KR100918694B1 - System of subscriber database server and core network in a wireless communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a core network or subscriber database server system, and more particularly, to a core network system including a subscriber database server and a system capable of improving the performance of a subscriber database server providing subscriber customer information in a mobile communication system. It is about.

A core network in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a core network connecting a call path in a mobile communication system, the circuit switching unit responsible for circuit switching, the packet switching unit for packet switching, and the circuit line. And a subscriber database server for delivering subscriber customer information to the exchange and the packet exchange.

Subscriber Database Server, HLR, Home Location Register

Description

System of subscriber database server and core network in a wireless communication system

The present invention relates to a core network or subscriber database server system, and more particularly, to a core network system including a subscriber database server and a system capable of improving the performance of a subscriber database server providing subscriber customer information in a mobile communication system. It is about.

The demand for communication services is rapidly increasing, including the generalization of information and communication services, the emergence of various multimedia services, and the emergence of high quality services. In mobile communication, the demand of subscribers of mobile communication voice call service is saturating, but the number of subscribers is increasing as various additional services are developed continuously.

The mobile communication system utilizes a wide range of infrastructure devices such as base stations and core networks to send and receive individual contents such as pictures, videos, music, and games to users and perform various services. In particular, in recent years, as well as voice call service, which is a major service of mobile communication system, hundreds of thousands of additional services have been developed to meet the needs of users.

For example, these supplementary services provide users with various supplementary services such as ring-to-yu, phone messenger, terrestrial or satellite DMB broadcasting, video chat, video ring-to-yu, video mailbox, and video conferencing.

Accordingly, as the number of mobile communication subscribers and mobile communication services are diversified, the load on a core network performing call processing is increasing. Accordingly, such contention database servers may cause resource contention by simultaneously performing a database operation such as updating a database or moving data in a database, and a call processing operation that performs a mobile communication service as a component of a communication network. have.

Due to the contention of these resources, the number of servers connected to the core network degrades or prevents performance degradation. Scaling servers is common, but scaling up these systems requires a significant investment.

Therefore, there is a need for a system that can improve performance by simultaneously performing database tasks and call processing tasks while reducing resource contention by improving server structures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has an object of improving the performance of a subscriber database (DB) server system by separating it into a processor server for performing call processing and a management database server for storing user data. .

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a core network system capable of efficiently performing call processing by improving the performance of a subscriber database server system that provides subscriber customer information.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

A core network in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is a core network system for connecting a call path in a mobile communication system, circuit switching unit for performing circuit switching; A packet exchange unit in charge of packet exchange; And a subscriber database server for transmitting subscriber customer information to the circuit switching unit and the packet switching unit. The subscriber database server includes a management database server for storing or updating the subscriber customer information; And a processor server transmitting subscriber customer information received from the database server according to a request of the circuit switching unit or the packet switching unit to the circuit switching unit or the packet switching unit.

Subscriber database server system in a mobile communication system according to another embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is at least one processor server for performing a call processing; A management database server having a database each storing the same subscriber customer information; And a switching unit connecting the processor server and the management database server so that the processor server can access subscriber customer information of a database in the management database server.

Subscriber database server system and core network system according to an embodiment of the present invention has the following effects.

By separating the subscriber database server into a processor server and a management database server, the load of each of the processor server and the management database server can be reduced, and the performance of the subscriber database server system can be improved by processing the data efficiently with each server.

In addition, performance can be improved by integrating an existing database system into a single subscriber database server system, and stability of subscriber information can be improved by duplexing the database system.

In addition, the subscriber customer information can be stably and efficiently provided to the circuit switching unit and the packet switching unit to increase the efficiency of call processing operations in the core network.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings. Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a UMTS communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a UMTS communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a terminal 10, a radio access network (UTRAN; UMTS Terrestrial RAN, 20), and a wireless access network, and responds to a connection with an external network 40. It may include a core network (Core Network, 30). Such a UMTS communication network is called a public land mobile network (PLMN).

The terminal 10 may include personal digital assistants (PDAs), computers, and the like capable of wireless communication as well as user equipment used for wireless communication. The terminal 10 may be fixed or mobile and may be called by other terms such as a mobile station (MS), a user terminal (UT), a subscriber station (SS), and a wireless device.

The terminal 10 identifies a mobile device (ME) 13, which is a wireless terminal used for wireless communication, and a subscriber through a Uu interface, performs an authentication algorithm, and performs authentication and encryption keys required by the terminal. It includes a subscription authentication module (USIM: UMTS Subscriber Identity Module) 17 that stores subscription information. Here, the Uu interface is a radio interface in WCDMA mobile communication.

A radio access network (RAN) 20 includes a base station 22 and a base station controller 24 that accommodates a 3GPP standard radio access standard to support WCDMA. The radio access network 20 transmits a call request signal or the like from the terminal to the core network.

The base station 22 sets a wireless physical channel necessary for data exchange with the terminal 10 according to the control information transmitted from the base station controller 24, and transfers the data transmitted from the upper layer protocol to the terminal 10 according to the wireless environment. send. In addition, the data received from the terminal 10 is transmitted to the upper layer protocol of the base station controller 24. The base station 22 supports various radio access technologies such as channel coding, interleaving, modulation, and demodulation for data transmission in a radio section. The base station 22 generally refers to a fixed station that communicates with the terminal 10, and in other terms, such as a node-B, a base transceiver system (BTS), and an access point. Can be called.

A base station controller (Radio network controller) 24 dynamically allocates radio resources of the wireless communication system and controls the base station 22. The base station controller 24 includes wired and wireless channel management, protocol matching of the mobile communication terminal 10, and protocol matching of the base station. Soft handoff processing, protocol matching with Core Network, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) access, fault management, system loading, etc. The base station controller 24 serves as an access point for services provided through a core network.

The mobile switch center 31 transfers incoming or outgoing signals from the base station 22, and provides a function for exchanging mobile subscribers with each other, and for exchanging mobile subscribers with fixed network subscribers such as PSTN and ISDN. . The circuit switch 31 processes basic and additional services, processes an incoming signal of the mobile communication terminal 10 in association with an existing network or another network, and processes location registration and handoff.

The circuit switched gateway (GMSC) 32 is a gateway at the point where the circuit switched 31 is connected to the external network 40. All circuit switched connections are made via circuit switched gateway 32.

The circuit switching unit 100 may be referred to as a circuit switching unit 100 including the circuit switch 31 and the circuit switching gateway 32. The circuit switching unit 100 establishes a communication path with the terminal 10 through a circuit switching connection. .

The Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 35 (SGSN) is a mobile station for managing GPRS services, an outgoing / outgoing call processing procedure, and a session management, authentication and billing function for handling transmission and reception of packet data. And so on. It also has a routing processing function of packet data.

A packet switching gateway (GGSN) 36 is a serving node of an IP (Internet Protocol) based packet network that provides a high speed packet data service for GPRS data service. It manages the network data, handles routing of packet data, and provides an interface for connecting the WDCMA network to the Internet.

The packet switching support node 35 and the packet switching gateway 36 may be referred to as a packet switching unit 200. The packet exchange unit 200 transmits and receives data in packet units in data transmission and reception of a terminal.

The external network 40 is a network connected to the outside through the circuit switching unit 100 or the packet switching unit 200. The circuit switching unit 100 is related to the transmission and reception of circuits such as voice calls. The circuit switching unit 100 may be a public switched telephone network (PSTN), an integrated services digital network (ISDN), or a public land mobile network (PLMN). The packet exchange unit 200 is related to the transmission and reception of packets. The packet exchange unit 200 may be an Internet Protocol (IP) network such as the Internet.

The subscriber database server 50 stores or manages the subscriber's static subscription information and security related information. The subscriber database server 50 may include, for example, a home location register (HLR), an authentication center (AuC), an equipment identity register (EIR), and the like. These may include a database that stores the customer information of the subscriber.

The subscriber customer information may include various information such as location information and identification information of the user's terminal, and this information becomes essential information for management of the terminal. The home location register stores and manages the location information of the subscriber, and the authentication center (AuC) generates the authentication vector and performs the subscriber authentication function. In general, an authentication center (AuC) is interlocked with a home location register (HLR), and they use a MAP (Mobile Application Part) protocol interface to exchange information with each other. The device identification register (EIR) checks or manages identification information related to the hardware of the terminal.

Such a subscriber database server may include a processor server 300 and a management database server 400. The processor server 300 delivers the information requested by the core network to the core network or instructs the management database server 400 to perform a task. The management database server 400 performs database operations such as storing or updating subscriber customer information.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a core network system in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a core network system 30 in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a subscriber database server 50, a circuit switch 31, a circuit switched gateway 32, a packet switched support node. 35 and a packet switched gateway 36. The circuit switch 31, the circuit switched gateway 32, the packet switched support node 35, and the packet switched gateway 36 have already been described in detail and thus will be omitted.

The subscriber database server 50 provides subscriber customer information to the circuit switch 31 or the packet switched support node 35 of the core network to establish a data call or a call call in other components of the core network.

The subscriber customer information may include location information where the current subscriber terminal is located, profile information indicating information of the subscriber, and the like. In particular, it may include the main plan used by subscribers and additional service information currently subscribed to customers. In addition, the subscription information may include history information of the plan or the additional service. Or, it may include personal information about the subscription customer. Personal information of the subscriber may include the date of birth, address, social security number, the date of registration.

The subscriber database server 50 may include a processor server 300 and a management database server 400. The processor server 300 predominantly performs call processing. The processor server 300 delivers the customer information of the subscriber for establishing a call through the circuit switch 31 or the packet switched support node 35 in the core network. The processor server 300 may be configured to include a circuit switch, a circuit switched gateway, a packet switched support node, or a packet switched gateway. It is possible to transmit the customer information of the subscriber using a 7 signaling method (SS7) based Mobile Application Part (MAP) signaling protocol.

The management database server 400 may store or update the subscriber's customer information in the database. The management database server 400 delivers the customer information to be sent to the circuit switch or packet switched support node to the processor server 300 or receives a command from the processor server 300 to store or update the customer information of the subscriber. Store in

The connection between the processor server 300 and the management database server 400 may transmit and receive data at high speed by using an optical LAN, such as an Ethernet or an optical fiber gable.

As described above, the performance of the subscriber database server 50 can be improved by separating the functions of the subscriber database server into the processor server 300 and the management database server 400. The management database server 400 performs a process of storing or updating a database of customer information of the subscriber, and the processor server 300 plays a role of transferring information for call processing, thereby changing information such as updating or adding a database, and Contending for data transfer can prevent the performance of the subscriber database server from degrading.

3 shows a structure of a general home location register.

Referring to FIG. 3, there may be a plurality of home location registers according to subscribers. For example, if the subscriber's station is divided into (0 ~ 1000), (1001 ~ 2000), (2001-3000), (3001 ~ 4000), ..., etc., 10 home location registers It can be placed in the core network. Here, the station number means a four-digit number appended to the identification number (eg, 016, 011, 109, etc.) of the mobile communication system. As shown in FIG. 3, four 210, 220, 230, and 240 are arbitrarily shown among a plurality of home location registers including a database.

The general home location registers 210, 220, 230, and 240 store the customer information of the subscriber in a database, and then provide the customer information of the subscriber to the circuit switching unit 100 or the packet switching unit 200, or provide the circuit switching unit. The database is updated by a request to update the subscriber customer information from the 100 or the packet switching unit 200.

In general, the home location register may be applied differently according to the subscriber's station number, and if any one of the home location registers is damaged, it may cause a fatal problem that the subscribers cannot receive the service. For this reason, there is a burden to always arrange an extra home position register.

In addition, as the number of users or additional services are continuously developed, the home location register increases the database size of the home location register as the data volume of the subscriber's customer information increases, thereby increasing the burden of continuously expanding the home location register. have.

4 is a block diagram of a subscriber database server system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the subscriber database server system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a processor server 300, a management database server 400, and a switching unit 500.

The management database server 400 stores the customer information of the subscriber and allows the processor server 300 to access the subscriber customer information necessary for call processing in the database. The management database server 400 manages the customer information of the subscriber in a database and stores the subscriber customer information in a large amount of storage. Storage may consist of a collection of disks in a plurality of arrays. The management database server 400 may be configured in a pair to stably provide subscriber customer information.

Thus, the first database server 410 stores subscriber customer information in the first database and the second database server 420 stores subscriber customer information in the second database. The first database and the second database may in principle store the same subscriber customer information. The second database server 420 has a second database that replicates the first database in real time or at regular time intervals. Thus, even if one of the first or second database server 410, 420 is stopped or either of the first database or the second database is damaged, the subscriber customer information can be provided through the other database server, thereby providing reliable service. Can be performed.

The processor server 300 provides customer information necessary for data call or call connection by interworking with the core network of the mobile communication. The processor server 300 may be linked with the management database server 400 to query and change necessary data. The processor server 300 may include a plurality of 310, 320, 330, and 340. The processor server 300 may access a database of the management database server 400 to obtain customer information of a subscriber and provide the subscriber information to a circuit switch or a packet switched support node. In addition, the processor server 300 may issue a work command to the management database server 400 to store and update data of the management database server 400. One of the plurality of processor servers 310, 320, 330, and 340 is called by a round robin method in order to request the customer information of the subscriber from the circuit switched unit 100 or the packet switched unit 200. can do.

The switching unit 500 serves to connect the processor server 300 to access the database of the management database server 400. The switching unit 500 connects the processor servers 300 to one of the management database servers 400 when configured in pairs. The switching unit 500 may be configured as a hub, a router, or an Ethernet switch.

For example, assume that the subscriber database server system is a home location register. As shown in FIG. 3, a general home location register includes a plurality of home location registers divided according to a subscriber's station number.

The home location register according to an embodiment of the present invention may include at least one processor server 300 and a redundant management database server 400. Subscriber customer information is databased in a large amount of storage in the management database server 400, and the management database server 400 performs database operations such as adding, deleting, and changing a database.

The processor server 300 provides subscriber circuit information requested by the circuit switching unit 100 and the packet switching unit 200 of the core network to the circuit switching unit 100 and the packet switching unit 200. The processor server 300 accesses the database of the management database server and provides the subscriber customer information requested by the circuit switch 31 or the packet switched support node 35 to the circuit switch 31 or the packet switched support node 35. do.

Accordingly, the processor server 300 accesses the database of the management database server 400 to read the customer information of the subscriber, or instructs the management database server 400 to update the database. You can improve performance by performing only the tasks required for call processing without performing the processing. In addition, the management database server 400 performs operations such as modifying, deleting, updating, and adding data of the database to perform other tasks with the processor server 300. Thus, the performance of the home location register can be improved by allowing the processor server 300 and the management database server 400 to focus on their respective tasks.

In addition, even if any one of the plurality of processor server (310, 320, 330, 340) is damaged by the other processor server by distributing the amount of work to overcome the disadvantage that the service execution is suspended to the user included in the conventional station number Can be.

The management database server 400 may duplicate the database, so that even if a large database is damaged, the service may be continuously provided to the subscriber by a database on the other end having the same database. By securing the stability of the database, it is possible to reduce the need to relocate unnecessary subscriber customer information by increasing the capacity of the database, and to store the subscriber customer information in a large database rather than installing a plurality of home location registers according to the range of the conventional station number. Inclusion makes it easy to maintain and manage.

As described above, the subscriber database server system according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a home location register (HLR), an authentication center (Auc), a device identification register (EIR), and the like used in a UMTS communication network.

5 is a flowchart illustrating providing subscriber customer information by a subscriber database server system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, when a subscriber receives a data transmission request or a call connection request through a terminal, the circuit switching unit 100 or the packet switching unit 200 requests subscriber customer information from the processor server 300 (S500). ).

The processor server 300 accesses the database of the management database server 400 when the subscriber requests the customer information (S520). The processor server 300 retrieves subscriber customer information from a database to obtain subscriber customer information (S550).

When the subscriber customer information is obtained, the processor server provides the customer information to the circuit switching unit 100 or the packet switching unit 200 that requested the subscriber customer information (S570).

For example, assuming that the subscriber database server system is a home location register, FIG. 5 can be described as follows. First, the circuit switch 100 or the packet switch 200 requests the processor server 300 for the location information of the called subscriber and the profile of the called subscriber (S500). The processor server 300 accesses a database of the management database server 400 to obtain location information of the called subscriber and additional service information subscribed to by the called subscriber (S520 and S550). The obtained location information of the called subscriber and the additional service information of the subscriber are provided to the circuit switching unit 100 or the packet switching unit 200 (S570).

On the other hand, the components or '~' used in this embodiment is software such as tasks, classes, subroutines, processes, objects, execution threads, programs, or FPGAs (field-) that are performed in a predetermined area on the memory. It may be implemented in hardware such as a programmable gate array or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or may be a combination of the software and hardware. The component or 'unit' may be included in a computer readable storage medium, or a part of the components may be distributed and distributed to a plurality of computers.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains have various permutations, modifications, and modifications without departing from the spirit or essential features of the present invention. It is to be understood that modifications may be made and other embodiments may be embodied. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a UMTS communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a core network in a mobile communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a layout of a general home location register.

4 is a block diagram of a subscriber database server system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart in which a subscriber database server system provides subscriber customer information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the main parts of the drawings *

100: circuit switching unit 200: packet switching unit

300: processor server 400: database server

500: switching unit

Claims (15)

In a core network system that connects a call path in a mobile communication system, A circuit switching unit in charge of circuit switching; A packet exchange unit in charge of packet exchange; And And a subscriber database server for transmitting subscriber customer information to the circuit switching unit and the packet switching unit. The subscriber database server A management database server for storing or updating the subscriber customer information; And And a processor server for transmitting subscriber customer information received from the management database server at the request of the circuit switching unit or the packet switching unit to the circuit switching unit or the packet switching unit. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber database server A core network system in a mobile communication system, which is a home location register (HLR). The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber customer information Core network system in a mobile communication system including the location information of the terminal of the subscriber. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber customer information A core network system in a mobile communication system including additional service information subscribed to the subscriber. The method of claim 1, wherein the management database server A core network system in a mobile communication system, comprising a pair, wherein each database server includes the same database. The method of claim 1, wherein the management database server A first database server at which the subscriber stores customer information in a first database; And A second database server for storing the same customer information as the first database in a second database, The second database server A core network system in a mobile communication system, updating the second database by synchronizing a second database when the subscriber customer information of the first database is changed. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuit switching unit A circuit switch that connects the call path over the line to the called party; And And a circuit switched gateway for providing a connection path with an external network through the circuit switch. The method of claim 1, wherein the packet exchange unit A packet switched support node for connecting packet data to send and receive packet data; And And a packet switched gateway configured to provide a connection path with an external network through the packet switched support node. At least one processor server for performing call processing; A management database server having a database each storing the same subscriber customer information; And And a switching unit for connecting the processor server and the management database server so that the processor server can access subscriber customer information of a database in the management database server. The method of claim 9, And the processor server and the management database server serve as a home location register. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor server is And acquires subscriber customer information stored in a database of the management database server and performs call processing. 12. The processor of claim 11, wherein the processor server is A subscriber database server system in a mobile communication system for performing call processing by transmitting the obtained customer information to a circuit switching unit or a packet switching unit. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the subscriber customer information is A subscriber database server system in a mobile communication system including location information of a called party or information of a called party's service profile. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the management database server is A first database server for storing the subscriber customer information in a first database; And And a second database server for storing the same data as the subscriber customer information stored in the first database server in a second database. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second database server is And synchronizing data of the first database server in real time to store the subscriber customer information in a second database in a redundant manner.

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