KR20110016129A - Method and apparatus for controlling traffic in roaming network, traffic control - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A network-based roaming traffic control method and a device thereof and a traffic preventing server therefor are provided to prevent profitability deterioration of a service provider of a native land through providing roaming service. CONSTITUTION: The first exchanging device performs a basic and additional service processing of a roaming terminal(100) and a receiving and originating call processing, a location registration process and a handover process processing, and an interworking function with the second exchanging device. A traffic control preventing server(104) finds generation inclination of a location registration denial code. The traffic control preventing server selectively performs a traffic control through a code converting process. A traffic control server(108) controls the traffic of the roaming terminal.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING TRAFFIC IN ROAMING NETWORK, TRAFFIC CONTROL}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology for controlling traffic in a roaming network. In particular, a server outside the home country converts the corresponding code upon receiving a location registration rejection code from a server outside the home country. The present invention relates to a network-based roaming traffic control method and apparatus suitable for suppressing controlling traffic of an exchange, and a traffic control prevention server therefor.

In the mobile communication service, a roaming service in which a mobile communication service subscriber provides a mobile telephone call and incoming service to both subscribers in any region by two-way agreement and interworking system between mobile operators when visiting abroad. Providing.

In such a roaming service, in particular, a wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) roaming service, a roaming service provider having a preferred issue for each mobile carrier, for example, roaming payment and quality, may exist. Operators want their customers to roam to their preferred operators, and for this purpose, they use technology to control the location registration of roamers.

In the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) / WCDMA family, roaming provides additional revenue for operators and is one of the key value-added services available to VIP subscribers, such as private business or corporate subscribers.

As the number of operators that provide such GSM / WCDMA service increases and the roaming settlement fee is different for each operator, the mobile carrier is an overseas roaming partner who offers a settlement fee that is favorable to them. Will be advantageous. In order to encourage subscribers to roam with their desired overseas roaming partners, many operators have adopted network-based roaming traffic control (Steering of Roaming, SoR).

A brief description of such network-based roaming traffic control is as follows.

First, when a roaming subscriber (terminal) attempts to register a location at an exchange of A operator, which is a non-preferred operator of a traffic control server of a non-local operator, the traffic control server side does not register a location because the A operator is not a preferred operator of the corresponding country. Only when rejecting and attempting to register a location with the preferred operator B in the country, the location registration should be processed successfully.

In this location registration rejection, the location registration rejection error code may use, for example, "Roaming not allowed".

The operator A receiving the "Roaming not allowed" location registration rejection error code transmits a message to the roaming terminal, for example, a message "Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) not allowed". There is no choice but to re-register the location with an exchange, for example, a B operator, which is a preferred operator of a foreign company.

This will be described in more detail as follows.

First, it is assumed that A is an out-of-country provider, B, C, and D is a domestic provider, and E is a subscriber of A.

If subscriber E enters the country, if operator A encourages subscriber E to be registered as operator C through a mutual agreement with operator C, the opportunity to raise roaming sales for the operator B and operator D will be lost.

In particular, in countries where the number of inbound roamers is greatly affected by the number of entrants, telecommunications operators cannot directly influence the number of inbound roamers. It is necessary to improve the profit structure, but in the current service environment, there is an unreasonable aspect of unilaterally controlling roaming traffic of domestic subscribers at the traffic control server side of an overseas operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates a roaming traffic control environment based on such a conventional network, and when receiving a location registration rejection code of a server outside the home country to control traffic in a roaming network. By identifying the occurrence tendency of the location registration rejection code and converting the code, a roaming traffic control technique based on the network can be prevented from unilaterally controlling the traffic of the local exchange.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when a roaming terminal subscribed to a communication network outside the home country attempts to register a location on a first communication network in the home country, it is determined whether roaming traffic signals from the communication network outside the home country are introduced. And converting the location registration rejection code into a system error code when the incoming roaming traffic signal is a location registration rejection code for rejecting the location registration of the first communication network within the local station with respect to the roaming terminal. A network-based roaming traffic control method may be provided that includes transmitting the converted system error code to a first communication network in the local station.

The converting process may include converting the location registration rejection code into the system error code when the location registration rejection code is generated within a preset period and the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is greater than or equal to a preset frequency. Can be.

In the converting, if the location registration rejection code is not generated within the preset period and the frequency of occurrence of the location registration rejection code is less than the preset frequency, the location registration rejection code is transmitted to the first communication network in the local station. It can be a process.

In addition, the transmitting may include a process of allowing the roaming terminal to be registered in the first communication network.

In addition, the transmitting may include a step of allowing the roaming terminal to be registered in the first communication network when the roaming terminal is denied registration of the location more than a predetermined number of times in the first communication network.

According to another aspect for solving the problems of the present invention, when a terminal subscribed to a communication network outside the home country, and when the terminal attempts to register the location in the communication network in the home country, a location registration rejection code is introduced from the communication network outside the home country And converting the location registration rejection code into a system error code and transferring the location registration rejection code to a communication network in the home country, and providing a network-based roaming traffic control device.

The traffic control prevention server may convert the location registration rejection code into the system error code when the location registration rejection code is generated within a preset period and the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is equal to or greater than a preset frequency. have.

The traffic control prevention server may transmit the location registration rejection code to the local communication network when the location registration rejection code is not generated within the preset period and the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is less than the preset frequency. have.

The traffic control prevention server may allow the terminal to be registered in the local communication network when the terminal is denied location registration more than a predetermined number of times in the local communication network.

According to another aspect for solving the problems of the present invention, a roaming signal monitoring unit for monitoring whether or not the occurrence of the abnormal signal of the communication network outside the country provided through the roaming signal network, and the abnormal signal generated through the roaming signal monitoring unit If it is determined that the policy management unit according to the policy management, the roaming signal conversion unit for converting the abnormal signal in accordance with the policy management of the policy management unit, the policy management through the policy management unit and the conversion of the roaming signal conversion unit It is possible to provide a traffic control prevention server for network-based roaming traffic control including a database for storing records.

The abnormal signal may be a location registration reject code.

In addition, the policy management may include a processing instruction according to the generation period of the location registration rejection code and the frequency of occurrence of the location registration rejection code when the location registration rejection code occurs.

The roaming signal converter may convert the location registration rejection code into a system error code.

According to the present invention, in the situation that the inbound roaming is more profitable than the unbound roaming due to the general roaming settlement structure, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the profitability of the domestic service provider by providing the roaming service, and the service network of the domestic service provider in the roaming service environment. Subscribers who have attempted to register their location can't be handed over to other operators, which can improve roaming sales and profitability.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described below are terms defined in consideration of functions in the embodiments of the present invention, which may vary according to intentions or customs of users and operators. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

Combinations of each block of the accompanying block diagram and each step of the flowchart may be performed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be mounted on a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment such that instructions executed through the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment may not be included in each block or flowchart of the block diagram. It will create means for performing the functions described in each step. These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement functionality in a particular manner, and thus the computer usable or computer readable memory. It is also possible for the instructions stored in to produce an article of manufacture containing instruction means for performing the functions described in each block or flow chart step of the block diagram. Computer program instructions may also be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, such that a series of operating steps may be performed on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-implemented process to create a computer or other programmable data. Instructions that perform processing equipment may also provide steps for performing the functions described in each block of the block diagram and in each step of the flowchart.

In addition, each block or step may represent a portion of a module, segment or code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing a specified logical function (s). It should also be noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions noted in the blocks or steps may occur out of order. For example, the two blocks or steps shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks or steps may sometimes be performed in the reverse order, depending on the functionality involved.

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

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an apparatus for controlling network-based roaming traffic according to an embodiment of the present invention. The roaming terminal 100, the first switch 102/1, and the second switch 102 / 2), traffic control prevention server 104, roaming signal network 106, traffic control server 108 and the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, roaming terminal 100 refers to, or otherwise refers to, a wired communication terminal, for example, a client (or possessing) a desktop (laptop), a laptop (lap-top), or the like. Refers to mobile clients such as (or possess) mobile communication terminals such as a portable multimedia player (PMP), a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) phone, a videophone, etc. Roaming services can be provided to subscribers by interfacing with a wired or wireless connection to a communication network, a roaming signal network, etc. outside the own country.

In this case, the mobile clients may include not only a second generation that supports the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) method but also a terminal environment that supports the third generation or more mobile communication technologies of the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) method. have.

The first switch 102/1 is, for example, a switch of a first communication network (not shown) in the home country, and performs basic and additional service processing, incoming and outgoing call processing, location registration procedure, and handover procedure of the roaming terminal 100. Processing, other networks, such as interworking with the second exchange 102/2. The first switch 102/1 is responsible for an access switching subsystem (ASS) that performs distributed call processing, an INS (interconnection network subsystem) that performs centralized call processing, and centralizes operation and maintenance. It may include a sub-system such as a Central Control Subsystem (CCS) and a Location Registration Subsystem (LRS) for storing and managing information on mobile subscribers.

The second switch 102/2 is, for example, a switch of a second communication network (not shown) in the home country, and processes basic and additional services of the roaming terminal 100, incoming and outgoing call processing, location registration procedure, and handover procedure. Processing, other networks, such as interworking with the first exchange 102/2. Specific functions of the remaining second exchanger 102/2 are the same as those of the first exchanger 102/1 described above, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The traffic control prevention server 104 according to the present embodiment is, for example, a server connected to the first switch 102/1 of the first communication network in the home country, and the location registration rejection code is provided through the roaming signal network 106 described later. For example, when a "Roaming not allowed" code is received, the propensity of occurrence of the location registration rejection code is determined, and traffic control is selectively performed by performing a code conversion process according to a result of determining the location propensity of the location registration rejection code. It prevents unilateral traffic control through external communication network. The detailed configuration and function of the traffic control prevention server 104 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

The roaming signal network 106 is a signal network for transferring routing information, for example, telephone number information, between a local communication network and an external communication network.

The traffic control server 108 is included in, for example, an out-of-country communication network (not shown), and serves to control traffic of the roaming terminal 100. This traffic control server 108 may be connected to the first switch 102/1 and the second switch 102/2 via the roaming signaling network 106, if the second switch 102/2 is connected to the first switch 102/1. Assuming that it belongs to the communication network of the preferred operator of the communication network of the traffic control server 108, when the roaming terminal 100 attempts to register the location through the first switch 102 /, the traffic control server 108 is used by the traffic control server 108. Location registration of the roaming terminal 100 may be rejected. In this case, the roaming terminal 100 will attempt to register the location through the second switch 102/2, and as a result, the domestic carrier of the first switch 102/1 will lose the roaming revenue opportunity. .

In this embodiment, the traffic control prevention server 104 that can prevent the one-sided traffic control of the traffic control server 108 of the communication network outside the home country in order to eliminate such unreasonable points, the traffic control prevention server 104 It will be described in more detail in Figures 2 to 4 below.

Meanwhile, the above-described first communication network in the home station, the second communication network in the home station, and the communication network outside the home station may each include a wired communication network and a wireless communication network.

The wired communication network is, for example, the Internet, and includes various services existing in the TCP / IP protocol and its upper layers, namely, HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), Telnet, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), DNS (Domain Name System), It is a global open computer network structure that provides Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Network File Service (NFS), and Network Information Service (NIS). It can provide an environment.

In addition, the wireless communication network, for example, a broadband wireless communication network, may include a communication environment such as CDMA, WCDMA, and can provide a wireless communication connection environment of the roaming terminal 100 without significant limitation of the use distance.

In this case, the broadband wireless communication network is involved in call setup and resource allocation of the roaming terminal 100, and thus, a broadband wireless communication network involved in call setup and resource allocation of a roaming terminal connected to another communication network may be established. Those skilled in the art will readily know.

Such a broadband wireless communication network serves to guarantee the mobility of the roaming terminal 100, and may perform a handover and a radio resource management function. The broadband wireless communication network includes a base station and a base station controller, and can support both synchronous and asynchronous. Here, in the case of synchronous, the base station will be a base transceiver station (BTS), the base station controller will be a base station controller (BSC), in the case of asynchronous, the base station is a Node B (Node B), and the base station controller is a Radio Network Controller (RNC). Will be. Of course, the broadband wireless communication network is not limited thereto, and may include a GSM network other than a CDMA network and an access network of all mobile communication systems to be implemented in the future.

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed block diagram of the traffic control prevention server 104 of FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the traffic control prevention server 104 according to the present embodiment includes a roaming signal monitoring unit 12, a policy management unit 14, a roaming signal conversion unit 16, and a database 18. can do.

The roaming signal monitoring unit 12 monitors a signal of the traffic control server 108 of an external communication network that can be provided through the roaming signal network 106, and monitors whether an abnormal signal, for example, a location registration reject code, is generated. Play a role.

If it is determined that the location registration rejection code of the traffic control server 108 is generated through the roaming signal monitoring unit 12, the policy manager 14 may perform policy management accordingly. Here, the policy management may include, for example, a processing instruction according to whether the same case exists recently or how frequently it occurs when the location registration rejection code occurs.

The roaming signal converter 16 converts a roaming signal, that is, a location registration rejection code, according to the policy management of the policy manager 14. The conversion process of the roaming signal converter 16 may include, for example, a process of converting a "location registration rejection code" into a "system error code".

The database 18 serves to store policy management, such as monitored signal information, and conversion records of the roaming signal converter 16, such as system error codes, through the policy manager 14.

Hereinafter, with reference to the above configuration, a network-based roaming traffic control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. In the embodiment of Fig. 3, the roaming terminal 100 is a subscriber terminal of an out-of-country communication network operator, and the first switch 102/1 is a non-preferred communication network of an out-of-country communication network operator including a traffic control server 108. The first switch network is a switch of a service provider, and the second switch 102/2 is limited to a switch of a preferred communication network (second communication network) operator of an out-of-country communication network operator including the traffic control server 108.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the roaming terminal 100 attempts to register a location with respect to the first switch 102/1 of the first communication network in the own station, which is a non-preferred communication network of the traffic control server 108 of the non-local communication network. In case (S200), a signal related to location registration of the first switch 102/1 of the roaming terminal 100, for example, a roaming traffic signal, is received from the traffic control server 108 of the out-of-country communication network via the roaming signal network 106. In step 202, the traffic control prevention server 104 of the first communication network in the home country may be introduced.

The traffic control prevention server 104 of the first communication network in the domestic station analyzes a signal flowing from the traffic control server 108 of the communication network outside the own country, and when it is determined that the analyzed signal is an abnormal signal, that is, the roaming terminal 100 If it is determined that the signal for rejecting the location registration at the first exchange 102/1, for example, the location registration rejection code (Roaming not allowed) (S204), the traffic control prevention server 104 has recently found the same case. It is determined whether there has been, for example, whether a location registration rejection code has occurred within the preset period (S206).

If the location registration rejection code occurs within the preset period, the traffic control prevention server 104 determines how frequently the location registration rejection code occurs, for example, whether the occurrence of the location registration rejection code is greater than or equal to the preset frequency ( S208).

If it is determined that the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is greater than or equal to the preset frequency, the traffic control prevention server 104 converts the location registration rejection code into other information, for example, a system failure / unexpected data value (S210). ).

That is, since the roaming not allowed code is not only used for roaming traffic control, but also used in various network situations and services, the roaming code is simply inputted to another signal. Doing so can disrupt the roaming service. Therefore, when the location registration rejection code is introduced, it is necessary to proceed with the conversion process after considering factors such as the preset period and the preset frequency as described above.

In this way, after converting the location registration rejection code into a system error code, the traffic control prevention server 104 transmits the above-described system error code to the first switch 102/1 (S212).

The first exchange 102/1 receiving the system error code may transmit a system error message to the roaming terminal 100 (S214).

On the other hand, when the signal flowing from the traffic control server 108 is not an abnormal signal, the location registration rejection code does not occur within the preset period, or the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is less than the preset frequency, the traffic control. Prevention server 104 transmits the location registration rejection code to the first switch (102/1) (S216), and thus the first switch (102/1) forwards the location registration rejection message to the roaming terminal (100). It is made (S218).

On the other hand, FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram for describing the code conversion process S210 of FIG. 3 in more detail.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, when the roaming terminal 100 requests the location registration to the first switch 102/1, the first switch 102/1 is located to the traffic control server 108 of the communication network outside the home country. Attempt to register (S102).

Since the first switch 102/1 belongs to a non-preferred network operator, the traffic control server 108 of the non-local communication network generates a location registration rejection code that rejects the location registration attempt, and then through the roaming signaling network 106. Transfer to the first communication network in the home station (S104).

The location registration rejection code is transmitted to the traffic control prevention server 104 in the first communication network in the own country, and the traffic control prevention server 104 converts the location registration rejection code into a system error code (S106).

The translated system error code may be passed from the traffic control prevention server 104 to the first exchange 102/1.

The traffic control prevention server 104 having received the system error code may transmit a system error message corresponding to the system error code to the roaming terminal 100 (S110).

Since the roaming terminal 100 receives a message related to a system error rather than a general location rejection message during normal roaming, the roaming terminal 100 immediately reattempts the location registration with an exchange of another communication network in the own country, for example, a second switch 102/2. Rather, after a predetermined time, for example, about 15 to 20 seconds, the location registration is retried by the first switch 102/1 of the first communication network in the home country (S112).

If the roaming traffic control to deny the location registration indefinitely, customer complaints due to the delay in using the service may occur, it will generally be able to manage the number of rejection of the preset number of times, for example three to four times.

When location registration is retried to the first switch 102/1, location registration may be retried from the first switch to the traffic control server 108 (S114). If this has been retried, the traffic control server 108 may succeed in registering the location of the first switch 102/1 of the first communication network in the home station (S116).

If the location registration is successful, the first switch 102/1 of the first communication network in the own station can register the roaming terminal 100 in its first communication network (S118).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in consideration of a roaming traffic control environment based on a conventional network, a tendency of generating a location registration rejection code when receiving a location registration rejection code of a server outside the home station for traffic control in a roaming network By converting the code into the corresponding code, it is implemented to block the server outside the local station from unilaterally controlling the traffic of the internal exchange.

Due to the present invention, it is possible to contribute to the improvement of roaming sales and profitability of the domestic operators, and the information of the domestic operators is recorded in the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of the Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) of the subscriber who registered for the first time. If the subscriber turns the terminal off or on, or if the signal from the local provider is weak and goes to another provider network, the subscriber can register the location again in the service network of the local provider. It is expected to be able to present a more objective profit structure model.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a network-based roaming traffic control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a detailed block diagram of the traffic control prevention server 104 of FIG.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a network-based roaming traffic control method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a roaming traffic control process when the location registration reject code is converted into a system error code in FIG. 3. FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: roaming terminal 102/1: the first exchange

102/2: second switch 104: traffic control prevention server

106: roaming network 108: traffic control server

Claims (13)

Determining whether a roaming traffic signal from the non-local communication network is introduced when the roaming terminal subscribed to the non-local communication network attempts to register a location in the first communication network in the own country; Converting the location registration rejection code into a system error code when the incoming roaming traffic signal is a location registration rejection code for rejecting location registration of the first communication network in the home country with respect to the roaming terminal; Transferring the converted system error code to a first communication network in the local station Network-based roaming traffic control method comprising a. The method of claim 1, The conversion process, Converting the location registration rejection code to the system error code if the location registration rejection code is generated within a preset period and the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is equal to or greater than a preset frequency; Network-based roaming traffic control method comprising a. The method of claim 1, The conversion process, If the location registration rejection code is not generated within the preset period and the frequency of occurrence of the location registration rejection code is less than the preset frequency, transferring the location registration rejection code to the first communication network in the home country. Network-based roaming traffic control method comprising a. The method of claim 1, The delivery process, Allowing the roaming terminal to register its location in the first communication network Network-based roaming traffic control method comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 4, The delivery process, Causing the roaming terminal to be registered in the first communication network when the roaming terminal is denied location registration in the first communication network more than a predetermined number of times; Network-based roaming traffic control method comprising a. A terminal subscribed to a communication network outside the home country, When the terminal attempts to register a location in a local communication network, when a location registration reject code is introduced from the communication network outside the own country, the location registration reject code is converted into a system error code and transmitted to the local communication network. Traffic control prevention server in domestic communication network Network-based roaming traffic control device comprising a. The method of claim 6, The traffic control prevention server, And converting the location registration rejection code into the system error code when the location registration rejection code is generated within a preset period and the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is greater than or equal to the preset frequency. The method of claim 6, The traffic control prevention server, And transmitting the location registration rejection code to the internal communication network when the location registration rejection code is not generated within the preset period and the occurrence frequency of the location registration rejection code is less than the preset frequency. The method of claim 6, The traffic control prevention server, And a network-based roaming traffic control device configured to cause the terminal to be registered in the local communication network when the terminal is denied location registration to the local communication network. Roaming signal monitoring unit for monitoring the occurrence of abnormal signals of the communication network outside the country provided through the roaming signal network; If it is determined that the abnormal signal has occurred through the roaming signal monitoring unit, and a policy management unit for performing a policy management accordingly; A roaming signal converter configured to convert the abnormal signal according to policy management of the policy manager; Database for storing the policy management through the policy management unit and the conversion record of the roaming signal conversion unit Traffic control prevention server for network-based roaming traffic control comprising a. 11. The method of claim 10, The abnormal signal is, A traffic control prevention server for network-based roaming traffic control, which is a location rejection code. The method of claim 11, The policy management prevents traffic control for network-based roaming traffic control including a processing instruction according to a generation period of the location registration rejection code and a frequency of occurrence of the location registration rejection code when the location registration rejection code occurs. server. The method of claim 11, The roaming signal converter, Traffic control prevention server for network-based roaming traffic control to convert the location registration rejection code to a system error code.

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