KR20230114878A - Method and Apparatus for transition from SA mode to NSA mode - Google Patents

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention automatically switches from SA mode to NSA mode according to the type of service for a 5G service provided to a terminal through an SA network so that the corresponding service is provided through the NSA network from SA mode to NSA mode. As it relates to a switching technology, a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to an aspect of the present invention is a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode performed in an SA network, (a) SA mode through an SA network Detecting service traffic of a predetermined specific type among various types of service traffic provided to a terminal of the terminal; and (b) controlling the terminal corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic to switch from the SA mode to the NSA mode. service can be provided.

Description

Method and apparatus for transition from SA mode to NSA mode {Method and Apparatus for transition from SA mode to NSA mode}

The present invention relates to a switching technology from SA (Standalone) mode to NSA (Non-Standalone) mode, and more particularly, to automatically switch from SA mode to NSA mode according to the type of 5G service (ie, SA network It relates to a method and apparatus for automatically switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to the type of service for a 5G service provided to a terminal through an NSA network) and a method and apparatus for switching from SA mode to NSA mode.

The 5G standard considers both NSA (Non-Standalone) and SA (Standalone) methods for the core network for evolution from 4G to 5G.

The NSA method is a method implemented in the initial commercial network, and the operation of the control plane in charge of mobility management of the terminal utilizes the 4G LTE network and data corresponding to the user plane (User plane/Data plane) Traffic is sent and received through the 5G network. The SA method is a structure that uses 5G's own structure for both control channels and data channels. In both methods, the terminal evolves into a form that simultaneously supports both 4G and 5G wireless access.

When using the SA mode in the terminal, the LTE frequency cannot be used, but when using the NSA mode, both LTE and 5G wireless access can be used, that is, dual connectivity can be used, depending on the type of 5G service. Service quality or speed may be better when NSA is used than when SA is used.

Even though the SA mode terminal is in the SA area, there may be a case where it is necessary to use a specific type of service that requires the quality that can be obtained through dual connectivity. Even in this case, the terminal stack uses the service Since it does not know what type of service it is, there is a problem in that it cannot switch from SA to NSA when necessary.

Registered Patent Publication No. 10-2232679 (2021.03.22.)

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problem, and its purpose is to automatically switch from SA mode to NSA mode according to the type of service for 5G service provided to the terminal through the SA network, so that the corresponding service can access the NSA network. It is to provide a method and apparatus for switching from SA mode to NSA mode so as to be provided through.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to an aspect of the present invention is a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode performed in an SA network, including: (a) the SA mode through the SA network Detecting service traffic of a predetermined specific type among various types of service traffic provided to a terminal of the terminal; and (b) controlling the terminal corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic to switch from the SA mode to the NSA mode. service can be provided.

The step (a) may detect the preset specific type of service traffic based on the IP address allocated to the various types of service traffic, and the detection is carried out by User Plane Function (UPF) of the SA core of the SA network. can be done in

The step (b) may include (b-1) changing a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) value of a QoS flow corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic; And (b-2) requesting the terminal to switch from SA mode to NSA mode based on the changed 5QI value; and (b-2) can be performed by the gNB of the SA network.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to another aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for switching from SA mode to NSA mode included in an SA network, to a terminal in SA mode through the SA network. a detection unit for detecting service traffic of a predetermined specific type among various types of service traffic provided; and a control unit for controlling the terminal corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic to switch from the SA mode to the NSA mode, wherein the switched NSA mode terminal transmits the specific type of service through the NSA network. can be provided.

The detection unit may detect service traffic of a predetermined specific type based on an IP address allocated to the various types of service traffic, and may be included in a User Plane Function (UPF) of an SA core of the SA network.

The control unit may include a change unit for changing a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) value of a QoS flow corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic; and a requesting unit requesting the terminal to switch from SA mode to NSA mode based on the changed 5QI value.

The change unit may be included in a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) of the SA core of the SA network, and the request unit may be included in a gNB of the SA network.

According to another aspect of the present invention in order to achieve the above object, it is possible to provide a computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing a method for switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode in a computer.

According to another aspect of the present invention in order to achieve the above object, it is possible to provide an application stored in a computer-readable recording medium in order to execute the method of switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode in combination with hardware.

According to another aspect of the present invention in order to achieve the above object, it is possible to provide a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium in order to execute the switching method from the SA mode to the NSA mode on a computer.

As described above, according to various aspects of the present invention, among various types of services provided to terminals through the SA network, when using Dual Connectivity of NSA, service quality or speed can be better (than when using SA) For a specific type of service, the SA mode is automatically switched to the NSA mode so that the corresponding service is provided using dual connectivity of the NSA network, thereby improving QoS quality for the specific type of service.

1 is a configuration diagram of a system including a 5G SA network and an NSA network to which the present invention is applied;
2 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus for switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, the same components should have the same numerals as much as possible, even if they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, when it is determined that a detailed description of a known configuration or function related to an embodiment of the present invention may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

1 is a configuration diagram of a communication system including a 5G SA network and an NSA network to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the NSA network 1 is implemented in an initial commercial network, and the operation of the control plane in charge of mobility management of a UE 3 is performed by EPC (NSA core ) (11) and the 4G eNB (eNB) 13, while using the 4G LTE network, data traffic corresponding to the user plane (user plane / data plane) is transmitted through the 5G eNB (gNB) 23 of the 5G network. Represents the network structure of the NSA method for exchanging.

In addition, the SA network 2 uses the 5G network's own structure including the 5G core (SA core) 21 and the 5G base station (gNB) for both the control channel of the control plane and the data channel of the user (data) plane. represents the network structure of

Terminal 3 can simultaneously support both 4G and 5G wireless access in both NSA and SA modes (ie, NSA mode and SA mode).

As shown in FIG. 3, the EPC (NSA Core) 11 of the NSA network 11 includes the MME 11a, the S-GW 11b, the P-GW-C 11c, and the P-GW-U 11d. ), and HSS 11e.

The 5G core (SA core) 21 of the SA network 2 may include an AMF 21a, an SMF 21c, a UPF 21d, and a UDM 21e as shown in FIG.

EPC (NSA Core) 11 and 5G Core (SA Core) 21 may share a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 25 as shown in FIG. 3 .

2 is a block diagram of an apparatus 200 for switching from an SA mode to an NSA mode according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 200 may be included in the SA network 2 of FIG. 1 as an example. And, as shown in the figure, it may include a detection unit 210 and a control unit 230.

The detection unit 210 is for detecting traffic of a predetermined specific type of service among various types of service traffic provided to the SA mode terminal 3 through the SA network 2, and in this embodiment, the predetermined specific type The service of may include a service that requires quality that can be obtained through dual connectivity even though the SA mode terminal 3 is in the SA area.

The detection unit 210 may detect service traffic of a predetermined specific type based on IP addresses allocated to various types of service traffic.

For example, the detection unit 210 may be included in a user plane function (UPF) 21d of the SA core 21 of the SA network 2.

The control unit 230 controls the terminal 3 corresponding to the specific type of service traffic detected by the detection unit 210 to switch from the SA mode to the NSA mode, and accordingly, the terminal 3 switched to the NSA mode Through this NSA network 1, it is possible to receive a corresponding specific type of service.

The control unit 230 may include a change unit 231 and a request unit 233 as shown in FIG. 2 .

The change unit 231 is for changing the 5QI (5G QoS Identifier) value of the QoS flow corresponding to the specific type of service traffic detected through the detection unit 210. For example, the SA of the SA network 2 It may be included in the PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function) 25 of the core 21.

The requesting unit 233 requests the terminal 23 to switch from the SA mode to the NSA mode based on the 5QI value changed through the change unit 231, and in one way, to the gNB 23 of the SA network 2 can be included

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and since it is applied to the device of FIGS. 1-2, the operation of the device will be described in parallel.

First, when the terminal 3 accesses the SA network 2 in the SA mode and starts receiving a specific type of service according to the default QoS flow (S301), the SA core of the SA network 2 ( The UPF 21d of 21) detects and recognizes that a predetermined type of service traffic has occurred based on the IP address allocated to the specific type of service traffic (S302), and recognizes a specific type of service through the SMF 21c. A notification (noti) notifying that it has been performed is performed (S303).

The SMF 21c transfers the Service Start notice for the service notified in step S303 to the PCRF (or referred to as PCF) 25 (S304), and the PCF 25 transmits the Default QoS The 5QI (5G QoS Identifier) value set in the flow is changed to another value. For example, the 5QI (5G QoS Identifier) value of the QoS flow corresponding to the specific type of service traffic detected in step S302 Change to (S305).

The PCF 25 transfers the QoS profile including the 5QI value changed in step S305 to the SMF 21c (S306), and the SMF 21c transfers the QoS profile to the gNB 23 (S307).

The gNB 23 performs an LTE switch request to the UE 3 so that the UE 3 switches from the SA mode to the NSA mode based on the changed 5QI value of the QoS profile received in step S307 (S308), Accordingly, the terminal 3 is switched to idle and NSA mode to perform redirection to LTE (S309 to S323).

Looking at steps S309 to S323, the terminal 3 accesses the eNB 13 of the LTE network 1 in the NSA mode and transmits a TAU (Tracking Area Update) request message (S309), and the eNB 13 is the NSA core The TAU request message is transmitted to the MME 11a of (11) (S310).

The MME 11a transmits a subscriber/session information request message requesting subscriber and session information of a specific type of service to the AMF 21a of the SA core 21 (S311), and the AMF 21a transmits the SMF 21c The PDU session information request message is transmitted to (S312), and the SMF (21c) communicates with the UPF (21a) to perform N4 session change to delete the corresponding session of 5G (S313).

The SMF 21c transmits the PDU session information response message to the AMF 21a in response to the PDU session information request message of step S312 (S314), and the AMF 21a responds to the subscriber/session information request message of step S311. As a response, the subscriber/session information response message is delivered to the MME 11a (S315).

After the MME 11a performs a process for authentication and security (S316), it transmits a session creation request message to the S-GW 11b (S317), and the S-GW 11b sends the P-GW-C ( 11c) and transmits a QoS Flow modification request message (S318), and the P-GW-C 21c communicates with the P-GW-U 21d to perform N4 session change to create a corresponding LTE session ( S319).

In response to the QoS Flow modification request message in step S318, the P-GW-C (21c) forwards the QoS Flow modification response message to the S-GW (11) (SS320), and the S-GW (11b) transmits it in step S317. In response to the session creation request message, the session creation response message is transmitted to the MME 11b (S321).

Finally, the MME 11a transmits a TAU grant message to the terminal 3 in response to the TAU request message of steps S309-S310 (S322), and the terminal 3 delivers a TAU completion message to the MME 11a. (S323), and then the terminal 3 accesses the LTE of the NSA network 1 in the NSA mode to receive a specific type of service according to the above-described changed Default QoS flow (S324) .

Therefore, among various types of services provided to the terminal through the SA network (2), for a specific type of service for which service quality or speed can be better (than when using SA) when using NSA's Dual Connectivity, SA mode QoS quality for a specific type of service can be improved by automatically switching to the NSA mode and providing the corresponding service using dual connectivity of the NSA network 1.

On the other hand, according to the above-described method of switching from A mode to NSA mode of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium having a program for executing the corresponding method in a computer can be implemented.

On the other hand, according to the method of switching from A mode to NSA mode of the present invention described above, an application stored in a computer-readable recording medium can be implemented in order to execute the method in combination with hardware.

On the other hand, according to the above-described method for switching from A mode to NSA mode of the present invention, a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium may be implemented in order to execute the corresponding method on a computer.

For example, as described above, a method for switching from A mode to NSA mode according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a computer readable recording medium including program instructions for performing various computer-implemented operations, or a recording thereof. It can be implemented as an application stored on a medium. The computer readable recording medium may include program instructions, local data files, local data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the embodiment of the present invention, or may be known and usable to those skilled in computer software. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and ROMs, RAMs, flash memories, and the like. A hardware device specially configured to store and execute the same program instructions is included. Examples of program instructions may include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like as well as machine language codes generated by a compiler.

The above description is merely an example of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications and variations can be made to those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but to explain, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be construed according to the claims below, and all technical ideas within the equivalent range should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1: NSA (Non-Standalone) network
2: SA (Standalone) network
3: terminal (UE)
11: NSA Core (EPC: Evolved Packet Core) (4G Core)
13: 4G base station (eNB)
21: SA core (5G core)
23: 5G base station (gNB)
200: Switching device from SA mode to NSA mode
210: detection unit
230: control unit
231 Change part
233; request

Claims (15)

As a method of switching from SA mode to NSA mode performed in an SA network,
(a) detecting service traffic of a predetermined specific type among various types of service traffic provided to a terminal in SA mode through an SA network; and
(b) controlling the terminal corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic to switch from SA mode to NSA mode;
Switching method from SA mode to NSA mode, characterized in that for the terminal in the switched NSA mode to receive the specific type of service through the NSA network. According to claim 1,
Wherein step (a) detects the service traffic of the preset specific type based on the IP address allocated to the various types of service traffic. According to claim 2,
The method of switching from SA mode to NSA mode, characterized in that the detection is performed in a user plane function (UPF) of an SA core of the SA network. According to claim 1,
The step (b) may include (b-1) changing a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) value of a QoS flow corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic; and (b-2) requesting, by the UE, to switch from SA mode to NSA mode based on the changed 5QI value. According to claim 4,
Step (b-1) is a method for switching from SA mode to NSA mode, characterized in that performed in a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF). According to claim 4,
The switching method from SA mode to NSA mode, characterized in that (b-2) is performed in the gNB of the SA network. An apparatus for switching from an SA mode to an NSA mode included in an SA network,
a detection unit for detecting service traffic of a predetermined specific type among various types of service traffic provided to a terminal in an SA mode through an SA network; and
A control unit for controlling the terminal corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic to switch from SA mode to NSA mode; including,
Switching device from SA mode to NSA mode, characterized in that for allowing the switched NSA mode terminal to receive the specific type of service through the NSA network. According to claim 7,
The apparatus for switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode, characterized in that the detection unit detects the predetermined specific type of service traffic based on the IP address allocated to the various types of service traffic. According to claim 8,
The apparatus for switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode, characterized in that the detection unit is included in a User Plane Function (UPF) of the SA core of the SA network. According to claim 7,
The control unit may include a change unit for changing a 5G QoS Identifier (5QI) value of a QoS flow corresponding to the detected specific type of service traffic; and a requesting unit for requesting the terminal to switch from the SA mode to the NSA mode based on the changed 5QI value. According to claim 10,
The switching unit from the SA mode to the NSA mode, characterized in that the change unit is included in a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) of the SA core of the SA network. According to claim 10,
The apparatus for switching from SA mode to NSA mode, characterized in that the requesting unit is included in the gNB of the SA network. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing the method of switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in a computer. An application stored in a computer-readable recording medium in order to execute the method of switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode according to any one of claims 1 to 6 in combination with hardware. A computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium in order to execute the method of switching from the SA mode to the NSA mode according to any one of claims 1 to 6 on a computer.