KR20020093549A - Control management method for integrating network element in wireless telecommunication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A control management method for unifying network elements in a wireless communication system is provided to unitedly accommodate the network elements such as a PCF(Packet Control Function) and a PDSN(Packet Data Service Node) function and accommodate a simple IP agent function and a link layer termination function of a mobile terminal in the PCF. CONSTITUTION: An NAI is extracted from a received simple IP registration request message, and it is judged whether a corresponding subscriber NAI is authenticated(402). If the NAI is not authenticated, an authentication message is transmitted to an AAA(Authorization Authentication Accounting) server(403). When an authentication acknowledgement message is received from the AAA server, the authentication acknowledgement is updated in database(404). After the authentication is completed, an IP(Internet Protocol) negotiation is performed to assign an IP address(405). A PPP(Point-to-Point Protocol) authentication is terminated(406).

Description

Control management method for integrating network elements in a wireless communication system {Control management method for integrating network element in wireless telecommunication system}

Present invention to perform a data service, etc. Network ^{3GPP2 (3 rd Generation Partnership Projects-} 2) IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service) next-generation mobile communication network based integrated Internet Protocol (ALL-IP), such as Control for integrating network elements such as the Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN) function used for this purpose and the Packet Control Function (PCF) used in the Radio Access Network (RAN). A management method and a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the method.

1 is a configuration example of a conventional network, ^{3GPP2 (3 rd Generation Partnership Projects-} 2) Fig.

Radio Access Network (RAN) 12 is composed of a Base Station Controller (BSC) and a Base Station Transceiver Subsystem (BTS), and a Visitor Location Register (VLR) ( 13) and a home location register (HLR) 14 provides mobility management and authentication of a mobile station (MS) 11.

When the basic authentication of the data call is completed, the radio access network (RAN) 12 establishes a virtual connection for the packet data service node (PDSN) 16 and the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) protocol.

The Packet Data Service Node (PDSN) 16 establishes a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection with the MS 11 and establishes a Remote Authentication Dial In service. User service) transmits subscriber authentication and billing information through server.

When providing a mobile IP service, the packet data service node (PDSN) 16 performs a foreign agent (FA) function, and is a home agent (HA) 15 existing in the home network of the mobile station IP address. ) Performs functions such as location information management and tunnel setup for mobile IP.

As such, the conventional packet control function (PCF) is an interworking system of a radio access network (RAN) 12 for interworking with a packet network, and the packet data service node (PDSN) 16 is a radio access network (RAN) ( 12) It functions as an access node for connecting the data subscriber connected through the packet network to the packet network, and the radio access network (RAN) 12 and the packet network are completely separated.

However, in the future, 3GPP2 network or ALL-IP network is evolving the whole into one IP network, and existing base station controller (BSC), packet control function (PCF) and packet data service node (PDSN) are connected to one wireless network. It is viewed as a system called a gateway device (WAG: Wireless Access Gateway). Accordingly, access nodes of data subscribers are increasingly being moved to the lower level of the network as they are integrated into a single wireless access gateway (WAG).

In particular, in the IMT-2000 network and the All-IP network structure being standardized in 3GPP2, the system of the packet control function (PCF) and the packet data service node (PDSN), as shown in Figs. exist.

The packet control function (PCF) may exist inside a base station controller (BSC) system or may be implemented as a separate system. However, most developers implement an independent system to provide effective mobility in a mobile network.

The packet control function (PCF) is an IP protocol processing function for processing data packets, a packet data processing function and an "RP Interface" for this, that is, an interface between a radio access network (RAN) and a packet data network. It provides a virtual link connection for data transmission on the RP interface and tunneling function through GRE protocol encapsulation and decapsulation of user data. Here, the RP interface is a connection method between the radio access network (RAN) and the packet data network (PDN) for connecting the data of the mobile terminal (MS) transmitted from the radio access network (RAN) to the packet data service node (PDSN).

In addition, the packet control function (PCF) performs a handoff processing function, a packet data charging information transfer function, and a packet data buffering function occurring on the RP interface.

In addition, the packet control function (PCF) is a temporary storage that allows the transmission of the link layer packets to be delivered to the mobile terminal (MS) received from the packet data service node (PDSN) over the air interface (Air Interface) ( Buffer) and packet segmentation function.

Meanwhile, the packet data service node (PDSN) is a service node of an IP-based packet network that provides a high speed packet data service. The packet data service node (PDSN) provides mobility of packet data services and various data related protocol processing functions. In addition, IKE (Internet Key Exchange) RADIUS processing functions (key, SPI distribution, billing function), mobile IP function, IP Security processing functions, etc. are performed.

In addition, the packet data service node PDSN performs PPP / GRE protocol processing to process packets received from the packet control function (PCF).

When the packet control function (PCF) and the packet data service node (PDSN) exist in different systems, there are the following problems.

First, in the service of the user packet of the mobile terminal (MS), since the processing thereof passes through the packet control function (PCF) and the packet data service node (PDSN), there is a problem of increasing delay for processing thereof. have. That is, in the transmission of the user packet of the mobile station MS, the delay is increased compared to the integrated system. This is because each time it goes through the network element, it goes through a Store and Forward process.

Second, since the current packet data service node (PDSN) handles both control and bearer, in case of a failure, all session-related information is lost and resources that occur during hand-off are lost. There is an inefficient problem of double redundant management.

Third, there is an inefficient problem of data transmission due to header overlap of GRE / PPP in the RP interface. In particular, when the connection layer end of the mobile terminal (MS) is in the packet data service node (PDSN) in the process of evolving to IPv6 (HA) in the future, the RP interface must adhere to the tunneling method of IPv4 (GFA). Therefore, in the future evolution to IPv6, it is reasonable to handle the connection layer protocol of the mobile terminal (MS) of the packet data service node (PDSN) in the packet control function (PCF).

As described above, in order to interwork with a radio access network (RAN) and an IP network in a 3GPP2 IMT-2000 network, a packet control function (PCF) is required in a radio access network (RAN), and a packet data service node (PDSN) is provided in an IP network. Was required. Therefore, in order to provide efficient network structure and data service function in IMT-2000 network and ALL-IP network, a control management plan that can integrate packet control function (PCF) and packet data service node (PDSN) functions is essential. Required.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above problems, packet control function (PCF) and to provide an efficient network structure and data service functions in the next generation mobile communication network-based integrated Internet Protocol (ALL-IP) network, etc. A control management method and method for integrating and accommodating network elements such as a packet data service node (PDSN) function, in particular for accommodating a simple IP agent function of a PDSN and a link layer termination function of a mobile terminal in a PCF. It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable recording medium that records a program for realization.

1 is a configuration example of a conventional network, ^{3GPP2 (3 rd Generation Partnership Projects-} 2) Fig.

2 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a 3GPP2 Integrated Internet Protocol (ALL-IP) network to which the present invention is applied.

3 is an exemplary protocol configuration of a packet control function (PCF) having a simple IP function according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a control management method according to the present invention;

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

201: Wireless Access Gateway (WAG) 202: Authorization / Authentication / Charging (AAA) Security Manager

203: home location register (HLR) 204: existing service support function

205: location server 206: media gateway device

207: media gateway device control function unit 208: media resource function unit

209: Mobile IP Home Agent 210: Mobility Manager

211: Policy Manager 212: Resource Manager

213: roaming signal gateway device 214: service generation environment function

215: service manager 216: session manager

217: relay signal gateway device 218: home subscriber server

The present invention for achieving the above object, in the control management method for network element integration in the integrated Internet Protocol (ALL-IP) network based on the next-generation mobile communication network, packet control for interworking a radio access network (RAN) to a packet network A packet data service node (hereinafter referred to as "PDSN") that performs a function (hereinafter referred to as "PCF") and a connection node for connecting a data subscriber connected through the radio access network (RAN) to the packet network. A first step of integrating the functions into one, but incorporating the simple IP agent function of the PDSN and the link layer termination function of the mobile terminal into the PCF when providing a simple Internet protocol (hereinafter referred to as "simple IP") service; A second step of, when the simple IP registration request is received from the mobile terminal, a simple IP agent function processing unit of the PCF extracts subscriber identification information from the simple IP registration request message and searches for existing authentication in a database; A third step of immediately allocating an IP address without performing authentication again according to the search result of the second step; And a fourth step of transmitting an authentication message to the authentication server upon initial authentication, updating the fact of authentication completion in the database upon completion of authentication from the authentication server, and assigning an IP address according to the search result of the second step. Characterized in that comprises a.

In addition, the present invention provides a packet control function for interworking a radio access network (RAN) to a packet network in a communication system having a processor for control management for network element integration in an integrated internet protocol (ALL-IP) network , A packet data service node (hereinafter referred to as "PDSN") that functions as a connection node for connecting a data subscriber connected through the radio access network (RAN) to the packet network. A first function of integrating a single internet protocol (hereinafter, referred to as a "simple IP") service and integrating a simple IP agent function of the PDSN and a link layer termination function of a mobile terminal into the PCF; A second function of extracting subscriber identification information from the simple IP registration request message by the simple IP agent function processing unit of the PCF when searching for a simple IP registration from the mobile terminal; A third function of immediately allocating an IP address without performing authentication again according to a search result of the second function; And a fourth function of transmitting an authentication message to an authentication server upon initial authentication, updating the fact of authentication completion in the database upon completion of authentication from the authentication server, and assigning an IP address according to the search result of the second function. A computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the present invention is provided.

The present invention provides a simple IP agent function of a PDSN and a link layer termination function of a mobile terminal (MS) in a PCF in a system in which an existing packet control function (PCF) and a packet data service node (PDSN) function are independent. It reduces the delay incurred during data transmission and separates the control plane into separate network elements, reducing the burden on bearers and controls handled by the PDSN, while reducing the burden on control. Service could be provided.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is an exemplary configuration diagram of a 3GPP2 integrated internet protocol (ALL-IP) network to which the present invention is applied.

The wireless access gateway device (WAG) 201 is for interworking the existing base station controller (BSC), packet control function (PCF), packet data service node (PDSN) function, etc. into a single system, a radio controller, voice and data Perform gateway functions and more.

A base station controller (BSC) controls and manages one or more base stations (BTSs), and performs traffic and signaling, mobility management, and mobile terminal (MS) management related to call processing. Radio access network (RAN) is composed of a base station controller (BSC) and a base station (BTS).

The packet control function (PCF) may exist inside a base station controller (BSC) system or may be implemented as a separate system outside. The packet control function (PCF) may include data of a mobile terminal (MS) transmitted from a radio access network (RAN). PDSN).

The packet data service node (PDSN) performs an external agent (FA) function, delivers incoming and outgoing packets for packet data of the mobile station (MS) to an appropriate path, and establishes and manages a connection layer protocol of the mobile terminal (MS). Plays an end role.

Authorization / Authentication / Charging (AAA) The security manager 202 provides Internet protocol functions that support authentication, authorization, and billing functions.

The home location register (HLR) 203 has information such as subscriber information, IP priority, resource availability for internal domain (Interdomain) services, and the like.

The legacy service support unit 204 manages functions such as call processing, mobility management, resource management, security management, and service management, which were provided by the existing line-type wireless network.

The location server 205 has location information, a function such as a mobile location center, and a function of position measurement equipment (PDE).

The media gateway 206 performs functions such as protocol and address translation when the user's data is transferred to a public data network or another network.

The media gateway control function 207 controls and manages the media gateway devices 206.

The media resource function 208 performs a management function of allocating / releasing resources of the media gateway devices 206.

The Mobile IP Home Agent 209 manages the IP address of the external agent as a table of the location information on the mobile IP, and transfers the transmission data to the subscriber through tunnel and encryption as necessary. Perform.

The mobility manager 210 performs a handoff management function between the radio access gateway devices 201 or between networks.

The Policy Manager 211 manages policy data and rules and allows interaction with various policies.

The resource manager 212 manages resources necessary to provide a service to a network user.

The roaming signaling gateway 213 performs a function of converting packet signals into a signaling scheme of a circuit switched network or a signaling scheme of a circuit switched network into packet signals.

The service creation environment function unit 214 provides an operator with an environment in which new services and application services can be created.

The service manager 215 manages network authentication and all voice and data service logic.

Session Manager 216 establishes and manages sessions, states, and handoffs across multiple networks.

The trunk signal gateway 217 performs a function of converting the signaling method of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the signaling method of the core network.

A home subscriber server (HSS) 218 includes at least network elements such as AAA, HLR, EIR, LOC, UMS, and the like.

The Equipment Identity Register (EIR) is a database (DB) for device information.

The location related information DB (LOC) provides location related information required by the location server 205.

The Policy Repository stores data on subscribers, multimedia usage policies, quality of service, validity time and route.

The protocol structure for accommodating the Simple IP Agent function of the Packet Data Service Node (PDSN) in the Packet Control Function (PCF) is shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) processing unit 304, an Internet Protocol (IP) processing unit 305, an Internet Protocol encryption (IPsec) unit 309, and an end-to-end protocol ( The PPP: Point to Point Protocol (PPP) processing unit 306 conforms to a protocol defined by the Internet Engineer Task Force (IETF), and the link layer 307 is an asynchronous transfer mode or an Ethernet.

The base station controller interworking signal processing unit 301 is in charge of the A9 interface of ISO 4.0 (control standard related to the control of the base station controller (BSC) and the packet control function (PCF)) interface of ISO 4.0, and the data call related call received from the base station controller (BSC) Process various signals related to processing and resource management.

Authorization / Authentication / Charging (AAA) Protocol The client processing unit 302 performs authentication for accessing the IP network of the mobile terminal (MS) through the authorization / authentication / charging protocol, and authorizes / authenticates / charges the charging information generated in the system. It performs the function of forwarding to the AAA security manager 202.

The simple IP agent function processing unit 303 is a function block for processing messages related to the mobile terminal MS and the simple IP, and manages a visitor list. This establishes tunneling with the mobile IP home agent 209 and, if necessary, also encrypts the IP.

The main functions of the packet control function (PCF) to accommodate the simple IP agent function of the packet data service node (PDSN) are the dormant function for packet data service, the call setup function with the base station controller (BSC), and the user packet. It handles existing packet control functions (PCF) such as temporary storage, PPP packet splitting / combining function, simple IP agent function, IP in IP processing function, IP encryption function, IP address allocation function, routing (routing) and simple It provides functions of the existing packet data service node (PDSN) such as IP message processing function, remote authentication dial-up user service (RADIUS) or DIAMETER client function. However, the existing RP interface signal processing is not performed.

Looking at the process of forwarding and processing the packet, the packet received from the base station controller (BSC) after the end-to-end protocol (PPP) processing to route the IP packet of the mobile station (MS) to the IP network to communicate When sent to the other host, the packet received through the IP network to the other host is converted into a PPP packet and segmented according to the size of the radio link protocol (RLP) of the wireless network. MS).

That is, the packet received from the base station controller (BSC) is made into an end-to-end protocol (PPP) frame if necessary, and after PPP processing, the IP packet of the mobile station (MS) is transferred to the IP network according to a general routing method. The packet received from the IP network is made into a PPP frame, and the packet is divided and transmitted according to the size of the RLP of the wireless network.

Here, the IP packets transmitted to the IP network are delivered to the next hop along a path determined by a routing protocol.

Now, the control management procedure for network element integration according to the present invention will be described in more detail.

First, after completion of the logical connection between the base station controller BSC and the packet control function PCF, the mobile terminal MS sends a PPP link establishment request to the packet control function PCF. The packet control function (PCF) receiving this is processed by the end-to-end protocol processing unit 306 and completes the end-to-end connection (PPP Link) setup with the mobile terminal (MS).

After that, the mobile station MS transmits a simple IP registration request message to the packet control function (PCF) for simple IP registration, and the packet control function (PCF) transmits the simple IP agent function processing unit 303 after completing the PPP configuration. To send.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the simple IP agent function processing unit 303 first performs an LCP negotiation through the PPP stage and then performs an authentication request procedure through the PPP.

In the authentication procedure, after extracting the subscriber identification information NAI from the received simple IP registration request message, it is determined whether the corresponding subscriber NAI is authenticated (402), and if the NAI is authenticated, the authentication procedure is omitted and IP negotiation (Negotiation) is performed. The IP address is allocated through 405, and PPP authentication is finally completed 406, and the IP address is transmitted to the MS. At this time, if the NAI is not authenticated, subscriber authentication is processed using the AAA server and the RADIUS or DIAMETER protocol to authenticate the NAI. That is, an authentication message is generated and transmitted to the AAA server (403), and upon receipt of an authentication completion (ACK) message from the AAA server, the authentication is updated in the database DB (404). After authentication, IP negotiation is performed to allocate an IP address (405), and PPP authentication is terminated (406).

Here, the reason for omitting the authentication procedure when the subscriber authentication is completed as a result of DB search is that, since the authentication is completed from the AAA server when performing the primary location registration in PCF A, the authentication procedure is omitted when performing secondary location registration in PCF B. This allows faster handoff processing and reduces the load on the AAA server.

The method of the present invention as described above may be implemented as a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.).

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and various substitutions, modifications, and changes can be made in the art without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be clear to those of ordinary knowledge.

As described above, the present invention eliminates the need for virtual link setting due to the disappearance of the RP interface between the PCF and the PDSN, eliminates the A10 and A11 processes, and eliminates the need for the GRE protocol, and also the GRE / PPP on the RP interface. Since the overhead is eliminated and the packet processing performed by the two network elements is integrated into one, the time delay is reduced in the data transmission process.

In addition, in the conventional process, all packets are transmitted through the PDSN and transmitted to the other host, but both PCF and PDSN have a burden of packet processing. However, the present invention processes only one system and routes the packet to the network by itself. As a result, the burden on data transmission can be reduced.

Claims (5)

In the control management method for the integration of network elements in the next generation mobile communication network-based integrated Internet protocol (ALL-IP) network, A packet control function (hereinafter referred to as "PCF") for interworking a radio access network (RAN) to a packet network, and a function as a connection node for connecting a data subscriber connected through the radio access network (RAN) to the packet network. Integrate the functions of the Packet Data Service Nodes (hereinafter referred to as "PDSN") into one, A first step of integrating a simple IP agent function of the PDSN and a link layer termination function of a mobile terminal in the PCF when providing a simple Internet protocol (hereinafter referred to as "simple IP") service; A second step of, when the simple IP registration request is received from the mobile terminal, a simple IP agent function processing unit of the PCF extracts subscriber identification information from the simple IP registration request message and searches for existing authentication in a database; A third step of immediately allocating an IP address without performing authentication again according to the search result of the second step; And A fourth step of transmitting an authentication message to the authentication server upon initial authentication, updating the fact of authentication completion in the database upon completion of authentication from the authentication server, and assigning an IP address according to the search result of the second step Control management method for network element integration in a wireless communication system comprising a. The method of claim 1, The packet control function (PCF), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) processing unit, Internet Protocol (IP) processing unit, Internet Protocol Encryption (IPsec) unit, end-to-end protocol (PPP) processing unit, connection layer, physical layer, A base station controller interworking signal processor configured to process various signals related to data call-related call processing and resource management received from the base station controller (BSC); The mobile terminal (MS) performs an authentication for accessing the Internet Protocol (IP) network through an authorization / authentication / billing protocol and transfers the billing information generated in the system to the authorization / authentication / billing (AAA) security manager. Performing authorization / authentication / billing (AAA) protocol client processing; Simple Internet Protocol (IP) agent function processing unit for processing the mobile terminal (MS) and Mobile Internet Protocol (IP) -related messages and manages visitor history Control management method for network element integration in a wireless communication system comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The packet control function (PCF), Simple Internet Protocol (IP) agent function, Internet Protocol (IP in IP) processing function, Internet Protocol (IP) address assignment function, routing and Simple Internet Protocol (IP) message processing function, remote authentication dial-up user service Functions of existing packet data service nodes (PDSNs) such as RADIUS or DIAMETER client functions, and signal processing by the existing access method (RP interface method) between the RAN and the packet network Control management method for network element integration in a wireless communication system, characterized in that not performed. The method of claim 3, wherein The packet forwarding process in the packet control function (PCF), After the end-to-end protocol (PPP) processing of the packets received from the base station controller (BSC), the IP packet of the mobile station (MS) is routed to the IP network and sent to the other host to communicate, and the other host. In the wireless communication system characterized in that the packet received through the IP network is converted into a PPP packet and then segmented according to the size of the radio connection protocol (RLP) of the wireless network and transmitted to the mobile terminal (MS). Control management method for network element integration. In a communication system having a processor for control management for network element integration in an integrated internet protocol (ALL-IP) network, A packet control function (hereinafter referred to as "PCF") for interworking a radio access network (RAN) to a packet network, and a function as a connection node for connecting a data subscriber connected through the radio access network (RAN) to the packet network. Integrate the functions of the Packet Data Service Nodes (hereinafter referred to as "PDSN") into one, A first function of integrating a simple IP agent function of the PDSN and a link layer termination function of a mobile terminal in the PCF when providing a simple Internet protocol (hereinafter referred to as "simple IP") service; A second function of extracting subscriber identification information from the simple IP registration request message by the simple IP agent function processing unit of the PCF when searching for a simple IP registration from the mobile terminal; A third function of immediately allocating an IP address without performing authentication again according to a search result of the second function; And A fourth function of transmitting an authentication message to an authentication server upon initial authentication, updating the fact of authentication completion in the database upon completion of authentication from the authentication server, and assigning an IP address according to the search result of the second function A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing this.