KR102206887B1 - Home Subscriber Server, CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND RECORDING MEDIUM FOR RECORDING PROGRAM FOR EXECUTING THE CONTROL METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a home subscriber server (HSS), a control method thereof, and a recording medium for executing the control method. Information on the call connection setup support device (hereinafter, the first call connection setup support device) of the first communication network corresponding to a hybrid terminal capable of accessing a heterogeneous communication network including a first communication network and a second communication network according to the present invention, and the Provides information on a call connection setup support device of a second communication network (hereinafter, a second call connection setup support device), and sets the first communication network to a higher priority than the second communication network to connect a call to the hybrid terminal The control method of the HSS (Home Subscriber Server), which provides information on the first call connection setup support device to the calling party in priority over information on the second call connection setup support device when requested Determining whether or not at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network set to have a higher priority when a call connection request signal to the called terminal is received; When at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network is in a failure state as a result of the determination in the step, information on the second call connection setup support device is extracted and transmitted to the calling party. It characterized in that it comprises a step.

Description

HSS (Home Subscriber Server) and its control method and recording medium for executing the control method {Home Subscriber Server, CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND RECORDING MEDIUM FOR RECORDING PROGRAM FOR EXECUTING THE CONTROL METHOD}

The present invention relates to an HSS (Home Subscriber Server), a control method thereof, and a recording medium for executing the control method, and more particularly, to determine whether a failure occurs in a call processing entity matched to a hybrid called terminal, and The present invention relates to an HSS that provides information on a call connection setup support device according to a determination result, a control method thereof, and a recording medium for executing the control method.

Recently, mobile communication networks have been further developed in 3G mobile communication, and LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication networks are also being used.

LTE is an acronym for Long Term Evolution, and it is a name given in the sense of a technology that'long-term evolution' of 3G mobile communication (3G). LTE is based on the standard'Release 8', which was confirmed in December 2008 by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), a wireless standardization organization.

However, in the process of transitioning from 3G to LTE, many terminals were configured to support both 3G and LTE communications. As such, terminals that simultaneously support heterogeneous communication networks are called hybrid terminals.

For connection of a call, the communication network may be equipped with a HSS (Home Subscriber Server), which is a kind of database that stores subscriber information. When an incoming signal to a hybrid terminal is detected, the HSS is used to connect to the LTE communication network. Session Control Function) information or MSC (Mobile Switching Center) information of the called party for connecting to a 3G communication network (eg, a CDMA communication network) may be provided to the calling party. At this time, in order to prioritize communication to the LTE network when an incoming signal to the hybrid terminal is detected, the HSS provides CSCF information on the destination side prior to the MSC information on the destination side to the calling side.

A schematic sequence of a process in which a call is connected by the HSS providing the called party CSCF information according to the request of the calling terminal is as shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, UE (User Equipment) refers to a mobile communication terminal used by a mobile communication subscriber, and eNodeB (Evolved Node B) is a type of base station that provides a wireless connection between the UE and the LTE network, and SP-GW (SERVING Gateway) ,PDN Gateway) is a device that allocates an IP address to a terminal and allows each UE to connect to an IP-based communication network such as an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) network or the Internet. In particular, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) is a device that authenticates a UE as a kind of switching device, manages an EPS bearer, and manages a subscriber's mobility state, and is a key device for call processing.

In addition, CSCF (Call Session Control Function) is a device that supports call connection, that is, a device that supports call connection setup, and functions that perform differently depending on the network in which the subscriber is located. It can be logically classified into CSCF (P-CSCF), Interrogating (I-CSCF), and Serving CSCF (S-CSCF). Since the functional configuration and function itself of the CSCF are widely known, a more detailed description will be omitted.

When the calling terminal, which has acquired the communication channel through communication with the calling party's MME, transmits the INVITE message corresponding to the call connection signal to the calling party's Call State Control Function (CSCF) via SP-GW (step S1), the calling party's CSCF Transmits the location request signal (LIR signal) of the called terminal to the HSS (step S3), and the HSS transmits the location information (LIA signal) of the called terminal to the CSCF (step S3), the CSCF sends the location information of the called terminal. As a basis, an INVITE message is transmitted to the called party CSCF (step S5).

At this time, if the called party's CSCF operates normally in the called party's MME, it transmits the INVITE message to the called terminal via the called party's SP-GW (step S7), and after that, the calling terminal and the called terminal are called according to the response of the called terminal. A call channel is established between the terminals, and the caller and the called party can talk to each other.

1 shows a process in which VoLTE-VoLTE communication is successfully performed between a calling terminal supporting VoLTE and a called terminal supporting VoLTE and legacy communication (eg, a CDMA communication network).

However, if a problem occurs in the called-side MME, the normal call connection process as shown in FIG. 1 is not performed. This process is shown in FIG. 2.

That is, when a malfunction occurs in the called MME, the CSCF of the called party cannot communicate with the called terminal normally via the called SP-GW or the like. That is, step S37 in FIG. 2 does not proceed normally, and thus, a subsequent process for call connection as shown in FIG. 1 cannot proceed any more.

However, in the case of a malfunction in the MME of the called party, since there has not been a technology to confirm this in advance, as shown in Fig. 2, it is not until the time when the CSCF on the called party transmits the INVITE message to the called terminal via the called SP-GW. Only I was able to find the problem that the INVITE message was not transmitted properly.

In other words, since the malfunction status of the called MME could not be confirmed in advance, the signal transmission process from the calling party CSCF to the called party SP-GW was performed meaninglessly.

This in turn causes a delay in a call connection or a decrease in a call connection success rate, and this problem eventually causes dissatisfaction with subscribers.

Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0053865

The present invention was conceived to solve the above-described conventional problem, and HSS and its control so that a call connection is quickly made to the called subscriber even when a malfunction occurs in the MME corresponding to the call processing entity corresponding to the called subscriber. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium for executing the method and its control method.

In order to achieve the above object, a call connection setup support device of the first communication network corresponding to a hybrid terminal capable of accessing a heterogeneous communication network including a first communication network and a second communication network according to the present invention (hereinafter, the first call connection setup support Device) and information on a call connection setup support device (hereinafter, referred to as a second call connection setup support device) of the second communication network corresponding to the hybrid terminal, and the first communication network is more than the second communication network. When a call connection request is made to the hybrid terminal by setting a high priority, an HSS that provides information on the first call connection setup support device to the calling party in priority over information on the second call connection setup support device ( Home Subscriber Server) comprises: a receiver for receiving a call connection request signal from a calling party to a called terminal; A failure determination unit that determines whether at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network set with a high priority when a call connection request signal to the hybrid called terminal is received by the receiver Wow; When at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network is in a failure state as a result of the determination of the failure determination unit, information on the second call connection setup support device is extracted and transmitted to the calling party. It is configured to include an information providing unit.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, a call connection setup support device of the first communication network corresponding to a hybrid terminal capable of accessing a heterogeneous communication network including the first communication network and the second communication network according to the present invention (hereinafter, the first call connection Setup support device) and information on a call connection setup support device (hereinafter, referred to as a second call connection setup support device) of the second communication network, and prioritizes the first communication network higher than the second communication network HSS (Home Subscriber Server) providing information on the first call connection setup support device to the calling party in preference to information on the second call connection setup support device when there is a call connection request to the hybrid terminal by setting In the control method of, when receiving a call connection request signal from a calling party to a hybrid called terminal, whether or not at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network set with a high priority is failed. Determining; When at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid destination terminal of the first communication network is in a failure state as a result of the determination in the step, information on the second call connection setup support device is extracted and transmitted to the calling party. It is made including steps.

As described above, according to the present invention, even when a failure occurs in the called MME corresponding to the hybrid terminal corresponding to the called terminal, a call can be connected to the 3G network by processing of the HSS.

At this time, before the signal transmission process from the calling party CSCF to the called party SP-GW is performed, the HSS can determine a failure state of the MME in advance, so that a quick call connection and a call success rate can be increased.

1 is a process in which calls are normally connected according to a conventional method,
2 is a process in which calls are not normally connected according to a conventional method,
3 is a schematic configuration diagram of an entire communication system including an HSS according to an embodiment of the present invention,
4 is a functional block diagram of the HSS of FIG. 3,
5 is a control flow diagram of an HSS according to an embodiment of the present invention,
6 is a control flow diagram of an overall communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention compared to FIG. 2.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, each embodiment according to the present invention is only one example for aiding understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. In particular, the present invention may be configured with a combination of at least one or more of individual configurations, individual functions, or individual steps included in each embodiment.

A schematic configuration of an entire communication system including a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is as shown in FIG. 3.

As shown in the figure, the calling party 200 connects a call by receiving information on the called party 300 from the HSS 100.

A brief description of each component is as follows.

First, the originating side 200 includes the originating terminal 210, the eNB 220, the MME 230, the SP-GW 240, and the CSCF 250.

Components included in the calling party 200 are shown for convenience of description, and some of the known components required for an actual call are omitted.

The calling terminal 210 is a terminal operated by a user making a call, and corresponds to a terminal capable of making a call with a counterpart, such as a feature phone, a smart phone, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the calling terminal 210 is connected to a 4G (4 generation) communication network.

The originating eNB 220 refers to an eNode B, and provides a wireless communication channel to the originating terminal 210 to enable wireless communication, and corresponds to a kind of base station.

The calling party's Mobility Management Entity (MME) 240 authenticates the user terminal, that is, the calling terminal 210, and manages the EPS bearer, which is a kind of logical tunnel to enable the user terminal to perform IP-based communication. It is (created, changed, released) and manages the mobility state of a subscriber, and is a key entity for call processing.

The originating SP-GW 230 refers to a Serving Gateway (SGW) and a PDN Gateway (PGW), where SGW plays an anchoring role during handover between eNBs, that is, eNB1 with one S-GW as the axis. Handover of the communication terminal occurs from the to eNB2.

The PGW allocates an IP address to the communication terminal (that is, the calling terminal 210 in this embodiment), performs anchoring on S-GWs when handover occurs, and applies different QoS policies for each communication terminal (first Performs an action such as ranking and bandwidth control).

The calling party CSCF (Call Session Control Function) 250 is to perform SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based call control and session handling functions, and according to the function, P-CSCF (Proxy-CSCF), I-CSCF (Interrogating) -CSCF), S-CSCF (Serving-CSCF), etc., but the individual configurations of these CSCFs are only known ones, a more detailed description will be omitted.

When the calling party CSCF 250 receives a call connection request signal (aka INVITE signal) according to the request of the calling terminal 210, it transmits a call connection request signal (aka LIR: Location Information Request signal) to the HSS 100 , It receives a response signal accordingly (aka LIA: Location Information Answer signal), and performs a function of connecting to the called party 300 by using the information included in the response signal.

For example, when the calling party CSCF 250 receives information on the called party CSCF 350 from the HSS 100, the call connection request signal is transmitted to the called party CSCF 350 using the called party CSCF 350 information. And, when the called party 300 MSC (Mobile Switching Center) 380 information is received from the HSS 100, the called party 300 MSC 380 is sent to the called party 300 using the MSC 380 information. Causes a call connection request signal to be transmitted.

Since the function of the CSCF corresponds to a known technology, a more detailed description is omitted.

Next, looking at the called party 300, the called party 300 is a component of the 4G communication network to which the called terminal 310 and the called terminal 310 are connected, and includes eNB, MME, SP-GW, and CSCF. In addition, as a component of the 3G communication network to which the destination terminal 310 is connected, the MSC 380, the BSC 370, and the BTS 360 are included.

Components included in the called party 300 are shown for convenience of description, and some of the known components required for an actual call have been omitted.

The called terminal 310 is a communication terminal capable of making a call with a counterpart, such as the calling terminal 210, and may be composed of a feature phone, a smart phone, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. In this embodiment, the called terminal 310 As an example, is a hybrid terminal capable of accessing both a 4G communication network and a 3G communication network.

Since the components of the 4G communication network included in the called party 300 correspond to the components described in the calling party 200, redundant descriptions are omitted.

Among the components included in the 3G communication network of the called party 300, the BTS (Base Transceiver Station) 360 is wirelessly connected to the communication terminal, that is, the called terminal 310, and controls the called phone and makes a call through a wireless station. It connects channels and corresponds to a kind of base station.

The Base Station Controller (BSC) 370 is a base station controller, which connects and controls several base stations and operates in conjunction with a mobile communication switch, and the MSC (Mobile Switching Center) 380 is a core equipment of a communication network. It controls calls and supplementary services, sets up call routes, and provides connection functions with various other equipment and external networks.

The HSS 100 is a kind of database including information of each subscriber, and particularly includes information on a call connection setup support device of each communication network (LTE network, legacy network). Here, the call connection setup support device refers to a device that supports connection establishment of a corresponding call during a call connection process, and may correspond to, for example, the CSCF of the IMS network or the MSC 380 of the legacy network.

At this time, the HSS 100 sets the LTE network to a higher priority than the legacy network, and when there is a call connection request to the destination terminal 310, which is a hybrid terminal, CSCF information corresponding to the LTE network is transmitted to the MSC 380 information corresponding to the legacy network. Prior to this, the function provided to the calling party 200 is performed.

The functions of the HSS 100 up to this point correspond to a known technology. Hereinafter, a function block of FIG. 4 is referred to in order to describe the functions of the HSS 100 that are distinguished from the prior art.

As shown in the figure, the HSS 100 may include a receiving unit 110, a failure determining unit 120, an information providing unit 130, and a storage unit 140.

The storage unit 140 stores information on each subscriber, for example, call connection setup support device information (CSCF information) for a first communication network (LTE network) and a call connection for a second communication network (legacy network). Setup support device information (MSC 380 information) is stored. Furthermore, status information of a call processing entity (for example, an MME) of the first communication network or a network address for communication may be stored in the storage unit 140.

The receiving unit 110 performs a function of receiving a call connection request signal from the calling party 200 to the called terminal 310. Here, the call connection signal may correspond to a Location Information Request (LIR) message according to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).

When the call connection request signal to the hybrid destination terminal 310 is received by the reception unit 110, the failure determination unit 120 transmits a call processing entity of the first communication network with a high priority, for example, to the hybrid destination terminal 310. It performs a function of determining whether at least one of the call processing entities of the matched LTE network has a failure. As an example, the failure determination unit 120 may determine whether the called MME 330 has failed among the components of the first communication network corresponding to the called terminal 310.

When a failure such as a malfunction occurs in the called MME 330, normal communication with the called party 300 cannot be performed. 330) is to determine whether there is a problem.

At this time, the failure determination unit 120 may exchange a message with the call processing entity matched to the hybrid destination terminal 310 in order to determine whether the call processing entity matched to the hybrid destination terminal 310 has a failure. For example, the failure determination unit 120 may determine whether the called-side MME 330 has a failure through exchange of signals or messages with the called-side MME 330.

As another example, the failure determination unit 120 may determine whether the MME has a failure by examining a flag setting of the destination MME 330 in the storage unit 140. Here, the flag for whether the called-side MME 330 has a failure may be set according to a manual input by the HSS 100 administrator or the like.

The information providing unit 130 connects a call corresponding to the legacy network when at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid terminating terminal 310 of the first communication network as a result of the determination by the failure determination unit 120 is in a failure state. It performs a function of extracting information on the setup support device (eg, MSC 380) and transmitting it to the calling party 200.

Hereinafter, a control process of the HSS 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

When a call connection request signal is received from the calling party 200 (step S41), the HSS 100 determines whether or not the call processing entity provided in the high-priority communication network, that is, the LTE network, has a failure (step S43). . In this embodiment, the HSS 100 determines whether the called-side MME 330 provided in the LTE network has a failure.

As a result of the determination, if the called-side MME 330 is not in a failure state (step S45), information on the called-side CSCF 350 only for LTE communication corresponding to the high-priority communication network (for example, the called-side CSCF ( 350) A network address, etc.) is extracted (step S47) and transmitted to the originating party 200 (step S51).

As a result of the determination, if the called MME 330 is in a failure state (step S45), the called party of the legacy communication network (e.g., 3G communication network or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communication network, etc.) corresponding to the communication network with low priority (300) Information on the MSC 380 (for example, the called party 300, the MSC 380 network address, etc.) is extracted (step S49) and transmitted to the calling party 200 (step S51).

6 illustrates a control flow of the entire communication network including the HSS 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

That is, in FIG. 6, the destination terminal (MS) 310 is a hybrid terminal supporting 4G and CDMA at the same time, and in the HSS 100, the 4G communication network has a higher priority than the CDMA communication network for the destination terminal (MS). Is assumed.

In this state, when the calling terminal (UE) 210 transmits a call connection request signal, that is, an INVITE signal, via the calling party 200's communication network (4G) (step S61), the calling party CSCF 250 transmits an LIR signal, that is, , The destination terminal 310 transmits a location request signal to the HSS 100 (step S63).

HSS (100) receiving the LIR signal from the calling-side CSCF (250) determines whether or not a failure of the called-side MME (330), which is a call processing entity of the called party (300) 4G network, which has a high priority (step S65). .

For example, the HSS (100) can determine whether or not a failure of the MME has occurred by direct communication with the MME or through indirect communication through another device, and by checking the failure flag of the MME registered by the administrator, the failure of the MME It can be determined whether or not it occurs.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the called-side MME 330 is in a failure state.

The HSS 100 transmits an LIA signal including information on the called party 300 and MSC 380 required for communication of the CDMA network to the calling party CSCF 250 because the MME 330 of the 4G network is in a failure state. Transfer (step S67).

In the subsequent process, that is, the calling party CSCF (250) is the BGCF (Breakout Gateway Control Function), the called party (300) MGW (Media Gateway Control Function), MSC (Mobile Switching Center) (380), the CDMA network called ( 300) A process in which a call connection request signal is transmitted to the called terminal 310 via a base station (BTS 360) (steps S69 to S74), and eventually a call is connected between the calling terminal 210 and the called terminal 310 (Step S75 to Step S89) is merely a known technique, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, it is important that the HSS 100 determines whether or not a failure of the called MME 330 occurs in advance at the time when a call connection request signal is received from the calling party 200, and the called MME 330 has a failure. In the case of status, information about the called party (300) MSC (380) information (a device supporting call connection setup of a CDMA network) instead of the called party's CSCF (350) information (a device supporting call connection setup of a 4G network) is sent to the calling party (200). ).

When FIG. 6 is compared with FIG. 2, the difference from the conventional invention can be clearly seen.

On the other hand, it goes without saying that the process of performing each of the above-described embodiments may be performed by a program stored in a predetermined recording medium (eg, computer-readable).

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but can be implemented by various modifications and modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention. It will be apparent that such modifications and modifications are included in the present invention if they fall within the appended claims.

Particularly, in the above-described embodiment, the call connection setup support device is defined as CSCF or MSC, but any device that supports call connection establishment, such as MME, MGW, and BGCF, may correspond.

In addition, although the call processing entity is also an MME as an example, any component that plays an essential role in order to make a call between terminals can be included in the call processing entity.

100: HSS 200: calling party
300: called party 110: receiver
120: disability determination unit 130: information providing unit
140: storage unit 210: calling terminal
220: source eNB 230: source SP-GW
240: calling party MME 250: calling party CSCF
310: called terminal 320: called eNB
330: called party MME 340: called party SP-GW
350: called party CSCF 360: BTS
370: BSC 380: MSC

Claims (11)

Information on the call connection setup support device (hereinafter, the first call connection setup support device) of the first communication network corresponding to a hybrid terminal capable of accessing a heterogeneous communication network including a first communication network and a second communication network, and When information on a call connection setup support device (hereinafter, a second call connection setup support device) is provided, and a call connection request to the hybrid terminal is made by setting the first communication network to a higher priority than the second communication network In the HSS (Home Subscriber Server) control method for providing information on the first call connection setup support device to a calling party in priority over information on the second call connection setup support device,
(a) When receiving a call connection request signal from the calling party to the hybrid called terminal, call connection whether at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network with the higher priority Determining beforehand;
(b) When at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid destination terminal of the first communication network is in a failure state as a result of the determination in step (a), information on the second call connection setup support device is extracted And transmitting it to the calling party. The method of claim 1,
The call connection request signal corresponds to a Location Information Request (LIR) message according to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The first call connection setup support device is a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, and the second call connection setup support device is an MSC (Mobile Switching Center) of a legacy network. Control method. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The HSS control method, characterized in that the call processing entity of the first communication network is a Mobility Management Entity (MME) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The HSS, further comprising the step of exchanging a message with the call processing entity matched to the hybrid terminating terminal to determine whether the call processing entity matched to the hybrid terminating terminal in step (a) has failed. Control method. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method of claim 1 or 2 is recorded. Information on a call connection setup support device (hereinafter, referred to as a first call connection setup support device) of the first communication network corresponding to a hybrid terminal capable of accessing a heterogeneous communication network including a first communication network and a second communication network, and corresponding to the hybrid terminal It includes information on a call connection setup support device (hereinafter, a second call connection setup support device) of the second communication network, and sets the first communication network to a higher priority than the second communication network, In the HSS (Home Subscriber Server) for providing information on the first call connection setup support device to a calling party in preference to information on the second call connection setup support device when there is a call connection request,
A receiver configured to receive a call connection request signal from the calling party to the called terminal;
When a call connection request signal to the hybrid destination terminal is received by the receiver, it is determined before call connection whether at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid destination terminal of the first communication network with the higher priority is received. A disability determination unit to determine;
When at least one of the call processing entities matched with the hybrid called terminal of the first communication network is in a failure state as a result of the determination of the failure determination unit, information on the second call connection setup support device is extracted and transmitted to the calling party. HSS, characterized in that it comprises an information providing unit. The method of claim 7,
The HSS, characterized in that the call connection request signal corresponds to a Location Information Request (LIR) message according to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). The method according to claim 7 or 8,
The first call connection setup support device is a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network, and the second call connection setup support device is an MSC (Mobile Switching Center) of a legacy network. . The method according to claim 7 or 8,
HSS, characterized in that the call processing entity of the first communication network is a Mobility Management Entity (MME) of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. The method according to claim 7 or 8,
The HSS, wherein the failure determination unit exchanges a message with a call processing entity matched to the hybrid destination terminal to determine whether the call processing entity matched to the hybrid destination terminal has a failure.

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