KR101502137B1 - Method of distributing network load between operators and signal processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The network load balancing method of a signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes collecting network load information for each service provider, setting roaming information considering network load information for each service provider and a roaming policy preset between providers Receiving a connection request from the terminal, and processing a connection request of the terminal based on the roaming information.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a network load balancing method and a signal processing apparatus for supporting the same,

The present invention relates to a network load balancing method between operators and a signal processing apparatus supporting the same.

In order to reduce the construction cost of the mobile communication network, there is a growing interest in a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE) system in which a plurality of operators share a wireless access network.

In the MVNE system, when the UE desires to initially access the network, the UE can confirm the priority of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list and access the network of the carrier having the highest priority. Generally, the network of the service provider to which the terminal is subscribed is set to have the highest priority.

On the other hand, network load per provider may be different. When a terminal desires to access a network of a subscriber to which the subscriber is subscribed, additional access of the terminal is restricted according to a predetermined access restriction method (e.g., Access Class Barring / Extended Access Barring) when the load of the corresponding network is higher than a certain level.

In such a case, there is a problem that a terminal subscribed to a service provider whose load of the network is higher than a certain level can not receive good quality service. In addition, there is a problem that a business having a load of a network below a certain level can not efficiently use resources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a network load balancing method between service providers and a signal processing device supporting the same.

The network load balancing method of a signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes collecting network load information for each service provider, setting roaming information considering network load information for each service provider and a roaming policy preset between providers Receiving a connection request from the terminal, and processing the connection request of the terminal based on the roaming information.

Wherein the setting step includes the step of roaming from the network of the first business entity to the network of the second business entity when the network load of the first business entity is equal to or greater than the threshold and the roaming policy is set in advance between the first business entity and the second business entity And the like.

The step of processing the connection request may include setting the terminal to connect to the network of the second provider when the terminal is a subscriber of the first provider.

The step of processing the connection request may include generating a Steer of Roaming (SoR) message that changes the priority of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list so that the network of the second business entity has a higher rank than the network of the first business entity And transmitting the SoR message to the mobile station.

The step of processing the connection request may include generating a Steer of Roaming (SoR) message that changes the priority of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list so that the network of the second business entity has a higher rank than the network of the first business entity Requesting an OTA (Over The Air) server to transmit the SoR message generated by the OTA server to the terminal.

In the step of processing the connection request, when the terminal is a subscriber of the first business, the number of terminals already roaming in the network of the second business entity is compared with the number of roaming allowing terminals previously set by the second business entity And setting the terminal to connect to the network of the second business entity when the number of the already roaming terminals does not exceed the number of the roaming allowable terminals.

A signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a load information collecting unit for collecting network load information for each vendor, roaming information in consideration of network load information for each vendor and a roaming policy preset between providers, A roaming determination unit for determining a roaming target terminal based on the roaming target terminal, and a message generating unit for generating a message for changing a priority of a PLMN list for the roaming target terminal.

Wherein the roaming determination section determines that roaming is performed between the first business entity and the second business entity when the network load of the first business entity is equal to or greater than the threshold value and the roaming policy is set in advance between the first business entity and the second business entity, Information can be set.

The roaming determination unit may determine the terminal as a roaming target terminal when the terminal transmitting the connection request is a subscriber of the first business.

The roaming determination unit may include a roaming policy storage unit for storing a roaming policy previously set between providers, a roaming information setting unit for setting roaming information in consideration of the network load information for each provider and the roaming policy, And a roaming determination unit for determining a terminal.

The roaming determination unit may further consider the number of roaming-allowed terminals that are preset between providers.

The roaming determination unit may further include a terminal information storage unit for storing information about a roaming target terminal.

The network load balancing method of a signal processing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention includes collecting network load information for each service provider, setting roaming information considering network load information for each service provider and a roaming policy preset between providers Determining a roaming target terminal based on the roaming information, and generating a message for changing a priority of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list for the roaming target terminal.

Wherein, when the network load of the first business entity is equal to or less than the threshold value and the roaming policy is set between the first business entity and the second business entity in advance, the setting is routed from the network of the second business entity to the network of the first business entity And setting the roaming information so that the roaming information can be set.

The roaming target terminal may be a terminal that is roaming in the network of the second business entity among the terminals that are the subscribers of the first business entity.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, network load among providers can be dispersed. Accordingly, even when the load of the network to which the terminal is subscribed is high, the terminal can be provided with a service quality of a certain level or more. In addition, it is possible to increase the resource utilization rate of the business operator.

1 is a network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram of a digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of distributing network load among providers according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a block diagram of a roaming determination unit that is a part of a digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a network load balancing method of a digital signal processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating a network load balancing method of a digital signal processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are denoted by like reference characters throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when an element is referred to as "comprising ", it means that it can include other elements as well, without excluding other elements unless specifically stated otherwise.

Also, the term "part" in the description means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

In this specification, a terminal includes a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station (PSS), a user equipment , An access terminal (AT), an access terminal (AT), and the like, and may include all or some of functions of a terminal, a mobile station, a mobile terminal, a subscriber station, a mobile subscriber station, a user equipment, .

In this specification, a base station (BS) includes an access point (AP), a radio access station (RAS), a node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB) (BS), a base transceiver station (BTS), a mobile multihop relay (MMR) -BS, and the like, or may be a function of all or a part of an access node, a base station, a radio access station, a node B, an eNodeB, a base transceiver station, .

In the present specification, roaming means that a terminal is connected to a network of a mobile communication service provider other than the mobile communication service provider to which the terminal belongs. When the terminal is out of the service area of the mobile communication service provider to which the mobile communication service terminal belongs, not only the general concept of receiving service through another mobile communication service provider's network but also the service of the other mobile communication service provider It includes the concept of connecting.

In this specification, a mobile communication carrier can be mixed with a business operator, an operator, and the like.

1 is a network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention. An example is a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) system in which a plurality of operators share a network.

Referring to FIG. 1, the eNodeB 100 is a base station connected to a mobile terminal (not shown) by radio. The eNodeB 100 assigns frequencies to the mobile terminal (not shown) and is responsible for all wireless related functions including radio bearer control, admission control, mobility control, scheduling, and security. And to the core system 200 of the operator A and the core system 300 of the operator B. [ At this time, although the core system of the provider is two examples, it may be further included.

The eNodeB 100 includes a plurality of radio signal processing units (hereinafter referred to as RUs) 110 and a digital signal processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as 'DU') 130 do. The RU 110 is installed in a service area, i.e., a cell, and a signal processing server 120 for processing a signal of the RU 110 and a DU 130 for processing a signal for a plurality of RUs 110 are centralized .

The RU 110 and the signal processing server 120 process the radio signal. For example, the RU 110 and the signal processing server 120 convert a digital signal received from the DU 130 into a radio frequency (RF) signal according to a frequency band and amplify the digital signal.

The RU 110 is installed for each service provider and can provide a service using a service-specific frequency (RU Co-location). A plurality of operators may install a single RU 110 to provide a service using a carrier-specific frequency (RU Multiband). In both cases, each operator may have the same or similar coverage.

The signal processing server 120 is installed together with the DU 130 in the national office, and can be installed for each operator. A plurality of RUs 110 and a signal processing server 120 according to a provider may be connected through an optical multiplexer (MUX).

DU 130 is responsible for digital signal processing. The DU 130 is connected to the provider-specific signal processing server 120 and is connected to the core networks 200 and 300 for each provider. The DU 130 manages radio resources for each cell and radio resources for each provider.

The signal processing server 120 and the DU 130 may be implemented in the form of a blade server.

On the other hand, the core system 200 and the core system 300 refer to different core systems.

The core system 200 of the provider A and the core system 300 of the provider B have the same configuration. The core system 200 and the core system 300 are respectively connected to an HSS 210, a home subscriber server 210, an MME 220 (Mobility Management Entity) 220, a Serving (Packet Gateways) 240 and 340, Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 250 and 350, and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS)

Here, the HSSs 210 and 310 perform subscriber information management in the All IP network.

The MMEs 220 and 320 are connected to the DU 130 through a wireless channel and are connected to a mobile terminal (not shown) through the DU 130. The MMEs 220 and 320 manage idle mode mobile terminals (not shown) and select the S-GWs 230 and 330 and the P-GWs 240 and 340. And performs functions related to roaming and authentication. And processes a bearer signal generated in a mobile terminal (not shown).

The S-GWs 230 and 330 serve as mobile anchors when a mobile terminal (not shown) moves between handover of the eNodeB 100 or between 3GPP radio networks.

The P-GWs 240 and 340 allocate an IP (Internet Protocol) address of a mobile terminal (not shown), perform packet data related functions of the core network, Role.

The PCRF (250, 350) is a policy decision function for variously applying differentiated QoS and charging policies according to IMS service flow. 7 There is a policy control function defined in the Policy & Charging Control (PCC) structure. The PCRFs 250 and 350 can accommodate both the policy decision function defined in 3GPP release 6 and the flow control function based on the billing control and guarantee differentiated QoS for each service and apply a different billing rate .

The IMSs 260 and 360 are systems for providing multimedia services on an IP basis.

Hereinafter, a method for distributing network load among providers in a network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of distributing a network load among providers by a digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3, the DU 130 includes a load information collection unit 131, a roaming determination unit 133, a resource allocation unit 135, a message generation unit 137, and a transmission / reception unit 139 do.

The load information collecting unit 131 collects network load information for each vendor (S300). For example, the load information collection unit 131 may collect network load information for each vendor from the signal processing server 120 according to each vendor. The load information collection unit 131 may collect network load information for each vendor at predetermined intervals.

The roaming determination unit 133 sets roaming information in consideration of the network load information per provider and the roaming policy preset between providers (S310), and determines whether the terminal that transmitted the connection request is a roaming target terminal (S320).

The resource allocation unit 135 allocates radio resources to the terminal that transmitted the connection request (S330).

If the terminal transmitting the connection request is a roaming target terminal, the message generating unit 137 generates a message for changing the priority of the PLMN list for the terminal (S340). For example, a message may be generated such that the network of the carrier to which the terminal is roaming has the highest priority in the PLMN list.

The transmission / reception unit 139 transmits the message generated by the message generation unit 137 to the terminal (S350).

Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given of a method for generating a message for setting a roaming information, determining a roaming target terminal, and changing a priority of a PLMN list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram of a roaming determination unit that is a part of a digital signal processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, the roaming determination unit 133 includes a roaming policy storage unit 400, a roaming information setting unit 410, a roaming determination unit 420, and a terminal information storage unit 430.

The roaming policy storage unit 400 stores a roaming policy preset between providers. For example, when the load factor of the network A of the provider A is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the terminal A of the operator A can be set in advance to roam to the network of the operator B, It is possible to preset the terminal, which is a subscriber of the operator B, to roam to the network of the operator A. In addition, the provider A and the provider B can preset the number of terminals roaming from the network of another provider.

The roaming information setting unit 410 sets the roaming information in consideration of the network load information of each company collected from the load information collection unit 131 and the roaming policy stored in the roaming policy storage unit 400. [ The roaming information setting unit 410 can update the roaming information for each cycle in which the load information collection unit 131 collects network load information for each vendor, for example.

The roaming information setting unit 410 can compare the load rate and the threshold value of the network of the predetermined service provider and set information on the roaming direction. For example, when the load factor of the network of the carrier A is equal to or larger than the threshold value and the roaming policy is set between the carrier A and the carrier B in advance, the roaming information setting unit 410 instructs roaming from the network of the carrier A to the network of the carrier B Information about the roaming direction can be set.

The roaming determination unit 420 determines whether or not the terminal roams based on the roaming information. The roaming determination unit 420 may determine to roam the terminal if roaming is required. For example, the roaming determination unit 420 receives information on the roaming direction indicating roaming from the roaming information setting unit 410 to the network of the carrier B from the network of the carrier A, If it sends this connection request, it can decide to roam to carrier B's network.

At this time, the roaming determination unit 420 may further consider the number of roaming-allowed terminals. For example, if the number of terminals that have already roamed to the network of the provider B does not exceed the number of roaming allowance terminals preset between the provider A and the provider B, the terminal that is a subscriber of the provider A roams to the network of the provider B You can decide.

The terminal information storage unit 430 stores information of the terminal determined to roam. For example, if it is determined that the subscriber terminal of the subscriber A roams to the subscriber network of the subscriber B, the subscriber information storage unit 430 may store the subscriber information.

On the other hand, when the roaming determination unit 420 determines to roam the terminal, the message determination unit 137 generates a message capable of changing the list of "Operator Controlled PLMN Selector with Access Technology" of the USIM. For example, when it is decided to roam the subscriber terminal of the subscriber A to the subscriber network of the subscriber B, the subscriber of the subscriber of the subscriber A may be routed to the network of the subscriber B, so that the priority of the subscriber of the subscriber B may be made highest in the PLMN list.

Here, the message may be mixed with a Steer of Roaming (SoR) message. The message may be transmitted to the terminal according to SMS (Short Message Service) or OTA (Over The Air) method.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a network load balancing method of a digital signal processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Herein, it is assumed that the operator A and the operator B are MVNE systems sharing the network, and the terminal exists in a position where the service area of the operator A and the service area of the operator B overlap and is the subscriber of the operator A.

Referring to FIG. 5, DU 130 collects network load information for each vendor (S500). To this end, the DU 130 can collect network load information from the signal processing server (signal processing server A) of the provider A and the signal processing server (signal processing server B) of the provider B, respectively.

The DU 130 sets roaming information according to the network load information of each provider and the inter-provider roaming policy (S510). For example, when the network load ratio of business A exceeds the threshold value, the network load ratio of business B is below the threshold value, and the roaming policy according to the network load is preset between business A and business B, It is possible to set information on the roaming direction indicating to roam from the network A to the network of the carrier B.

On the other hand, when the terminal, which is a subscriber of the carrier A, transmits a connection request (RRC) connection request message through the RU (RU A) and the signal processing server A of the carrier A (S520) It is determined whether the terminal is a roaming target terminal (S530). That is, since the terminal is the subscriber of the carrier A, it can decide to roam to the carrier B's network. At this time, the DU 130 may further consider the number of roaming grant terminals preset between the provider A and the provider B. For example, the DU 130 may determine that the terminal should roam to the network of the carrier B only when the number of terminals that have already roamed to the network of the carrier B is smaller than the number of roaming-allowed terminals. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a large number of terminals from roaming at once and generating a load on the network of the carrier B.

The DU 130 generates a SoR (Steer of Roaming) message for changing the priority of the PLMN list of the corresponding terminal (S540), and transmits the message to the terminal (S550 ). For example, the SoR message can be set so that the carrier B's network has the highest priority in the PLMN list of the corresponding terminal.

The terminal receiving the SoR message from the DU 130 performs the roaming procedure (S560). The terminal transmits a connection request (RRC) Connect Request message through the RU (RU B) and the signal processing server B of the provider B (S570), and the DU 130 transmits a connection request The radio resource is allocated to the terminal (S580).

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S530 not to roam the terminal (e.g., when the network load ratio of business A is less than or equal to the threshold value, if both the network load ratio of Business A and the network load ratio of Business B exceed the threshold, , The DU 130 allocates radio resources for the network of the carrier A to the mobile station (S590). In this case, if the number of the roaming terminals exceeds the threshold, ).

On the other hand, network load per provider may change over time. Therefore, after the terminal has a high network load of the subscribers, the network load may be lowered below the threshold value again after roaming to the network of another provider. Hereinafter, a network load balancing method according to the network load according to the time varying according to the provider will be described.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a network load balancing method of a digital signal processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Here, it is assumed that the operator A and the operator B are MVNE systems sharing the network, and the terminal exists in a position where the service area of the operator A and the service area of the operator B overlap and is a subscriber of the operator A, It is assumed that they are roaming in the network.

Referring to FIG. 6, the DU 130 collects network load information for each vendor (S600). To this end, the DU 130 can collect network load information from the signal processing server (signal processing server A) of the provider A and the signal processing server (signal processing server B) of the provider B, respectively. DU 130 may collect network load information for each operator according to a predetermined period.

The DU 130 updates the roaming information according to the network load information per provider and the inter-operator roaming policy (S610). For example, if the roaming direction that directs roaming from carrier A's network to carrier B's network is already set, but the carrier load factor of carrier A is below the threshold value, Information about the roaming direction can be released.

The DU 130 determines a roaming target terminal according to the updated roaming information (S620). For example, when the terminal is stored in the terminal information storage unit 430 as roaming in the network of the carrier B, it may decide to roam again to the network of the carrier A when the information on the roaming direction is released.

The DU 130 generates an SoR message for changing the priority of the PLMN list for the roaming target terminal (S630), and transmits the SoR message to the terminal (S640). For example, the SoR message can be set so that the carrier A's network has the highest priority in the PLMN list of the corresponding terminal.

The terminal receiving the SoR message from the DU 130 performs the roaming procedure (S650).

Accordingly, the terminal transmits a connection request (RRC) Connect Request message through the RU (RU A) and the signal processing server A of the provider A (S660), and the DU 130 transmits the connection request (S670).

In this manner, when the network load of the carrier A is equal to or greater than the threshold value a, and the network B of the carrier B and the threshold value b or less, the terminal DU, which is a subscriber of the carrier A, sends a connection request and DU can transmit the SoR message to the corresponding terminal . Accordingly, the terminal performs the roaming procedure with the network of the provider B, and can communicate using the network of the provider B.

On the other hand, when the network load of the business entity A is lowered to the threshold value c or less, DU can transmit the SoR message to the terminal stored as roaming to the business entity B's network. Then, the terminal performs the roaming procedure with the network of the carrier A and can communicate again using the carrier A's network.

Here, the values of a, b, and c may be set differently. In particular, a and c can be set in consideration of hysteresis.

In the present specification, the DU generates the SoR message and transmits it to the terminal. However, the SoR message may be generated by the OTA server. For example, DU may request the OTA server through the core network to generate a SoR message for the roaming target terminal.

Accordingly, it is possible to distribute the network load among the operators in an environment where a plurality of operators share the network, and it is possible to provide the terminal with a certain level of service quality.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are not implemented only by the apparatus and method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing the function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, It belongs to the scope of right.

Claims (15)

A method for distributing network load among service providers of a signal processing device in a mobile network service environment in which a plurality of providers provide services in the same area or a plurality of wireless providers overlap in coverage,
Collecting network load information per provider,
Setting roaming information in consideration of the network load information per provider and a roaming policy preset between providers,
Receiving a connection request from the terminal, and
Processing the connection request of the terminal based on the roaming information
/ RTI >
Wherein the setting step comprises:
And setting roaming from the network of the first business entity to the network of the second business entity when the network load of the first business entity is equal to or greater than a threshold value and the roaming policy is set in advance between the first business entity and the second business entity A method of network load balancing between providers. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein processing the connection request comprises:
Setting the terminal to connect to the network of the second provider when the terminal is a subscriber of the first provider,
To-network load balancing method. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein processing the connection request comprises:
Generating a Steer of Roaming (SoR) message that changes the priority of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list so that the network of the second provider has a higher rank than the network of the first provider; and
Transmitting the SoR message to the MS
To-network load balancing method. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein processing the connection request comprises:
(Over the Air) server to generate a Steer of Roaming (SoR) message that changes the priority of the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list so that the network of the second provider has a higher rank than the network of the first provider , ≪ / RTI >
Transmitting an SoR message generated by the OTA server to the MS;
To-network load balancing method. The method according to claim 1,
In the processing of the connection request,
Comparing the number of terminals already roaming in the network of the second business entity with the number of roaming allowing terminals previously set by the second business entity when the terminal is a subscriber of the first business entity,
Setting the terminal to connect to the network of the second provider when the number of the already roaming terminals does not exceed the number of the roaming-
To-network load balancing method. In a mobile network service environment in which a plurality of operators provide services in the same area or a plurality of operators have overlapping wireless coverage,
A load information collecting unit for collecting network load information per provider,
A roaming determination unit for setting roaming information in consideration of the network load information per provider and a roaming policy preset between providers, and determining a roaming target terminal based on the roaming information; and
A message generating unit for generating a message for changing a priority of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list for the roaming target terminal,
/ RTI >
The roaming-
A signal for setting roaming information for roaming from the network of the first business entity to the network of the second business entity when the network load of the first business entity is equal to or greater than a threshold value and the roaming policy is preset between the first business entity and the second business entity, Processing device. delete 8. The method of claim 7,
The roaming-
And determines the terminal to be a roaming target terminal when the terminal transmitting the connection request is a subscriber of the first business. 8. The method of claim 7,
The roaming determination unit
A roaming policy storage unit for storing a predetermined roaming policy among providers,
A roaming information setting unit for setting roaming information in consideration of the network load information by the provider and the roaming policy, and
And a roaming determination unit that determines a roaming target terminal in consideration of the roaming information. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the roaming determination unit further considers the number of roaming-allowed terminals that are preset between providers. 11. The method of claim 10,
The roaming determination unit
And a terminal information storage unit for storing information on a roaming target terminal. A method for distributing network load among service providers of a signal processing device in a mobile network service environment in which a plurality of providers provide services in the same area or a plurality of wireless providers overlap in coverage,
Collecting network load information per provider,
Setting roaming information in consideration of the network load information per provider and a roaming policy preset between providers,
Determining a roaming target terminal based on the roaming information, and
And generating a message for changing a priority of a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) list for the roaming target terminal,
Wherein the setting step comprises:
Setting roaming information so as to roam from the network of the second provider to the network of the first provider when the network load of the first provider is less than or equal to a threshold value and the roaming policy is preset between the first provider and the second provider, To-network load balancing method. delete 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the roaming target terminal is a terminal that is roaming in the network of the second business entity among the terminals of the first business entity.

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