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that this embodiment describes a communication system. A management device included in the communication system exchanges terminal information among a plurality of operators that perform wireless communication services, and when two operator terminals satisfy a predetermined condition, the terminals are temporarily allowed to switch between each other. And replace the terminal.

  The exchange of terminals means, for example, the terminal 1 connected to the network a and contracted with the operator A in the area where both the network a owned by the operator A and the network b owned by the operator B exist, and the network b. Means that the terminal 1 is temporarily moved to the network b and the terminal 2 is moved to the network a.

  The switching condition is a condition for determining whether or not the management apparatus performs terminal exchange. That the resource usage to be improved between the terminal 1 and the terminal 2 is the same value, or that the difference in the improvement in the resource usage is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold is an example of the switching condition. In the present embodiment, an example in which the communication system is applied to an LTE (Long Term Evolution) network will be described. However, the communication system may be applied to a radio system of another generation.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a communication system according to the present embodiment. The communication system 10 includes the Internet 108, a carrier network A 107-1 owned by the operator A, and a carrier network B 107-2 owned by the operator B.

  In the present embodiment, the carrier network A 107-1 and the carrier network B 107-2 are simply referred to as the carrier network 107 when both carrier networks are described without particularly distinguishing operators. Other configurations included in the carrier network 107 are similarly denoted when the other configurations are described without particularly distinguishing operators.

  The carrier network 107 includes, for example, a management device 100, an HSS (Home Subscriber Server) 101, an MME (Mobility Management Entity) 102, a PGW (PDN Gateway) 103, an SGW (Serving Gateway) 104, and an eNB 105 (E-UTRAN). Including.

  The terminal A 106-1 is a communication terminal that contracts with the operator A, and the terminal B 106-2 is a communication terminal that contracts with the operator B. The terminal 106 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, or other portable information terminal.

  The carrier network 107 is a network that provides a service to the terminal 106. In this embodiment, the carrier network A 107-1 and the carrier network B 107-2 are networks that the terminal 106 can switch between. Although the communication system 10 of this embodiment includes the carrier network 107 of two operators, the communication network 10 of three or more operators may be included. At this time, each of the carrier networks 107 of the three or more operators is connected to the carrier network 107 of at least one or more other operators.

  The eNB 105 is an LTE base station device, and is connected to the management device 100, the SGW-A 104, and the MME 102 of its own operator. The MME 102 is a control plane access gateway that handles network control, and is connected to the SGW 104, the HSS 101, and the eNB 105 of its own operator. The MME 102 holds information on applications used by the terminal 106 of the operator. The SGW 104 is a gateway that handles a user plane of user data, and is connected to the PGW 103, the MME 102, and the eNB 105 of the own operator and the PGW 103 of another operator.

  The PGW 103 is a gateway for connecting to other than the LTE network, and is connected to the Internet 108. The PGW 103 is connected to the SGW 104 of the own operator and the SGW 104 of another operator. The HSS 101 is a database that manages user information such as mobile phone numbers and terminal identification numbers, and is connected to the management apparatus 100 and the MME 102.

  The management apparatus 100 is an apparatus that is connected to the HSS 101 and the eNB 105 of the own operator and the management apparatus 100 of another operator, exchanges information of the terminal 106 that desires to switch to another company's network, and determines whether switching is possible and a switching destination. is there.

  For example, when the terminal A 106-1 is switched to the operator B network, the terminal A 106-1 is connected to the Internet 108 via the eNB-B 105-2, the SGW-B 104-2, and the PGW-A 103-1. To do. Similarly, when the terminal B 106-2 is switched to the network of the operator A, the terminal B 106-2 is connected to the Internet 108 via the eNB-A 105-1, the SGW-A 104-1, and the PGW-B 103-2. Connecting.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a situation where the management apparatus 100 switches the terminal 106 of the own operator to the network of another operator. Operator A-Cells 200-1 to 200-4 are communication ranges covered by different eNB-A 105-1. Operator B-Cells 201-1 to 201-4 are communication ranges covered by different eNB-Bs 105-2.

  Terminal A 106-1 is a terminal belonging to operator A's network, and terminal B 106-2 is a terminal belonging to operator B's network. Note that the strength of the radio wave received by the terminal 106 in the cell increases as the distance from the eNB 105 increases. In addition, at a place away from the eNB 105, particularly at a cell edge, a decrease in throughput or out-of-service area is likely to occur due to interference.

  As shown in FIG. 2, depending on the radio wave environment or the like, there may be both areas where the carrier network 107 of one operator has better performance and the area where the communication system 10 of the other operator has better performance. For example, in FIG. 2, the terminal A 106-1 is located at the cell edge of the operator A network, and moving to the operator B network is closer to the center of the cell, so that better performance can be obtained.

  On the contrary, in FIG. 2, the terminal B 106-2 is located at the cell edge of the operator B network, and better performance can be obtained by moving to the operator A network. For example, the management apparatus 100 performs a network switching process to another operator of the terminal 106 in a situation where the terminal 106 of the own operator can receive a service with better performance when the terminal 106 is switched to the other operator's network.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the management apparatus 100 in the present embodiment. The management device 100 is configured by a computer having a processor (CPU) 311, a memory 312, an auxiliary storage device 313, a communication interface 314, and a timer 310, for example.

  The processor 311 executes a program stored in the memory 312. The memory 312 includes a ROM that is a nonvolatile storage element and a RAM that is a volatile storage element. The ROM stores an immutable program (for example, BIOS). The RAM is a high-speed and volatile storage element such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and temporarily stores a program executed by the processor 311 and data used when the program is executed.

  The auxiliary storage device 313 is a large-capacity non-volatile storage device such as a magnetic storage device (HDD) or a flash memory (SSD), and stores a program executed by the processor 311 and data used when the program is executed. To do. That is, the program is read from the memory 312 or the auxiliary storage device 313, loaded into the memory 312, and executed by the processor 311. Some or all of the programs and data stored in the memory 312 may be stored in the auxiliary storage device 313, or some or all of the programs and data stored in the auxiliary storage device 313 are stored in the memory 312. It may be stored.

  The management apparatus 100 may include an input interface 315 and an output interface 318. The input interface 315 is an interface that is connected to a keyboard 316, a mouse 317, and the like and receives input from a user. The output interface 318 is an interface that is connected to a display device 319, a printer, or the like, and outputs the execution result of the program in a format that can be viewed by the user.

  The communication interface 314 is a network interface device that controls communication with other devices according to a predetermined protocol. The communication interface 314 includes a serial interface such as USB.

  The program executed by the processor 311 is provided to the management apparatus 100 via a removable medium (computer-readable portable non-transitory storage medium such as a CD-ROM or flash memory) or a network, and the non-temporary storage medium May be stored in the nonvolatile auxiliary storage device 313. For this reason, the management apparatus 100 may have an interface for reading data from a removable medium.

  The management apparatus 100 is a computer system configured on a single computer or a plurality of computers configured logically or physically, and operates in a separate thread on the same computer. Alternatively, it may operate on a virtual machine constructed on a plurality of physical computer resources.

  The memory 312 is a measurement result acquisition unit 301, a contract / authentication information acquisition unit 302, an in-use App information acquisition unit 321, a switching result reception unit 304, a switching destination information transmission unit 303, and another company management device communication unit 305, which are programs. A candidate terminal list creation unit 306 and a candidate terminal determination unit 307. The auxiliary storage device 313 includes a candidate terminal list storage unit 308, a switching condition storage unit 309, and a master rule table storage unit 320, which are areas for storing data and the like.

  The processor 311 operates as a functional unit that realizes a predetermined function by operating according to a program. For example, the processor 311 functions as a measurement result acquisition unit by operating according to the measurement result acquisition unit 301, and functions as a contract / authentication information acquisition unit by operating according to the contract / authentication information acquisition unit 302. Furthermore, the processor 311 also operates as a functional unit that implements each of a plurality of processes executed by each program. A computer and a computer system are an apparatus and a system including these functional units.

  The measurement result acquisition unit 301 receives the inter-frequency radio field intensity measurement result of the terminal 106 from the eNB 105 of the own operator. The inter-frequency radio wave intensity indicates the radio wave intensity of a cell that can be received by the terminal 106. Details of the frequency radio wave intensity will be described later. The contract / authentication information acquisition unit 302 acquires the contract information and authentication information of the terminal 106 of the operator as a candidate for switching from the HSS 101 of the operator.

  The contract / authentication information acquisition unit 302 acquires the contract information of the terminal 106 that has contracted with the own operator from the HSS 101 of the own operator after the measurement result acquisition unit 301 receives the inter-frequency radio wave intensity measurement result. The contract / authentication information acquisition unit 302 acquires the authentication information of the terminal 106 contracted with the own operator from the HSS 101 of the own operator when switching the terminal 106 between the management apparatuses 100.

  The in-use App information acquisition unit 321 acquires information on the application used by the terminal 106 from the MME 102 of the own operator after the measurement result acquisition unit 301 receives the inter-frequency radio wave intensity measurement result. Candidate terminal list creation section 306 creates a candidate terminal list including inter-frequency radio field intensity measurement results, contract information, in-use App information, and the like for terminals 106 that satisfy the switching condition to another operator. The candidate terminal list storage unit 308 stores the candidate terminal list created by the candidate terminal list creation unit 306.

  The switching condition storage unit 309 stores switching conditions that are conditions for executing switching of the terminal 106. The switching condition is a condition for the candidate terminal determination unit 307 to determine whether or not to exchange the terminal 106. For example, the resource usage to be improved between the terminals 106 belonging to different operators' networks is the same value, and the difference in the improvement in the resource usage is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold is an example of the switching condition.

  The switching conditions are preferably agreed with other operators in advance. The management apparatus 100 provides a mechanism for performing an equivalence transaction between operators by permitting switching of terminals 106 that match a preset condition among a plurality of operators, and provides revenue to competing operators covering the same area. Can prevent spillage.

  The other company management apparatus communication unit 305 is connected to the other company management apparatus 100 and transmits / receives the candidate terminal list and transmits / receives information of the determined candidate terminal 106. In the present embodiment, “company” and operator are synonymous. That is, “other company” and “other operator” are synonymous, and similarly “in-house” and “own operator” are synonymous.

  The master rule table storage unit 320 stores a master rule table that determines an operator as a master between two operators. The other company management device communication unit 305 refers to the master rule table, determines whether the company is a master with another company, and determines processing to be performed based on the determination result. The difference between the process performed by the master operator management apparatus 100 and the process performed by the non-master operator management apparatus 100 and details of the master rule table will be described later.

  The candidate terminal determination unit 307 compares the candidate terminal information received from the management device 100 of the other company with the switching condition, and determines the terminal 106 suitable for switching from the terminal 106 of the company. When the terminal 106 to be switched is determined, the switching destination information transmission unit 303 transmits information indicating to which operator's eNB 105 the terminal 106 of the company is switched to the eNB 105 of the own operator. After the switching process, the switching result receiving unit 304 receives from the eNB 105 the result of whether the switching of the terminal 106 to be switched has succeeded or failed. The timer 310 counts the period for transmitting the candidate terminal list stored in the candidate terminal list storage unit 308 to the management device 100 of another company.

  Hereinafter, for example, when it is clearly stated that the measurement result acquisition unit 301 has the configuration of the management apparatus A100-1, the measurement result acquisition unit 301 is represented by the configuration of the management apparatus B100-2. When clearly indicating that there is, it is represented as a measurement result acquisition unit B301-2. The same notation is used for other configurations included in the management apparatus 100.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a format of a measurement result transmitted to the eNB 105 when the terminal 106 receives the inter-frequency radio field strength measurement control from the eNB 105. The measurement result 900 includes, for example, terminal identification information of the terminal 106, a measurement result of a cell in communication with which the terminal 106 is communicating, and a measurement result of an adjacent cell of the cell in communication. The terminal identification information is information for identifying the terminal 106, and is a number uniquely assigned to each terminal 106, such as an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity). The IMSI includes a country number, an operator identification number, and a subscriber identification number.

  The cell in communication is a communication range covered by the eNB 105 that is performing communication when the terminal 106 receives the inter-frequency radio wave intensity measurement control. The adjacent cell is a cell other than the cell in communication that the terminal 106 can receive simultaneously.

  Each of the measurement result of the cell in communication and the measurement result of the adjacent cell includes a cell ID and an RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) value. The cell ID is a cell identifier uniquely assigned to each cell. RSRP is the received power of the reference signal (RS) received by the terminal 106. RSRP becomes a reference for call connection and handover, and the management apparatus 100 can hand over the terminal 106 to a higher quality cell by comparing the RSRP of a plurality of cells.

  The measurement result acquisition unit 301 acquires the measurement results of the cell in communication and the neighboring cell, so that the management apparatus 100 determines which cell the terminal 106 can communicate with to obtain better communication performance. it can. In the present embodiment, RSRP is cited as information included in the measurement result. However, for example, an RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) value or the like may be acquired and included in the measurement result. RSRQ is an index representing the communication quality of RS.

  FIG. 5 is an example of the candidate terminal list stored in the candidate terminal list storage unit 308. Candidate terminal list 800 is created by candidate terminal list creation section 306. Candidate terminal list 800 includes information on candidates of terminal 106 that is a target of switching to another operator's network. The candidate terminal list 800 includes information on the terminals 106 that have contracted with other operators and that have been switched from the other operator's network to the own operator's network.

  The candidate terminal list 800 includes, for example, terminal identification information 801, a communicating cell ID 809, a communicating cell RSRP 802, a switching candidate cell RSRP 803, a switching candidate cell ID 807, contract information 804, an in-use App 805, an expiration date 806, and a status 808. .

  The candidate terminal list 800 includes information necessary for checking success / failure of the switching condition held by the company management apparatus and the other company management apparatus. For example, when the throughput value obtained by the terminal 106 under the carrier network 107 is used for checking whether the switching condition is successful, the candidate list 800 further includes the throughput value.

  The in-communication cell ID 809 indicates the cell ID of the base station with which the terminal 106 is communicating. The communicating cell RSRP 802 indicates the RSRP value of the radio wave received from the base station that provides the cell with which the terminal 106 is communicating.

  Switching candidate cell ID 807 indicates the cell ID of the switching candidate cell of terminal 106. The switch candidate cell of the terminal 106 is a cell selected from the neighboring cells of the terminal 106. Switching candidate cell RSRP 803 indicates switching candidate cell RSRP. The contract information 804 indicates the type of contract plan with which the terminal 106 is contracted. Pay-per-use and flat-rate plans are examples of contract plans. These pieces of information are obtained from the HSS 101 by the contract / authentication information acquisition unit 302.

  In-use App 805 indicates the type of application used by the terminal 106. A moving image, a web browser, and the like are examples of applications. The expiration date 806 indicates the timing at which information on the corresponding terminal 106 is deleted from the candidate terminal list 800. The expiration date 806 may be indicated by the time when the information is deleted or may be indicated by the time until the information is deleted.

  The status 808 indicates the status of the corresponding terminal 106 in the network switching process. The value stored in the status 808 includes, for example, “standby”, “moving”, or “switching”. “Waiting” indicates that the corresponding terminal 106 is connected to the network of the contracting operator and is waiting to switch to another operator's network. “Moving” indicates that the corresponding terminal 106 is switching to an operator's network that is not contracted.

  “Switching” indicates that the corresponding terminal 106 is currently connected to an operator's network that is not contracted. In addition, for example, the identifier of the other operator is stored in the status 808 of the terminal 106 that has contracted with the other operator and has been switched from the other operator's network to the own operator's network.

  In addition, as an opportunity other than the expiration of the expiration date when the information of the terminal 106 included in the candidate terminal list 800 is deleted from the candidate terminal list 800, for example, that the terminal 106 has moved to another cell of the contracted operator Or the condition for including the terminal 106 is not satisfied.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the master rule table stored in the master rule table storage unit 320. In the master rule table 1300, the operator B is the master between the operator A and the operator B, the operator A is the master between the operator A and the operator C, and the operator C is between the operator B and the operator C. Indicates that is the master.

  Note that the master rule table 1300 may not include information on the master relationship between operators that do not include the company. Specifically, for example, the master rule table 1300 held by the management apparatus A 100-1 may not include information indicating the master relationship between the operator B and the operator C.

  The other company management device communication unit 305 of the operator who is not the master transmits the candidate terminal list 800 created by the management device 100 of the company to the management device 100 of the operator who is the master, for example, at a predetermined cycle. When the candidate terminal determination unit 307 of the operator who is the master receives information on the candidate terminals included in the candidate terminal list 800 from the management apparatus 100 of the opposing operator, the candidate terminal determination unit 307 refers to the candidate terminal list 800 in the management apparatus 100 of the company, The terminal 106 of the company that matches the switching condition stored in the switching condition storage unit 309 is searched. If there is a corresponding terminal 106, the other company's management device communication unit 305 of the operator who is the master transmits information on the terminal 106 to the corresponding management device 100.

FIG. 7 shows an example of update processing of the candidate terminal list A800-1 by the management apparatus A100-1. In the present embodiment, the radio wave intensity of the network of the operator A received by the terminal A 106-1 is denoted as RSRP _AA, and the radio wave intensity of a network other than the operator A that can be received by the terminal A 106-1 is denoted as RSRP _Ai . Similarly, the radio field intensity of the network of the operator B received by the terminal B 106-2 is expressed as RSRP _BB, and the radio field intensity of a network other than the operator B that can be received by the terminal B 106-2 is expressed as RSRP _Bi .

“RP” of RSRP _Ai means an operator identifier. For example, the radio wave intensity received by the terminal A 106-1 on the network of the operator B is expressed as RSRP _AB . If the terminal A 106-1 is located in the plurality of cells of the operator B and can receive the plurality of radio waves of the operator B, the terminal A 106-1 reports the value with the highest radio field intensity as RSRP _AB .

For example, the terminal A 106-1 acquires the value of RSRP _AA at a constant period, and transmits it to the eNB-A 105-1 (S401). The fixed period is, for example, every 30 seconds. eNB-A 105-1 is a terminal A 106-1 that exists in the cell of eNB-A 105-1 and is a terminal A 106-1 that is communicating with an RSRP _AA that is lower than a preset threshold value XdBm. Then, inter-frequency radio field intensity measurement control is performed (S402).

  The inter-frequency radio field intensity measurement control by the eNB-A 105-1 is information including the radio field intensity of the cell that can be received by the terminal A 106-1, the cell identification information, and the like by the eNB-A 105-1. Is obtained and the measurement result 900 is requested to be transmitted to the eNB-A 105-1. Note that the eNB-A 105-1 may perform inter-frequency radio field intensity measurement control on all the terminals A 106-1 existing in the cell of the eNB-A 105-1.

At this time, the eNB-A 105-1 specifies the cell ID of the adjacent cell and requests radio field intensity measurement, for example. In addition, eNB105 shall hold | maintain the cell ID of an adjacent cell previously. The terminal A 106-1 measures the radio field intensity RSRP _AA and the RSRP _Ai in one or more operator cells, and reports the measured radio field intensity to the eNB-A 105-1 (S403).

When receiving the measurement result 900 received from the terminal 106, the eNB-A 105-1 selects, for example, the largest RSRP _Ai and determines whether or not “RSRP _Ai > RSRP _AA + α” is satisfied (S405). α is a value set in advance. When “RSRP _Ai > RSRP _AA + α” is established, the eNB-A 105-1 determines that the radio wave environment is improved when the terminal A 106-1 is switched from the network of the operator A to the network of the operator i.

  In this case, the eNB-A 105-1 transmits the measurement result 900 to the management apparatus A100-1 (S406). The measurement result acquisition unit A301-1 acquires the measurement result 900 transmitted by the eNB-A 105-1. The contract / authentication information acquisition unit A302-1 requests the contract information and authentication information of the terminal A106-1 from the HSS-A 101-1 (S407). The in-use App information acquisition unit A321-1 requests the MME-A 102-1 for information on the application used by the terminal A 106-1 (S408).

  The HSS-A 101-1 transmits the contract information and authentication information of the terminal A 106-1 to the management apparatus A 100-1 (S409). The contract information includes the billing form and plan of terminal A 106-1. The MME-A 102-1 transmits App information being used by the terminal A 106-1 to the management apparatus A 100-1 (S410).

  Candidate terminal list creation unit A 306-1 updates information on terminal A 106-1 in candidate terminal list A 800-1 (S411). Specifically, candidate terminal list creation section A 306-1 includes the cell ID and RSRP of the cell in communication included in measurement result 900 in cell ID 809 in communication and cell RSRP 802 in communication.

  Candidate terminal list creation section A 306-1 includes, for example, cell ID and RSRP of the neighboring cell having the maximum RSRP value included in measurement result 900 in switching candidate cell ID 807 and switching candidate cell RSRP 803, respectively. Candidate terminal list creation unit A 306-1 includes the contract information acquired in step S409 in contract information 804. In addition, the candidate terminal list creation unit A 306-1 sets, for example, a time when a predetermined time has elapsed from the update time as the expiration date 806.

  Note that the eNB-A 105-1 may transmit the measurement result 900 to the management device A100-1 without performing the threshold determination process in step S405, and the measurement result acquisition unit A301-1 may perform the threshold determination process. . At this time, the processing after step S407 is performed only when the condition of the threshold determination processing in step S406 is satisfied.

  In the threshold determination in step S402 and step S405, another index indicating communication quality such as RSRQ may be used instead of RSRP. In addition, the process similar to FIG. 7 is performed among management apparatus B100-2, HSS-B101-2, eNB-B105-2, and terminal B106-2.

  The measurement result acquisition unit A301-1 receives the information of the terminal A106-1 for which the threshold determination condition in step S405 is satisfied, and thereby the communication quality is improved by switching the connection to the network of another operator. Only 1 can be included in the candidate terminal list 800. As a result, the processing amount of the switching condition determination in the contract authentication information acquisition process and the terminal switching process described later can be reduced.

  8A and 8B show an example of switching processing of the terminal 106 between the operators A and B. FIG. FIG. 8A shows the first half of the switching process, and FIG. 8B shows the second half of the switching process. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the operator B is the master between the operators A and B. 8A and 8B illustrate an example in which the terminal A 106-1 and the terminal B 106-2 are exchanged on a one-to-one basis, but one or more terminals A 106-1 and one or more terminals B 106-2 are exchanged. Good.

  For example, when the count of the timer A 310-1 ends (S501), the other company management apparatus communication unit A 305-1 extracts a record whose status 808 is “standby” from the candidate terminal list A 800-1. Hereinafter, the terminal A 106-1 included in the extracted record is referred to as a candidate terminal A. The other company management device communication unit A 305-1 transmits the extracted record to the management device B 100-2 (S502). In step S502, the other company management device communication unit A305-1 may transmit a predetermined number of records randomly selected from the extracted records.

  The other company management device communication unit B 305-2 transfers the information of the candidate terminal A received from the other company management device communication unit A 305-1 to the candidate terminal determination unit B 307-2. Candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 extracts a record whose status 808 is “standby” from candidate terminal list B800-2. Hereinafter, the extracted information of the terminal B 106-2 is extracted from the candidate terminal list B 800-2. Hereinafter, the terminal B 106-2 included in the extracted record is referred to as a candidate terminal B.

  For each candidate terminal A, candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 generates a combination of candidate terminal A and candidate terminal B that satisfy the switching conditions stored in switching condition storage unit B309-2 (S503). In addition, when there exist a plurality of candidate terminals B that satisfy the switching condition for one candidate terminal A, for example, the combination may be randomly generated, and the candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 may perform the switching process. The combination may be generated so that the amount of improvement in the usage amount of the radio resources of both operators when the operation is performed is maximized. A method of calculating the improvement amount of the radio resource usage will be described later.

  When the candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 finds a combination of at least one set of candidate terminals A and B satisfying the switching condition in step S503, the other company management device communication unit B305-2 is information indicating the combination And the information of the candidate terminal B are transmitted to the management apparatus A 100-1 (S504). In step S504, the information on the candidate terminal B transmitted by the other company management apparatus communication unit B 305-2 includes, for example, the same contents as the items in the candidate terminal list B 800-2.

  Candidate terminal determination unit A307-2 determines whether or not to permit switching by determining whether or not the switching condition stored in switching condition storage unit A309-1 is satisfied for each of the combinations. . The other company's management device communication unit A 305-1 transmits a switch permission response to the management device B 100-2 for the combinations that are permitted to be switched (S505), and the candidate terminal list 800 of the candidate terminals A included in the combinations that are permitted to be switched. The status inside is changed to “moving” (S506).

  Upon receiving a switch permission response from the other company management device communication unit A 305-1, the other company management device communication unit B 305-2 changes the status of the terminal 106 to be switched to “moving” (S506). Hereinafter, the terminal A 106-1 included in the combination permitted to be switched is referred to as a switching target terminal A, and the terminal B 106-2 included in the combination permitted to be switched is referred to as a switching target terminal B.

  The other company management device communication unit A 305-1 transmits the authentication information of the switching target terminal A to the management device B 100-2, and the other company management device communication unit B 305-2 transmits the authentication information of the switching target terminal B to the management device A 100-1. (S507).

  The contract / authentication information acquisition unit A302-1 transmits the received authentication information to the HSS-A 101-1 (S508). The contract / authentication information acquisition unit B302-2 transmits the received authentication information to the HSS-B 101-2 (S509). Since the HSS 101 of both operators has obtained the authentication information of the switching target terminal of the other operator by the processing of step S508 and step S509, the eNB 105 executes the authentication when receiving the connection request from the switching target terminal 106 of the other operator. can do.

  Switching destination information transmission part A303-1 transmits the switching destination information of switching object terminal A to eNB-A105-1 (S510). The switching destination information includes, for example, the switching candidate cell ID 807 of the corresponding terminal 106. The switching destination information transmission unit B303-2 transmits the switching destination information of the terminal B 106-2 to the eNB-B 105-2 (S511).

  When receiving the switching destination information of the switching target terminal A, the eNB-A 105-1 transmits to the switching target terminal A an instruction to perform handover to the switching destination eNB-B 105-2 indicated by the switching destination information (S512). . When the eNB-B 105-2 receives the switching destination information of the switching target terminal B, the eNB-B 105-2 transmits to the switching target terminal B an instruction to perform a handover to the switching destination eNB-A 105-1 indicated by the switching destination information (S513). . When receiving the handover instruction, the switching target terminal A and the switching target terminal B transmit a connection request to the switching destination eNB 105 (S514, S515).

  When the eNB-B 105-2 receives the connection request, the eNB-B 105-2 authenticates the terminal A 106-1 to the HSS-B 101-2 (S516). Similarly, when the eNB-A 105-1 receives the connection request, the eNB-A 105-1 authenticates the terminal B 106-2 to the HSS-A 101-1 (S517).

  When the authentication process in step S516 is successful, the eNB-B 105-2 issues a connection instruction to the switching target terminal A (S518), performs switching of the connected eNB 105 (S520), and the switching target terminal A is the eNB-B 105-2. Communication is started (S522). Similarly, when the authentication process in step S517 is successful, the eNB-A 105-1 issues a connection instruction to the switching target terminal B (S519), switches the connected eNB 105 (S521), and the switching target terminal B is eNB- Communication with A105-1 is started (S523).

  When the switching in step S520 is successful, the eNB-B 105-2 transmits a switching success notification to the management apparatus B 100-2 (S524). Similarly, when the switching in step S521 is successful, the eNB-A 105-1 transmits a notification of successful switching to the management apparatus A 100-1 (S525).

  Upon receiving the switching success notification in S524, the other company management device communication unit B305-2 transmits a switching success notification to the management device A100-1 (S526). Upon receiving the switching success notification in S525, the other company management device communication unit A 305-1 transmits a switching success notification to the management device B 100-2 (S527). The candidate terminal determination unit 307 changes the status 808 of the terminal 106 of the own operator that has been switched to the other operator's network in the candidate terminal list 800 to “switching” (S528).

  The candidate terminal determination unit 307 also adds information on the terminal 106 of the other operator that has been switched to the operator's network to the candidate terminal list 800, and stores the identifier of the other operator in the status 808 of the terminal 106. . Thereby, the switching process of the terminal 106 is completed.

  Note that, for example, if the switching success notification is not received from the management device 100 of another operator even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the switching destination information notification in step S509 or step S510 has been performed, the candidate terminal determination unit 307 displays the candidate terminal list The status 808 of the 800 switching target terminal 106 may be returned to “standby”.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of switch-back processing performed when the radio environment of the network of the operator A that is the switching source is improved when the terminal A 106-1 is communicating on the network of the operator B that is the switching destination. Indicates.

The terminal A 106-1 acquires, for example, an RSRP _AB that is an RSRP value in the network of the operator A of the terminal A 106-1 and transmits the RSRP _AB to the eNB-B 105-2 at a constant cycle (S601). The eNB-B 105-2 determines whether or not the RSRP _AB value is lower than a preset threshold YdBm (S602).

If the eNB-B 105-2 determines that the value of RSRP _AB is lower than YdBm, the eNB-B 105-2 performs inter-frequency radio field intensity measurement control on the terminal A 106-1 (S603). The terminal A 106-1 notifies the measurement result 900 to the eNB-B 105-2 (S604).

The eNB-B 105-2 performs a threshold determination process for determining whether or not the inequality “RSRP _AA > RSRP _AB + β” is satisfied (S605). Note that β is a value set in advance. If this inequality holds, it means that the radio wave environment of operator A's network has improved. At this time, the eNB-B 105-2 transmits the measurement result notified from the terminal A 106-1 to the management apparatus B 100-2 (S606).

  When the measurement result acquisition unit B301-2 receives the measurement result in S606, the other company's management device communication unit B305-2 sends a switchback notification, which is a notification for executing the switchback processing of the terminal A106-1, to the management device. It transmits to A100-1 (S607). Further, in step S607, the contract / authentication information acquisition unit B302-2 obtains the usage information while the terminal A 106-1 is connected to the network of the operator B, as MME-B 102-2 and PGW-B 103-2. Or the SGW-B 104-2, and the other company's management device communication unit B 305-2 notifies the management device A 100-1 of the usage amount information. The usage amount information is used, for example, for fee settlement between the operators A and B and for leaving a record.

  Other company management apparatus communication part B305-2 transmits the information of eNB-A105-1 which is a return destination to eNB-B105-2, in order to perform a return process (S608). Upon receiving the switchback notification and the usage amount notification in step S607, the other company management apparatus communication unit A305-1 makes a response indicating that the notification has been received to the management apparatus B100-2 (S609). The contract / authentication information acquisition unit B302-2 instructs the HSS-B 101-2 to delete the authentication information of the terminal A 106-1, and the HSS-B 101-2 follows the instruction to authenticate the terminal A 106-1. Information is deleted (S610).

  The eNB-B 105-2 instructs the terminal A 106-1 to perform a handover to the eNB-A 105-1 (S611). The terminal A 106-1 performs the same process as that at the time of switching, and executes a switchback process (S612). When the switchback process is successful, the eNB-B 105-2 transmits a switchback success notification to the management apparatus A100-1 and the management apparatus B100-2 (S613, S614).

  When the switching result receiving unit A304-1 receives the switchback success notification, the candidate terminal list creating unit A306-1 deletes the information of the terminal A106-1 from the candidate terminal list A800-1 (S615). In addition, when the switching result receiving unit B304-2 receives the notification of successful switchback, the candidate terminal list creating unit B306-2 deletes the information of the terminal A106-1 from the candidate terminal list B800-2 (S615). Through the above processing, the terminal A 106-1 can return the connection to the network of the operator A that can perform higher-quality communication.

  Note that the eNB-B 105-2 may transmit the measurement result 900 to the management apparatus B 100-2 without performing the threshold determination process in step S605, and the measurement result acquisition unit B 301-2 may perform the threshold determination process. . At this time, the processing after step S607 is performed only when the condition of the threshold determination processing in step S606 is satisfied. Note that when the terminal B 106-2 is communicating on the network of the operator A as the switching destination, the switch back processing when the radio wave environment of the network of the operator B as the switching source is improved is the processing shown in FIG. It is the same.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of switch-back processing performed when the service used by the terminal A 106-1 is terminated when the terminal A 106-1 is communicating on the network of the switching destination operator B. Show.

  When the communication is terminated in the terminal A 106-1 (S 701), the eNB-B 105-2 transmits a connection release message to the terminal A 106-1 (S 702), and the terminal A 106-1 disconnects the communication (S 703). When communication in the terminal A 106-1 is disconnected, the eNB-B 105-2 transmits a disconnection notification to the management apparatus B 100-2 (S704).

  When the switching result receiving unit B304-2 receives the disconnection notification in step S704, the other company management device communication unit B305-2 transmits the disconnection notification to the management device A100-1 (S705). The contract / authentication information acquisition unit B302-2 instructs the HSS-B 101-2 to delete the authentication information of the terminal A 106-1, and the HSS-B 101-2 follows the instruction to authenticate the terminal A 106-1. The information is deleted (S706).

  When the other company management apparatus communication unit A 305-1 receives the disconnection notification, the candidate terminal list creation unit A 306-1 deletes the information of the terminal A 106-1 from the candidate terminal list A 800-1 (S707). In addition, when the switching result receiving unit B304-2 receives the disconnection notification, the candidate terminal list creating unit B306-2 deletes the information of the terminal A106-1 from the candidate terminal list B800-2 (S707). As a result of the above processing, once the terminal A 106-1 is disconnected from the switching destination network, it autonomously returns to the original network.

  FIG. 11 illustrates an example of processing in which the management apparatus A 100-1 transmits the candidate terminal list 800 to the management apparatus B 100-2 in the processing illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B. As described above, the management apparatus A 100-1 transmits the candidate terminal list 800 to the management apparatus B 100-2 that is the master at a certain cycle.

  The count of the timer A 310-1 becomes 0 (S1001). The other company management device communication unit A 305-1 transmits a record whose status 808 is “standby” from the candidate terminal list 800, that is, information on the candidate terminal A to the management device B 100-2 (S1002). The timer A 310-1 initializes the timer value (S1003).

  12, in the processing illustrated in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, the master management apparatus B 100-2 receives information on the candidate terminal A from the management apparatus A 100-1, and transmits the switching destination information to the eNB-B 105-2. An example of processing up to is shown.

  The other company management apparatus communication unit B305-2 receives the information of the candidate terminal A from the management apparatus A100-1 (S1101). Candidate terminal determination unit B 307-2 extracts information of a terminal whose status 808 in candidate terminal list B 800-2 is “standby”, that is, candidate terminal B. Candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 generates a combination of candidate terminal A and candidate terminal B that satisfies the switching condition stored in switching condition storage unit B309-2 for each candidate terminal A (S1102). .

  If the combination is generated (S1103: YES), candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 proceeds to step S1104. If the combination is not generated, that is, if there is no combination of candidate terminal A and candidate terminal B that satisfies the switching condition (S1103: NO), the process proceeds to step S1110.

  Candidate terminal determining unit B307-2 changes the status of switching target terminal B in candidate terminal list B800-2 to “moving” (S1104). The other company management device communication unit B 305-2 transmits information of the switching target terminal B to the management device A 100-1 (S1105). When the other company management device communication unit B 305-2 receives the switching permission response from the management device A 100-1 (S1106: YES), the process proceeds to step S1107. If the other company's management device communication unit B 305-2 does not receive a switching permission response from the management device A 100-1, the processing is terminated.

  The other company management device communication unit B 305-2 transmits the authentication information of the switching target terminal B to the management device A 100-1, and receives the authentication information of the switching target terminal A from the management device A 100-1 (S1107). The contract / authentication information acquisition unit B302-2 transmits the authentication information received from the management apparatus A100-1 to the HSS-B 101-2 (S1108). The switching destination information transmission unit B303-2 transmits the switching destination information of the switching target terminal B to the eNB-B 105-2 (S1109).

  If there is no combination consisting of candidate terminal A and candidate terminal B satisfying the switching condition in step S1103, the other company management apparatus communication unit B305-2 notifies the management apparatus A100-1 that there is no combination that matches the switching condition. (S1110). Candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 changes the status of terminal B 106-2 included in candidate terminal list B 800-2 to “standby” (S1111).

  As described above, in the communication system 10 according to the present embodiment, the management device 100 of the operator who is the master selects the switching candidate that matches the switching condition from the candidate terminal list received from the management device 100 of the operator who is not the master. As a result, the communication system 10 according to the present embodiment can determine candidates with a small amount of processing compared to the case where the two management apparatuses 100 send the candidate terminal list 800 to each other.

  FIG. 13 shows that in the processing illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B, after the management apparatus A 100-1 receives the information of the switching candidate from the management apparatus B 100-2, switching between the terminal A 106-1 and the terminal B 106-2 is permitted. An example of processing for determining whether or not is shown.

  The other company management device communication unit A 305-1 receives information indicating a combination of the candidate terminal A and the candidate terminal B and information of the candidate terminal B from the other company management device communication unit B 305-2 (S1201). Candidate terminal determining unit A307-1 determines whether or not to permit switching (S1202). That is, the candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 determines whether the combination satisfies the switching condition stored in the switching condition storage unit A309-1.

  When candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 determines that switching is permitted (S1202: YES), other company management device communication unit A305-1 transmits a switching permission response to eNB-B105-2 to management device B100-2. (S1203).

  When candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 determines that switching is not permitted (S1202: NO), candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 changes the status of terminal A106-1 included in candidate terminal list A800-1 to “switching”. (S1204). The other company management device communication unit A 305-1 transmits a notification indicating switching rejection to the management device B 100-2 (S1205).

  FIG. 14 illustrates an example of processing performed when the management apparatus A 100-1 receives the switching result from the eNB-A 105-1, in the processing illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B. The process illustrated in FIG. 14 is performed by both the management apparatus 100 that is the master and the management apparatus 100 that is not the master. Here, the operation of the management apparatus A 100-1 is illustrated as an example.

  The switching result receiving unit A304-1 receives the switching result from the eNB-A 105-1 (S1401). The switching result receiving unit A304-1 determines whether or not the switching result is successful (S1402). When the switching result receiving unit A304-1 determines that the switching result is successful (S1402: YES), the other company management device communication unit A305-1 transmits a switching success notification to the management device B100-2 (S1403). .

  The switching result receiving unit A304-1 changes the status of the terminal A106-1 that has been successfully switched in the candidate terminal list A800-1 to “switching” (S1404). When the switching result receiving unit A304-1 determines that the switching result is not successful (S1402: NO), the other company management device communication unit A305-1 transmits a switching failure message to the management device B100-2 (S1405). .

  The management apparatus A 100-1 and the management apparatus B 100-2 notify each other of the switching result, thereby preventing the information of the terminal A 106-1 from disappearing from the candidate terminal list 800 when the switching of the terminal A 106-1 fails. Can do. That is, as long as the terminal A 106-1 satisfies the switching condition, it is possible to stand by as a switching candidate terminal.

  FIG. 15 shows an example of an index used for the switching condition stored in the switching condition storage unit 309. Here, an example of switching between the terminal A 106-1 and the terminal B 106-2 is shown. The switching conditions stored in the switching condition storage unit A309-1 and the switching condition storage unit B309-2 are, for example, conditions agreed in advance between operators who permit switching.

  Note that the switching condition stored in the switching condition storage unit A309-1 may be different from the switching condition stored in the switching condition storage unit B309-2. The management apparatus 100 switches between the terminal A 106-1 and the terminal B 106-2 by switching the terminal A 106-1 and the terminal B 106-2 to satisfy the conditions defined by both operators, thereby switching between the operators A 106-1 and the terminal B 106-2. Can keep competitive.

Hereinafter, an example will be described in which the management device A 100-1 and the management device B 100-2 use the same switching condition based on the usage amount of the radio resource that is improved after switching. For example, the eNB-A 105-1 periodically measures the throughput value TA obtained by the terminal A 106-1 under the carrier network _A 107-1, and sends the measurement result 900 to the management apparatus A 100-1 in step S 406. to report the _{T a} for. Similarly, the eNB-B 105-2 periodically measures the throughput value TB obtained by the terminal _B 106-2 under the carrier network _B 107-2, and the management apparatus B 100-2 together with the measurement result 900 in step S406. to report the _{T B} against.

For example, the other company management apparatus communication unit _A 305-1 transmits T _A , RSRP _AA , and RSRP _AB to the management apparatus B 100-2 together with the information of the candidate terminal A in step S502. In step S504, the other company's management apparatus communication unit _B 305-2 transmits T _B , RSRP _BB , and RSRP _BA to the management apparatus A 100-1 together with information on the terminal that satisfies the switching condition.

  Candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 and candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 indicate the radio resource usage “x” that is improved when terminal A 106-1 switches to carrier network B 107-2, for example, Obtained by calculation formula.

_{x = T A / RSRP AA -T} A / RSRP AB

  Similarly, the candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 and the candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 indicate the radio resource usage “y” that is improved when the terminal B 106-2 switches to the carrier network A 107-1, for example, Calculate with the following formula.

_{y = T B / RSRP BB -T} B / RSRP BA

  When the switching condition is “execute switching when the amount of radio resources to be improved after switching is the same value”, the candidate terminal determination unit A307-1 and the candidate terminal determination unit B307-2 have “x = y” Only when it is established, switching of the terminal 106 is permitted. When the switching condition is “execute switching when the difference in the usage amount of radio resources to be improved after switching is within a [bps]”, “xy <a [bps]” is satisfied. Only in this case, candidate terminal determination unit A 307-1 and candidate terminal determination unit B 307-2 permit switching of terminal 106.

  Note that the switching condition is, for example, that the difference between the sum of “x” of each of the plurality of terminals A 106-1 and the sum of “y” of each of the plurality of terminals B 106-2 is within a predetermined threshold. There may be. When the switching condition is satisfied, the management apparatus 100 performs a switching process for switching the connection of the plurality of terminals A 106-1 and the plurality of terminals B 106-2 to the network of another operator.

  In this calculation formula, it is also possible to calculate a difference in the amount of radio resource usage using another value indicating communication quality such as RSRQ instead of RSRP. In addition, the management apparatus 100 can acquire RSRQ by the process similar to RSRP.

  Although the switching condition based on the usage amount of the radio resource has been described so far, the management apparatus 100 may use the switching condition based on the value of the item included in the candidate terminal list 800, for example. “Includes the same kind of in-use App 805” and “the in-use App 805 having the maximum traffic volume is of the same kind” are examples of switching conditions. “Contract information 804 is of the same type” is an example of a switching condition.

  The management apparatus 100 uses an exchange condition that combines applications and contract plans in use in addition to the amount of radio resources to be improved, so that the operator can exchange terminals that are more similar in use state. You can do it. Thereby, the management apparatus 100 can maintain the fairness between operators, and can maintain the competitiveness between operators.

  When the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment executes the switching process of the terminal 106 described above, the switching target terminal 106 can be connected to a network with higher performance, and thus can maintain high-performance communication. it can. In addition, since the management device 100 executes the switching process, the operator of the switching target terminal 106 can use their own radio resources efficiently. The performance of other existing terminals 106 can also be improved.

  In addition, the management apparatus 100 can perform the switching process of the terminal 106 while maintaining the competitiveness between operators by exchanging terminals satisfying conditions defined by the operator. That is, the management apparatus 100 executes a switching process that is advantageous for the operator and the user of the terminal.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  Each of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them with, for example, an integrated circuit. Each of the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function by the processor. Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function can be stored in a memory, a hard disk, a recording device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

  Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

100 management device, 101 HSS, 105 eNB, 106 terminal, 302 contract / authentication information acquisition unit, 303 switching destination information transmission unit, 304 switching result reception unit, 305 other company management device communication unit, 306 candidate terminal list creation unit, 307 candidate Terminal determination unit, 308 candidate terminal list storage unit, 309 switching condition storage unit

Claims (11)

A management device connected to a second management device for managing the first network of the first operator and managing the second network of the second operator,
Including a processor and a storage device;
The storage device
A first switching candidate terminal group selected from terminals connected to the base station of the first network and contracting with the first operator; a connecting base station of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group; and A first switching candidate terminal indicating communication quality information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group and a switching destination candidate base station of the second network in which each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group can receive radio waves. List and
The second switching candidate terminal that switches the connection of the terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group to the switching destination candidate base station of the second network, is connected to the base station of the second network, and is contracted with the second operator A switching condition for determining whether or not switching processing is permitted, which switches the connection of a group of terminals to the switching destination candidate base station of the first network;
And authentication information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group,
The processor is
Receiving second terminal information indicating the second terminal of the second switching candidate terminal group and the communication quality information of the second terminal from the second management device;
Comparing the communication quality information of each terminal of the first switch candidate terminal group with the communication quality information of the second terminal, a comparison process is performed,
Information indicating a combination of the first terminal and the second terminal included in the first switching candidate terminal group, in which a result of the comparison process satisfies the switching condition, and communication quality information of the first terminal To the second management device,
When a switching permission response for the combination is received from the second management device,
Transmitting authentication information of the first terminal to the second management device;
Receiving authentication information of the second terminal from the second management device;
Transmitting authentication information of the second terminal to a user information database included in the first network;
With reference to the first switching candidate terminal list, an instruction to switch the connection of the first terminal to a switching destination candidate base station of the second network where the first terminal can receive radio waves is connected to the first terminal. A management device that transmits to the middle base station. The management device according to claim 1,
The switching condition includes: a first improvement amount of a radio resource usage amount of the first network and a second improvement amount of a radio resource usage amount of the second network when the switching process is performed. The difference is within a predetermined threshold,
The communication quality information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group includes the current communication quality of the terminal and the communication quality of the terminal when the terminal is the target of the switching process,
The communication quality information of the second terminal includes the current communication quality of the second terminal and the communication quality of the second terminal when the second terminal is the target of the switching process,
The processor is
In the comparison process,
For each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group, the first improvement amount is calculated based on the communication quality information of the terminal,
A management device that calculates the second improvement amount based on communication quality information of the second terminal. The management device according to claim 2,
The communication quality information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group includes the RSRP value of the radio wave received from the connected base station by the terminal and the RSRP value of the radio wave received by the terminal from the switching destination candidate base station. And a throughput value obtained by the terminal under the first network,
The communication quality information of the second terminal includes the first RSRP value of the radio wave received from the connected base station by the second terminal and the switching destination candidate base station of the first network from which the second terminal can receive the radio wave. A second RSRP value of the received radio wave, and a first throughput value obtained by the second terminal under the second network,
The processor is
In the comparison process,
For each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group, the RSRP value of the radio wave received by the terminal from the connected base station, the RSRP value of the radio wave received by the terminal from the switching destination candidate base station, Based on the throughput value obtained by the terminal under the first network, the first improvement amount is calculated based on
A management device that calculates the second improvement amount based on the first RSRP value, the second RSRP value, and the first throughput value. The management device according to claim 1,
The first switching candidate terminal list indicates an application in use of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group,
The second terminal information indicates an application in use of the second terminal,
The switching condition includes that the application in use of the terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group and the application in use of the second switching candidate terminal group include the same type of application,
In the comparison process, the processor compares the application in use of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group with the application in use of the second terminal. The management device according to claim 1,
The first switching candidate terminal list indicates a contract plan of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group,
The quality improvement information of the second terminal indicates a contract plan of the second terminal,
The switching condition includes that the contract plan of the terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group and the contract plan of the second switching candidate terminal group are of the same type,
In the comparison process, the processor compares the contract plan of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group with the contract plan of the second terminal. The management device according to claim 1,
The third RSRP value of the radio wave received from the connected base station by each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group is less than the second threshold value,
The management apparatus, wherein a difference between a fourth RSRP value of a radio wave received from each switching destination candidate base station by each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group and the third RSRP value is greater than a third threshold. The management device according to claim 1,
The processor is
The first communication quality information of the third terminal contracting with the second operator connected to the first base station of the first network by the switching process, and the third terminal is the second base station of the second network Receiving second information indicating the second communication quality information when connected to the second base station from the first base station,
When the comparison result between the first communication quality information and the second communication quality information satisfies a return condition,
With reference to the second information, a switch start instruction to the second base station of the third terminal is transmitted to the first base station,
A management apparatus that transmits an instruction to delete authentication information of the third terminal to the user information database. The management device according to claim 7,
The first communication quality information is a fifth RSRP value of a radio wave that the third terminal receives from the first base station,
The second communication quality information is a sixth RSRP value of a radio wave received by the third terminal from the second base station,
The switch-back condition is a management apparatus in which the fifth RSRP value is less than a fourth threshold value and a difference between the sixth RSRP value and the fifth RSRP value is larger than a fifth threshold value. The management device according to claim 1,
The processor is
A disconnection notification indicating that the fourth terminal that has contracted with the second operator connected to the third base station of the first network by the switching process has terminated communication with the third base station, When received from the base station,
A management apparatus that transmits an instruction to delete authentication information of the fourth terminal to the user information database. A management device connected to a second management device for managing the first network of the first operator and managing the second network of the second operator,
Including a processor and a storage device;
The storage device
A first terminal selected from a terminal connected to a base station of the first network and contracting with the first operator; a connecting base station of the first terminal; communication quality information of the first terminal; First terminal information indicating the second network switching destination candidate base station capable of receiving radio waves by the first terminal;
Connection of the terminal of the second switching candidate terminal group that switches the connection of the first terminal to the switching destination candidate base station of the second network and is connected to the base station of the second network and contracted with the second operator A switching condition for determining whether or not switching processing is permitted, for switching to the switching destination candidate base station of the first network,
Holding authentication information of the first terminal,
The processor is
Sending the first terminal information to the second management device;
Receiving information indicating the combination of the first terminal and the second terminal of the second switch candidate terminal group and the quality improvement information of the second terminal from the second management device;
The communication quality information of the first terminal is compared with the communication quality information of the second terminal,
When the result of the comparison satisfies the switching condition,
Sending a switch permission response for the combination to the second management device;
Transmitting authentication information of the first terminal to the second management device;
Receiving authentication information of the second terminal from the second management device;
Transmitting authentication information of the second terminal to a user information database included in the first network;
With reference to the first terminal information, an instruction to switch the connection of the first terminal to the switching destination candidate base station of the second network in which the first terminal can receive radio waves is transmitted to the connected base of the first terminal. Management device that transmits to the station. A first management device for managing the first network of the first operator;
A second management device connected to the first management device and managing a second network of a second operator;
A first user information database included in the first network and holding user information of the terminal of the first operator;
A second user information database that is included in the second network and stores user information of the terminal of the second operator;
The first management device includes:
A first switching candidate terminal group selected from terminals connected to the base station of the first network and contracting with the first operator; a connecting base station of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group; and A first switching candidate terminal indicating communication quality information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group and a switching destination candidate base station of the second network in which each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group can receive radio waves. List and
The terminal of the second switching candidate terminal group that switches the connection of the terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group to the base station of the second network, is connected to the base station of the second network, and is contracting with the second operator Switching to the base station of the first network, a first switching condition for determining whether or not to allow switching processing,
And authentication information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group,
The second management device is
Switching of the first network in which the second terminal of the second switching candidate terminal group, the connected base station of the second terminal, the communication quality information of the second terminal, and the second terminal can receive radio waves Second terminal information indicating a destination candidate base station;
A second switching condition for determining whether the switching process is permitted;
And each authentication information of the terminals of the second switching candidate terminal group,
The first management device includes:
Receiving information indicating the second terminal and communication quality information of the second terminal from the second management device;
The communication quality information of each terminal of the first switching candidate terminal group is compared with the communication quality information of the second terminal,
A combination of the first terminal and the second terminal included in the first switching candidate terminal group, wherein the comparison result satisfies the first switching condition, and the quality improvement information of the first terminal; 2 Notify the management device,
When the comparison result between the communication quality information of the first terminal and the communication quality information of the second terminal satisfies the second switching condition,
Receiving a switching response permission from the second management device;
Transmitting authentication information of the first terminal to the second management device;
Receiving authentication information of the second terminal from the second management device;
Transmitting authentication information of the second terminal to the first user information database;
With reference to the first switching candidate terminal list, an instruction to switch the connection of the first terminal to a switching destination candidate base station of the second network where the first terminal can receive radio waves is connected to the first terminal. To the middle base station,
The second management device is
Transmitting authentication information of the first terminal to the second user information database;
With reference to the second terminal information, an instruction to switch the connection of the second terminal to the switching destination candidate base station of the first network where the second terminal can receive radio waves is transmitted to the connected base of the second terminal. A communication system that transmits to a station.

Images