KR20090065048A - System for managing vertical hand-over information with low power consumption and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for managing vertical handover information with low power consumption and a method thereof are provided to realize vertical handover with low power while minimizing an additional load of configuration for collecting or storing handover information during vertical handover. When vertical handover is succeeded from the first wireless network to the second wireless network, a handover information collecting unit(110) collects handover information related to a vertical handover information server. A handover information transmitting unit(120) transmits the handover information to the first vertical handover information server of the first wireless network. A controller(130) controls transmission of handover information collection information.

Description

Low power vertical handover information management system and method thereof {SYSTEM FOR MANAGING VERTICAL HAND-OVER INFORMATION WITH LOW POWER CONSUMPTION AND METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a method and system for managing low power vertical handover information. More specifically, the mobile terminal provides a handover information with a vertical handover information server at the time of the vertical handover, and the vertical handover information server is provided in real time. The present invention relates to a system and method for updating handover information to manage handover information.

With the recent development of communication technology, the types of communication networks have also diversified. Representative examples include various links such as IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15, IEEE 802.16 based WLAN link, 3rd Generation Partnership (3GPP), 3GPP2 based cellular link, and the like. Accordingly, a mobile node equipped with heterogeneous link interfaces for accessing various links has emerged, and an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.21 has been established to support handover between various links. The IEEE 802.21 standard is intended to support Media Independent Handover (MIH) between various links.

When the mobile terminal performs handover, when searching for another wireless network, the mobile terminal should always wait for the interface associated with the heterogeneous network connection to be powered on. Therefore, there is a problem in that the mobile terminal consumes a lot of time and power to retrieve heterogeneous network information when performing the handover.

Related to this problem, the MIIS (Media Independent Information Server) is a concept that is discussed in terms of power consumption during handover at the IEEE 802.21 standardization meeting. The MIIS transmits information on another wireless access network existing in the coverage of the base station to the mobile terminal that is currently connected through the wireless base station to which the mobile terminal is currently connected, and the mobile terminal uses this information when searching for another wireless network. It limits the search target or saves time and power for the search.

However, in MIIS, only the necessity of an apparatus for collecting network information has been recognized, and the technology for collecting network information is not yet specified.

On the other hand, as the first prior art, Korean Patent Application No. 2006-0001911 (Application Date: January 06, 2006) discloses the invention named "method of performing handover between heterogeneous networks and its supporting method".

 The first prior art is a method in which a terminal communicating with a wireless mobile communication network performs a handover to a wireless LAN network, wherein at least one cell neighboring the wireless LAN network to a second mobile communication network node through the first mobile communication network node Requesting information about the at least one cell; receiving information about the at least one cell from the second mobile communication network node through the first mobile communication network node; and using the received information to a wireless LAN network. And performing a handover.

However, since the first prior art presupposes that all design changes must be made to the mobile communication network nodes which are the facilities of the existing mobile communication network, there are practical problems in actual implementation and full handover support. In addition, a technique for updating handover information of heterogeneous wireless networks that are dynamically changing in real time is not considered.

Therefore, according to the prior art, there is a problem that all mobile networks must be equipped with a separate facility for providing handover information, and since the reliability of the handover information cannot be guaranteed, the mobile terminal performs handover. It takes a lot of time and power to retrieve the information, or if the mobile terminal fails to handover, there is a problem that the handover must be performed repeatedly.

One embodiment of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and provides a system and method capable of low power vertical handover while minimizing the design change of the network system.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when another mobile terminal performs a handover, the vertical handover information server provides the handover information to the mobile terminal, and updates and supplements the information related to the handover in real time. It provides a system and method that can be.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, the first aspect of the present invention is a handover information collecting unit for collecting handover information associated with the vertical handover information server, when the vertical handover is successful from the first wireless network to the second wireless network And a handover information transmitter for transmitting the handover information to a first vertical handover information server of the first wireless network, and a control unit for controlling the handover information collection information and transmission.

In addition, the second aspect of the present invention is a handover information receiving unit for supporting communication with the mobile terminal, to collect the information related to the vertical handover from the mobile terminal, a storage unit for storing the handover information, Vertical handover information including an information updating unit for updating the handover information stored in the storage unit using the handover information transmitted from the mobile terminal and a handover information transmitter for providing the updated handover information to another mobile terminal. Provide a server.

In addition, a third aspect of the present invention is to (a) the mobile terminal performs a vertical handover from the first wireless network to the second wireless network, (b) the mobile terminal determines whether the handover was successful during the vertical handover (C) collecting the handover information when the mobile terminal has successfully performed the vertical handover as a result of the determination of the step (b); and (d) the mobile terminal by the first wireless network And transmitting the handover information directly to a vertical handover information server using a second wireless network that has successfully connected.

In addition, the fourth aspect of the present invention (a) receiving the handover information directly from the mobile terminal successful in the vertical handover to the heterogeneous network through the communication path using the heterogeneous network, (b) the received handover Determining the necessity of updating based on the information and the handover information to the heterogeneous network already stored, (c) updating the already stored handover information if an update is necessary, and (d) It provides a vertical handover information update method comprising the step of providing in response to a query of another mobile terminal.

According to one of the aforementioned problem solving means of the present invention, the mobile terminal directly sends the collected handover information to the vertical handover information server, the vertical handover information server can provide the handover information to the other mobile terminal. This enables low power vertical handover while minimizing the burden of adding configuration to collect and store handover information between vertical handovers.

In addition, according to one of the other problem solving means of the present invention, the vertical handover information server can update the handover related information in real time to ensure the reliability of the handover information, the mobile terminal fails to handover It is possible to prevent retrying the handover.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, this includes not only "directly connected" but also "electrically connected" with another element in between. . In addition, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, which means that it may further include other components, except to exclude other components unless otherwise stated.

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

1 is a diagram illustrating a vertical handover information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vertical handover information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a mobile node (100), a base station (200), an access point (300), and a first. Vertical handover information server 400, second vertical handover information server 500, the first wireless access network 600, the second wireless access network 700, access network 800 and IP network (Internet Protocol network, 900 ).

The vertical handover information servers 400 and 500 refer to a server that stores and manages handover information necessary for vertical handover between heterogeneous networks. The vertical handover information server may be distributed in each access network according to the operator, and one information server may have information of all heterogeneous access networks.

The vertical handover information servers 400 and 500 may be, for example, 3G Media Independent Information Server (MIIS), WLAN Media Independent Information Server (MIIS), or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 100 connected to the base station 200 of the first wireless access network 600 is connected to the base station 200 from the first vertical handover information server 400, which is an information server of the access network. After receiving information about the second wireless access network 700 existing in the coverage (hereinafter referred to as first handover information), an attempt is made for vertical handover to the second wireless access network 700.

In this case, the power consumed by the mobile terminal for the search of the second wireless access network 700 and the handover delay time may vary according to the accuracy of the handover information received from the first vertical handover information server 400.

When the mobile terminal succeeds in handover to the second wireless access network 700, the mobile terminal accesses handover information (hereinafter referred to as second handover information) acquired in the vertical handover process before performing the vertical handover. 1 is transmitted to the vertical handover information server 400. The handover information may be performed through IP-based communication, and the mobile terminal transmits the second handover information to the first vertical handover information server 400 using an IP communication function that is already provided.

Upon receiving the second handover information, the first vertical handover information server 400 corrects, supplements, and updates the handover information to the second wireless access network if necessary, and updates the other handover information connected to the first wireless access network 600. Provide the necessary information in response to the request of the mobile terminal.

The second handover information may include channel information of an available access point (AP), whether Internet protocol version 6 (IPV6) is supported, available Internet Protocol (IP) information, and a location where the mobile terminal 100 performs a handover. Information, a reception sensitivity of the mobile terminal 100 in the wireless access network which performed the handover, a time when the mobile terminal 100 performs the handover, an identifier value of the base station, and the like. In particular, when providing available channel information of the AP, the mobile terminal can perform handover quickly without activating the WLAN interface for channel scanning.

Hereinafter, a detailed function of the mobile terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a detailed block diagram of a mobile terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 100 includes, for example, a handover information collecting unit 110, a handover information transmitting unit 120, and a controller 130.

The handover information collecting unit 110 collects handover information collected by the mobile terminal 100 upon successful vertical handover. As described above, the handover information includes available channel information of an access point (AP), information on a wireless network capable of handover, whether Internet protocol version 6 (IPV6) is supported, available IP (Internet Protocol) information, and a mobile terminal. Location information where the handover has performed the handover, reception sensitivity of the mobile terminal 100 in the wireless access network where the handover has been performed, time at which the mobile terminal 100 has performed the handover, identifier value of the base station, and the like. The handover information may be information that can be known naturally without any configuration upon successful handover.

More specifically, the handover information collected by the handover information collecting unit 110 may include, for example, information about a channel number that is successfully connected among the channels of the AP.

In addition, the handover information collected by the handover information collecting unit 110 may include, for example, information on a wireless access network capable of vertical handover.

In addition, the mobile terminal 100 may determine the IP address to be used by the mobile terminal 100 by combining the MAC address and the subnet prefix in advance, and may collect the available IP information when the IP address is determined.

In addition, the handover information collected by the handover information collecting unit 110 includes a time when the mobile terminal 100 performs a handover, location information on which the mobile terminal performs a handover, and the mobile terminal 100 performs a handover. It may include information such as a time performed and an identifier value of the base station.

The handover information transmitter 120 transmits the handover information collected by the mobile terminal 100 to the first vertical handover information server 400.

In this case, the mobile terminal 100 may transmit the handover information through IP communication with the first vertical handover information server 400 through the newly connected second wireless access network 700. In the embodiment of the present invention, when the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal used for IP communication, the handover information can be easily transmitted to the IP address of the first vertical handover information server 400 using an already equipped IP communication function. There will be.

The controller 130 controls various procedures for processing handover information in the mobile terminal 100.

The controller 130 may determine whether the handover was successful at the time of handover by the mobile terminal 100 and issue a command for collecting information to the handover information collecting unit 110. The handover information transmitter 120 may be instructed to transmit to the first vertical handover information server 400.

As described above, the mobile terminal 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention uses a first handover information server (not shown) using a unique communication function of the mobile communication terminal to easily collect handover information during vertical handover. 400).

Hereinafter, a detailed function of the vertical handover information server 400 or 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a detailed block diagram of a vertical handover information server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical handover information server includes, for example, a handover information receiver 410, a storage 420, an information updater 430, and a handover information transmitter 440.

The handover information receiver 410 serves to receive handover information sent by the mobile terminal 100.

The handover information received by the handover information receiver 410 may include, for example, channel information of an access point (AP), information on a wireless network capable of handover, whether Internet protocol version 6 (IPV6) is supported, and available IP ( Internet Protocol) information, location information where the mobile terminal 100 performs handover, reception sensitivity of the mobile terminal 100 in the wireless access network where the handover is performed, time when the mobile terminal 100 performs handover, It may include an identifier value of the base station.

The storage unit 420 is a database (DB) in which the handover information collected by the collector is stored.

The storage unit 420 may classify and store the handover information for each item.

The information updating unit 430 compares the second handover information received by the handover information receiving unit 410 with the handover information stored in the storage unit 420, and corrects and supplements and updates the handover information. do. Since the handover information includes information for identifying a wireless network and a base station, the first vertical handover information server may classify, store, and update information about a wireless network and a base station capable of handover in its own network. have.

As such, since the information updater 430 may update the handover information received from the mobile terminal 100 in real time, the first vertical handover information server 400 may secure the accuracy of the handover information. have.

The handover information transmitter 440 transmits the handover information to the other mobile terminal when a request from the other mobile terminal is made for the handover information stored in the storage 420. Accordingly, the other mobile terminal can perform vertical handover by saving power by using handover information based on the most recently successful handover.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 4, the mobile terminal 100 collects handover information, directly transmits the collected information to the first vertical handover information server 400, and according to an embodiment of the present invention. A process of storing the handover information by the vertical handover information server 400 will be described.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a handover information collection process of the mobile terminal 100 and a handover information storage process of the first vertical handover information server 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, the mobile terminal 100 attempts a vertical handover from the first wireless access network 600 to the second wireless access network 700 (S400).

Thereafter, the controller 130 of the mobile terminal 100 checks whether the handover was successful (S402).

If the check result is successful (S402), if the handover is successful, the controller 130 issues a handover information collection command to the handover information collecting unit 110 to collect the handover information (S404). To perform the over (S400).

Thereafter, the handover information transmitter 120 of the mobile terminal 100 transmits the collected handover information to the first vertical handover information server 400 (S406). The handover information may be easily delivered to the first vertical handover information server 400 using a unique communication function (eg, IP based communication) of the mobile terminal 100.

Thereafter, the handover information receiver 410 receives the handover information from the first vertical handover information server 400 (S408), classifies the information by item (S410), and stores the information in the storage unit 420. (S412).

Examples of handover information include channel information of an access point (AP), information on a wireless network capable of handover, whether Internet protocol version 6 (IPV6) is supported, available Internet Protocol (IP) information, and a mobile terminal 100. ) May include location information where the handover was performed, reception sensitivity of the mobile terminal in the wireless network where the handover was performed, time at which the mobile terminal 100 performed the handover, and an identifier value of the base station. As we saw earlier.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 5, another mobile terminal (hereinafter referred to as a second mobile terminal) performs a handover according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the first vertical handover information server 400 receives the handover information. How to update will be described.

The second mobile terminal refers to a mobile terminal existing in the first wireless access network 600 and different from the mobile terminal 100 mentioned above.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a handover information update process of the first vertical handover information server 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, in order to perform a handover, the second mobile terminal requests handover information from the first vertical handover information server 400 and transmits a query necessary for handover (S500).

Thereafter, after receiving the query (S502), the first vertical handover information server 400 transmits relevant handover information stored in the storage unit 420 to the second mobile terminal (S504).

Thereafter, the second mobile terminal receives information necessary for handover (S506), and attempts a vertical handover to the second wireless access network 700 (S508).

Thereafter, the controller 130 checks whether the second mobile terminal succeeds in handover (S510).

As a result of the check (S510), if the handover is successful, the second mobile terminal collects the handover information acquired in the handover process (S512) and transfers the collected information to the first vertical handover information server 400. Transmit. (S514)

If the check result (S510), the handover is not successful, request the handover information again to the first vertical handover information server 400 (S500).

Thereafter, the first vertical handover information server 400 receives the handover information (S516), and the information updating unit 430 calls the relevant handover information stored in the storage unit 420, and for each item. After comparison (S518), it is determined whether the handover information needs to be updated (S520).

Thereafter, the information updater 430 modifies and supplements the handover information that needs to be updated and stores the information in the storage 420 (S522).

The above description of the present invention is intended for illustration, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be easily modified in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is shown by the following claims rather than the above description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

1 is a schematic functional configuration diagram of a vertical handover information management system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a detailed block diagram of a mobile terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a detailed block diagram of a vertical handover information server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for collecting handover information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a flowchart illustrating a handover information update method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

100: mobile terminal 110: handover information collection unit

120: handover information transmitter 130: controller

200: base station 300: AP

400: first vertical handover information server 410: handover information receiver

420: storage unit 430: information update unit

440: handover information transmitter 500: second vertical handover information server

600: first wireless access network 700: second wireless access network

800: access network 900: IP network

Claims (9)

A mobile terminal capable of handover from a first wireless network to a second wireless network, A handover information collecting unit for collecting handover information related to a vertical handover information server upon successful vertical handover from the first wireless network to a second wireless network; A handover information transmitter for transmitting the handover information to a first vertical handover information server of the first wireless network; A control unit controlling the handover information collection information and transmission; A mobile terminal comprising a. The method of claim 1, If the second wireless network is a wireless LAN network, the handover information includes channel information of an access point. The method of claim 2, The handover information includes information on a wireless network capable of handover, available IP information, location information on which the mobile terminal has performed handover, reception sensitivity of the mobile terminal in the wireless network on which the handover is performed, and the mobile terminal is handed. The mobile terminal further comprises at least one of the time of performing the over, the identifier of the base station. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The mobile terminal supports IP-based communication, and transmits the handover information through the IP communication with the first vertical handover information server. A vertical handover information server managing information for vertical handover between heterogeneous networks, A handover information receiver supporting communication with the mobile terminal so as to collect information related to the vertical handover from the mobile terminal; A storage unit for storing the handover information; An information updating unit for updating the handover information stored in the storage unit by using the handover information transmitted from the mobile terminal; Handover information transmitter for providing the updated handover information to another mobile terminal Vertical handover information server comprising a. The method of claim 5, wherein When the heterogeneous network is a wireless LAN, the handover information includes channel information of an access point. The method of claim 6, The handover information includes information on a wireless network capable of handover, available IP information, location information on which the mobile terminal has performed handover, reception sensitivity of the mobile terminal in the wireless network on which the handover is performed, and the mobile terminal is handed. And at least one of an identifier value of the corresponding base station. In the method for collecting information for vertical handover between heterogeneous networks, (a) the mobile terminal performing a vertical handover from the first wireless network to the second wireless network, (b) the mobile terminal determining whether the handover is successful in the vertical handover; (c) collecting the handover information when the mobile terminal successfully performs the vertical handover as a result of the determination of step (b); and (d) the mobile terminal directly transmitting the handover information to the vertical handover information server of the first wireless network by using the second wireless network which is successfully connected; Handover information collection method comprising a. A method for updating information for vertical handover between heterogeneous networks (a) receiving handover information directly from a mobile terminal which has succeeded in vertical handover to a heterogeneous network through a communication path using the heterogeneous network, (b) determining the necessity of updating based on the received handover information and the already stored handover information to the heterogeneous network; (c) updating already stored handover information if an update is needed; and (d) providing the updated handover information in response to a query of another mobile terminal.

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