KR20080068966A - Packet switching supporting apparatus for asynchronous mobile communication system and method for allocating resource thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A packet switching supporting device of an asynchronous mobile communication system and a resource allocation method thereof are provided to allocate resources dynamically for a packet service request of a subscriber terminal, thereby efficiently using the resources as increasing the receiving number of subscribers even without changing hardware. When a packet call is set according to a request received from a subscriber terminal, a PDP(Packet Data Protocol) context generation request message is received to respond to the request(S1-S5). Substantially used resources for static traffic ranks including interactive/background services are monitored on the basis of throughput information(S7). The substantially used resources are subtracted from overall resources of a packet handler, and a guarantee bit rate for variable traffic ranks is subtracted to calculate substantially available resources(S9). Resources for packet call processing are dynamically allocated on the basis of the substantially available resources(S11-S17).

Description

Packet switching support device and a resource allocation method of asynchronous mobile communication system {PACKET SWITCHING SUPPORTING APPARATUS FOR ASYNCHRONOUS MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING RESOURCE THEREOF}

1 is a block diagram of an asynchronous mobile communication system according to an embodiment.

2 is a flowchart illustrating activation of a PDP context in SGSN of a typical asynchronous mobile communication system.

3 is a control block diagram of an SGSN according to an embodiment.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a resource allocation method for packet data transmission of a subscriber station according to an embodiment.

* Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

20: UE 22: RNC

24: SGSN 25: GGSN

241 network control processor 243 access network processor

245: packet handler

The present invention relates to an asynchronous mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a packet switching support apparatus and a resource allocation method for processing packet data transmission and reception in an asynchronous mobile communication system.

In general, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) is a third generation mobile communication system evolved from the European standard Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), and is based on the core technology of GSM to provide a radio access network (RAN). Various services are provided by incorporating WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) technology, and these services are called asynchronous IMT (International Mobile Telecommunication) -2000 services.

1 shows a configuration of a general UMTS. As shown in FIG. 1, the UMTS includes a user equipment (UE) 110, a UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) 120, and a core network (CN) 130. ).

The UTRAN 120 includes a plurality of base stations (Node B) 121 and a plurality of Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) 122, and the RNC 122 performs control and management of the base stations 121. do.

CN 130 is logically divided into a Circuit Switched Domain (CS) and a Packet Switched Domain (PS), and handles all voice calls and data connections in UMTS, and external networks. Exchange with and set up a route. CN 130 is a Mobile Services Switching Center / Visitor Location Register (MSC / VLR) 131 that performs functions such as control, management, authentication, and encryption in the CS area. Or packet exchange support connected to the MSC manager (GMSC) 132, UTRAN 120 and the Gateway General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (GGSN) 135, which are in charge of connecting to the mobile network. A node includes a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 134 and a GGSN 135 that is an interface for an external IP packet network 140. The external IP packet network 140 may include a public land mobile network (PLMN), a public switched telephone network (PSTN), an integrated service digital network (ISDN), or the Internet.

Since various components in the UMTS network may have different physical locations, an interface for connecting them is required. For example, the Node B 121 and the RNC 122 are connected by the Iub interface, and the two RNC 122 are connected through the Iur interface. The interface between the RNC 122 and the CN 130 is called Iu.

Circuit traffic centered on RNC / Node B is handled via radio switching center (MSC), and packet traffic is handled by SGSN 134 (Serving GPRS Support Node) and GGSN (Gateway GPRS Support Node). 135 is connected to the Internet network.

GGSN 135 operates based on a request from SGSN 134 for packet data protocol (PDP) session establishment. A session is to enable a set of services such as PDP context and traffic path resource allocation, which are created for one packet service in GPRS service.

SGSN 134 is a system that performs packet data processing in an asynchronous network (W-CDMA, UMTS, GPRS, etc.), and serves as a switch in the voice service field. This, together with the GGSN 135, is a system element that enables high-speed Internet services in a GPRS network. In addition, the SGSN 134 is connected to various RNCs 122 and is responsible for mobility and packet session management of a user equipment (UE) 110, and establishes and tunnels a packet data protocol (PDP) context with the GGSN 135. It delivers the Protocol Data Unit (PDU), performs the IP routing technique, and is connected and interacts with the MSC / VLR 131. The interface between the SGSN 134 and the GGSN 135 is based on the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP), which realizes the tunnel transmission function.

In general, when a packet call is connected to an asynchronous IMT-2000 subscriber station, a bandwidth is allocated in the SGSN 134 based on an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) according to a preset Quality of Service (QoS) value. Next, signaling and traffic information is exchanged to the GGSN 135 using the GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP), and the packet service is performed by being transferred to a public IP network. The GTP is a protocol recommended by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to transfer signals and traffic transmitted and received between the SGSN 134 and the GGSN 135 matched with Fast Ethernet. It begins by performing packet service attempts and enters the SGSN 134 via the RNC 122, and the SGSN 134 converts the GTP into a GTP format. Through the traffic tunneling configured as above, packet service can be received.

As described above, in the GPRS network, two network nodes exist for the packet service, SGSN 134 and GGSN 135. The SGSN 134 and GGSN 135 are either UE 110 or PDN (Packet Data Network). It creates a PDP (Packet Data Protocol) context in order to transmit the incoming traffic. The SGSN 134 and the GGSN 135 allocate a Tunneling Endpoint Identifier (TEID) between the RNC 122 and the SGSN 134 and between the SGSN 134 and the GGSN 135 to identify the PDP context and to control traffic. Send it. Tunneling (Tunneling) for transmitting the traffic is allocated to each node, the bandwidth is determined for each tunneling, the bandwidth is based on the QoS information contained in the PDP context activation request message transmitted from the subscriber station at the time of packet origination It depends on.

On the other hand, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is an asynchronous 3.5G (G) mobile communication service, which can be said to be the evolution of the third generation service, Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA). HSDPA refers to packet-based data services in the W-CDMA standard, which allows communication to be about five times faster than W-CDMA. For HSDPA subscribers of WCDMA having a bandwidth of 1.8 M, for example, in the SGSN 134, the 1.8 M bandwidth for the resource allocation of the subscriber between the SGSN 134, the GGSN 135, and the RNC 122 is used. Make a reservation.

For example, the resource allocation procedure for the HSDPA terminal may be performed as follows. That is, when the HSDPA subscriber station makes a packet call establishment request to the SGSN 134 with 1.8M bandwidth, the GGSN 135 and the RNC 122 and the 1.8M bandwidth are requested for the call establishment request of the SGSN 134 subscriber station 110. Negotiate whether to assign After the negotiation is completed, SGSN 134 allocates 1.8M bandwidth fixedly.

As such, in case of HSDPA subscriber of WCDMA having a bandwidth allocated to 1.8M, SGSN 134 reserves 1.8M for resource allocation of subscriber between SGSN 134, GGSN 135, and RNC 122. . However, since these resources are not based on the actual usage of the subscriber, there is a problem in that the remaining resources cannot be reused even if the actual usage of the subscriber is much smaller than 1.8M.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a packet switching support apparatus capable of efficiently using resources by dynamically allocating resources to a packet service request of a subscriber station in a packet switching support apparatus of an asynchronous mobile communication system, and a resource allocation method thereof. will be.

According to an embodiment, the packet-switching supporting apparatus for processing a packet call in an asynchronous mobile communication system has traffic throughput from at least one packet handler that performs traffic processing when performing call setup for a packet call connection request from a subscriber station. Monitor actual usage resources for fixed traffic classes including interactive / background services based on information, subtract the actual usage resources from all resources of the packet handler and guarantee bits for variable traffic classes including conferencing / streaming services By calculating the actual available resources by subtracting the rate, the resources for packet call processing are dynamically allocated based on the actual available resources.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, in the following description, when there is a risk of unnecessarily obscuring the gist of the present invention, a detailed description of well-known functions and configurations will be omitted.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of activating a PDP context in SGSN 24 for packet service in an asynchronous mobile communication system according to an embodiment. The method shown in FIG. 2 may be performed in UMTS having a configuration as shown in FIG. 1, for example. As shown, the method of activating the PDP context in the SGSN 24 includes the following steps. The UE 20 sends a PDP context activation request message to the SGSN 24. The PDP context activation request message includes QoS information, parameters for establishing tunneling, IP allocation information, and bandwidth allocation information. The SGSN 24 sends a PDP Create Packet Data Protocol Context Request message to the GGSN 25. The GGSN 25 then sends a Create Packet Data Protocol Context Response message to the SGSN 24. As a result, a radio access bearer is established between the UE 20 and the SGSN 24. At this time, if the bandwidth negotiated in the radio access bearer between the RNC 22 and the SGSN 24 is different from the bandwidth between the SGSN 24 and the GGSN 25 performed in the previous step, the SGSN 24 is connected to the RNC 22. The negotiated bandwidth may be transmitted to the GGSN 25 through a PDP Update Packet Data Protocol Context Request message. The GGSN 25 sends a PDP Update Packet Data Protocol Context Response message to the SGSN 24. If the result returned from the GGSN 25 is successful, the SGSN 24 returns a PDP Activation Packet Data Protocol Context Accept message to the UE 20.

In the method shown in FIG. 2, the SGSN 24 receives a PDP context creation response message from the GGSN 25 and in the step of establishing a radio access bearer between the UE 20 and the SGSN 24, the actual available. The process of calculating the resource may be performed.

3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an SGSN according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, SGSN 24 includes processors 241 and 243 and one or more packet handlers 245 (only one is shown in this embodiment).

The packet handler 245 is a traffic handling function, and the actual processing capacity for a fixed service (or fixed traffic class), such as an interactive / background service, may be a certain time unit (for example, About 5 minutes) to the processor.

The processor includes a Network Control Processor (NCP) 241 having a GPRS Tunneling Protocol Module (GTPM) (not shown) that processes GTP messages, and a Resource & Connection Control Module (RCCM) that functions as a resource management function. And an access network processor (ANP) 243 having a network). The NCP 241 performs a resource management function between the session control function and the SGSN-GGSN, and the ANP 243 works with the RNC 122 to provide a resource management function between the Radio Access Network Application Part (RANAP) matching function and the SGSN-RNC. do.

According to an embodiment, the ANP 243 may, from the PDP context activation request message sent from the UE 20, bandwidth allocation request information which is maximum usage information for a variable service (or variable traffic class) such as a conference call / streaming service. Extract The packet handler 245 monitors the traffic processing capacity and performs calculations for dynamically allocating bandwidth. The calculation formula of the actual available resources for the ANP 243 to dynamically allocate bandwidth is as follows.

Actual Available Resources = Total Resources-Actual Use Resources for Fixed Services-Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) for Variable Services

The total resource is the total processing capacity of the packet handler 245, for example, 400 bits per second (400 Mbps). In addition, the actual resource used for the fixed service including the interactive / background service is the amount of traffic currently used by the packet handler 245, which is reported to the ANP 243 in a predetermined time (for example, about 5 minutes). Value. Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) for variable services, including conferencing / streaming services, is the minimum bit rate to ensure traffic handling for conferencing calls and video downloads.

The interactive service has, for example, a messenger, and the background service has, for example, a mail confirmation function via a wireless Internet connection. The streaming service has a video download function. Therefore, fixed services such as interactive / background services should be transmitted correctly even when data transmission is delayed, while variable services such as conference / streaming services do not have to be accurate but have low data transmission delay.

The resources used for the processing of fixed services can dynamically allocate more than the value desired by the user by monitoring actual usage. For example, if the user wants to use 1 Mbps and the actual traffic usage is 0.5 Mbps, the SGSN system can allocate the remaining 0.5 Mbps to another user by assigning only 0.5 Mbps without actually allocating 1 Mbps.

On the contrary, if the resource used for the variable service is set to a maximum bit rate of about 1.8 Mbps, for example, and the service guaranteed bit rate (GBR) of 1 Mbps, for example, the user must guarantee 1 Mbps. 1Mbps should be allocated regardless.

The ANP 243 calculates the actual available resources of the system using the above-described formula, and guarantees the maximum usage amount (about 1.8 Mbps) requested by the subscriber station through the PDP context request message when resources are available. However, the ANP 243 rejects the newly requested packet call if there are not enough available resources in the system. The ANP 243 determines whether to transmit or discard data with priority of the service when the actual available resource reaches the maximum amount of used resource.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a resource allocation method for packet data transmission of a subscriber station according to an embodiment, which may include a process of activating the PDP context of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the SGSN 24 first receives a packet call service request message for packet data transmission from the subscriber station 20. SGSN 24 performs a subscriber authentication procedure, and then transmits a service response message to subscriber station 20 (S1). This makes a signal connection between the subscriber station and the SGSN 24. The SGSN 24 receives a request for activation of the PDP context from the subscriber station 20 (S3), and a radio resource radio access bearer (RAB) allocation procedure between the subscriber station 20 and the node B / RNC and the SGSN 24 is performed. Is done. That is, the SGSN 24 performs a Domain Name Server (DNS) function of allocating a Tunnel Ending Point IDentifier (TEID) and converting an IPN into an APN (Access Point Name), selecting a GGSN 25 address, and selecting the GGSN ( If the PDP Context Request message is transmitted to the APN, the GGSN 25 selects an external network to the APN and transmits a PDP context creation response message to the SGSN 24 (S5). Accordingly, when the radio bearer is established (S7), the SGSN 24 establishes a traffic path and transmits a PDP context activation response message to the subscriber station. From this point in time, packet data service between the subscriber station and the GGSN is possible. According to the present embodiment, the ANP 243 of the SGSN 24 may use the actual resources for the fixed resources such as the total resources and the subscriber / interactive services of the subscriber terminal based on the information transmitted from the packet handler 245. Monitor. The ANP 243 calculates actual available resources by subtracting actual use radio resources from all resources and subtracting guaranteed bit rates for variable services such as conference call / streaming services (S9) to determine whether system resources are sufficient ( S11). The ANP 243 assures that the maximum resource usage (for example, 1.8Mbps) for the variable service requested by the subscriber station if the system resources are sufficient (S13). Thereafter, the ANP 243 determines whether the system resource reaches the maximum amount (S15), and when the system resource maximum amount is reached, the ANP 243 gives priority to the service. Data transmission and discarding are determined (S17). On the other hand, the ANP 243 rejects a new packet call setup request if there is not enough system resources after calculating the actual available resources (S19).

With this configuration, when allocating a resource of a packet call of a subscriber station, subtract actual use radio resources for fixed services such as interactive / background services from all resources, and guarantee bit rate for variable services such as conference / streaming services. By subtracting GBR), the actual available resources can be calculated to dynamically allocate bandwidth for packet call processing. Accordingly, the number of subscribers that can be accommodated by the SGSN can be increased without changing hardware.

While the invention and its various functional components have been described in particular embodiments, the invention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, or a combination thereof, and the system, subsystem, components or sub-configurations thereof. It should be understood that they can be used as elements. If implemented in software, the elements of the invention are instructions / code segments for performing the necessary tasks. The program or code segments may be stored in a machine readable medium, such as a processor readable medium, a computer program product, or via a transmission medium or communication link by a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave or a signal modulated by a carrier. Can be sent. Machine readable media or processor readable media may include any medium that can store or transmit information in a form readable and executable by a machine (eg, processor, computer, etc.).

In addition, while the present invention has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as will be understood by those skilled in the art. You will need to know Also, such modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

According to the above embodiments, by dynamically allocating resources to a packet service request of a subscriber station in a packet switching support apparatus of an asynchronous mobile communication system, it is possible to efficiently use resources and increase the number of subscribers without changing hardware. Can be.

Claims (9)

A packet switching support apparatus for processing a packet call in an asynchronous mobile communication system, At least one packet handler for performing traffic processing; Monitoring the actual resource used for the fixed traffic class including the interactive / background service based on the traffic throughput information from the at least one packet handler when performing call setup for the packet call request from the subscriber station, After subtracting the actual resource from all resources and subtracting the guaranteed bit rate for the variable traffic class including the conference call / streaming service to calculate the actual available resource, the resource for packet call processing is dynamically changed based on the actual available resource. An apparatus for supporting a packet exchange in an asynchronous mobile communication system, comprising a controller for assigning. The method of claim 1, The controller allocates a resource to a preset maximum resource usage amount for the subscriber station for the conference call / streaming service when the resource is available as a result of calculating the actual available resource. A packet-switching supporting device of an asynchronous mobile communication system for rejecting a connection request. The method of claim 1, Receiving a packet data protocol (PDP) context activation request message sent from the subscriber station when performing the packet call setup, And the controller is configured to extract the maximum resource usage amount from the PDP context activation request message. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, And the resource is bandwidth information. In the resource allocation method of a packet-switching support device for processing a packet call in an asynchronous mobile communication system, Receiving and responding to a PDP context creation request message when performing packet call setup according to a request from a subscriber station; Monitoring actual usage resources for fixed traffic classes, including interactive / background services, based on throughput information from packet handlers performing traffic processing; Calculating the actual available resources by subtracting the actual usage resources from all the resources of the packet handler and subtracting the guaranteed bit rate for a variable traffic class including conference call / streaming service; And dynamically allocating resources for packet call processing based on the calculated actual available resources. The method of claim 5, In the operation allocating step, when the calculated actual available resources are free, allocating resources with a preset maximum resource usage amount for the subscriber station for a conference call / streaming service; and when the actual available resources are insufficient. And a step of rejecting a new packet call connection request. The method according to claim 5 or 6, The resource allocation method of the packet switching support apparatus of the asynchronous mobile communication system, the resource is bandwidth information. The method of claim 5, The maximum resource usage is extracted from the PDP context activation request message transmitted from the subscriber station when the packet call setup is performed. A computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions for performing a resource allocation method of a packet switching support apparatus of an asynchronous mobile communication system. The method, Receiving and responding to a PDP context creation request message when performing packet call setup according to a request from a subscriber station; Monitoring actual usage resources for fixed traffic classes, including interactive / background services, based on throughput information from packet handlers performing traffic processing; Calculating the actual available resources by subtracting the actual usage resources from all the resources of the packet handler and subtracting the guaranteed bit rate for a variable traffic class including conference call / streaming service; And dynamically allocating resources for packet call processing based on the calculated actual available resources.

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