Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
  • H04W88/08—Access point devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/02—Details
  • H04L12/16—Arrangements for providing special services to substations
  • H04L12/18—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast
  • H04L12/189—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast in combination with wireless systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
  • H04L12/28—Data switching networks characterised by path configuration, e.g. LAN [Local Area Networks] or WAN [Wide Area Networks]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W60/00—Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W64/00—Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W80/00—Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
  • H04W80/04—Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]

Definitions

• the present invention generally relates to mobile communication networks.
• mobile communication networks are subject to standardisation; therefore details on such networks can be found in the corresponding standards, published by the corresponding standardisation bodies.
• Such networks usually comprise a Radio Access Network (RAN) and a Core Network (CN), and usually have a hierarchical architecture.
• RAN Radio Access Network
• CN Core Network
• RAN nodes such as Base Station (BS) (respectively NodeB) are connected to RAN nodes such as Base Station Controller (BSC) (respectively Radio Network Controller (RNC)) in a hierarchical way.
• BSC Base Station Controller
• RNC Radio Network Controller
• RAN nodes such as BSC (respectively RNC) are connected in a hierarchical way to CN nodes such as Mobile Switching Center/ Visitor Location Register (MSC/VLR) (for a Circuit-Switched (CS) domain) or Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN) (for a Packet-Switched (PS) domain), in turn connected in a hierachical way to other CN nodes such as Gateway Mobile Switching Center (GMSC) for CS domain, or Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) for PS domain.
• RAN nodes such as BS/NodeB communicate with Mobile Stations (MS) (respectively User Equipement (UE)), not specifically illustrated, over a radio interface.
• CN nodes such as GMSC/GGSN communicate with other networks, not specifically illustrated.
• CN nodes such as MSC/VLR and/or SGSN are in charge of a number of functions, including in particular a Mobility Management (MM) function and a Paging Coordination (PC) function.
• MM Mobility Management
• PC Paging Coordination
• the Mobility Management (MM) function includes, for MS/UE which are not actively engaged in a connection (in particular MS/UE in idle mode) keeping track of MS/UE location with the accuracy of an area (usually called Location Area (LA) or Routing Area (RA)) made of a set of cells, and checking user access rights on said LA/RA basis, using subscription data held in a subscriber database such as Home Location Register (HLR) or Home Subscriber Server (HSS).
• the Paging Coordination (PC) function includes contacting the appropriate
• LA/RA configuration is important for network optimisation, in particular for optimising the amount of signalling traffic in the network, in particular for Mobility Management and Paging Coordination functions.
• LA/RA configuration is generally performed via Operation & Maintenance (O&M) operations.
• such LA/RA configuration usually comprises two operations: the mapping between LA/RA and BSC/RNC nodes is configured by O&M in the CN, and the set of cells belonging to a given LA/RA is configured by O&M in the BSC/RNC.
• the RAN operator has to configure the RAN nodes (BSC/RNC) accordingly.
• BSC/RNC RAN nodes
• CN nodes can be configured on a permanent or semi-permanent basis.
• FIG. 2 An example of an architecture of such future generation networks is illustrated in figure 2.
• the trend is to go from the above- recalled hierarchical architecture to a "fiat" architecture, or in other words to reduce the number of "intermediate” nodes (such as BSC/RNC in the above- recalled hierarchical architecture), in order to reduce setup delays and user plane latency.
• the trend is to go from four nodes such as GGSN - SGSN - BSC/RNC - BS/ NodeB, to two nodes such as ASGW (Access System GateWay) - ENB (Enhanced NodeB), in the user plane and possibly in the control plane as well.
• ASGW Access System GateWay
• ENB Enhanced NodeB
• the MM function and the PC function can be hosted in the ASGW or in a separate node (such as the node noted MM/PC in figure 2).
• the PC function can be located in the CN or in the RAN.
• MME Mobility Management Entity
• PCE Paging Coordination Entity
• Nodes such as ENB, ASGW, MME, PCE are interconnected by an IP-based transport network or backbone.
• the present invention in particular enables to solve part or all of the above- mentioned problems, or to avoid part or all of the above-mentioned drawbacks. More generally, the present invention enables to improve and/or simplify network configuration operations, in particular in connection with Mobility Management and/or Paging Coordination functions.
• a method for configuring a cellular mobile communication network with Tracking Areas comprising:
• said step of registering comprises: - ⁇ step wherein said Radio Access Network entity registers onto at least one Mobility Management entity and/or Paging Coordination entity in charge of said Mobility Management function and/or Paging Coordination function, for said at least one Tracking Area.
• Management entity and/or Paging Coordination entity advantageously comprises:
• said step of configuring advantageously comprises: - a step of configuring said Radio Access Network entity with a destination address for the sending of said registration request.
• said step of registering advantageously comprises:
• said step of registering advantageously comprises:
• said step of registering comprises:
• a Radio Access Network entity registers onto an IP multicast group, associated with said at least one Tracking Area, for the reception of Mobility
• said step of registering advantageously comprises:
• said step of associating advantageously comprises:
• said step of associating advantageously comprises:
• a Radio Access Network entity comprising:
• said means for registering comprise:
• said means for registering advantageously comprise:
• said means for registering advantageously comprise:
• said means for registering comprise:
• said means for registering advantageously comprise:
• said means for associating advantageously comprise:
• said means for registering advantageously comprise:
• an entity of a mobile communication network in charge of Mobility Management function and/or Paging Coordination function, for at least one Tracking Area, comprising, in a first embodiment: - means for registering a Radio Access Network entity onto said entity, for said at least one Tracking Area.
• said means for registering comprise:
• said means for registering advantageously comprise:
• said means for registering advantageously comprise:
• an entity of a mobile communication network in charge of Mobility Management function and/or Paging Coordination function, for at least one Tracking Area, comprising, in a second embodiment, in an IP-based transport network having IP multicast capability :
• said means for associating advantageously comprise:
• said means for associating advantageously comprise: - means for building automatically a DNS name associated with said
• Tracking Area based on a pre-defined pattern, configured on all RAN and Mobility Management and/or Paging Coordination entities, and on the identity of the tracking Area.
• figure 1 is intended to recall an example of hierarchical architecture of a mobile communication network
• figure 2 is intended to illustrate an example of architecture of future generation networks to which the present invention may be applied
• - figure 3 is intended to illustrate an example of a method according to the present invention, according to a first embodiment
• figure 4 is intended to illustrate an example of a method according to the present invention, according to a second embodiment.
• the present invention may also be explained as follows.
• the present invention recognizes that, in particular in the context of the evolution towards future generation architectures, there is a need to improve and/or simplify the configuration of mobile communication networks with Tracking Areas.
• the present invention proposes an automatic registration of an ENB (or Base Station or equivalent node) with its Tracking Area configuration data to the appropriate Paging Coordination Function (PC).
• This registration could be performed at ENB startup, periodically or at anytime.
• the ENB is configured by the
• the ENB registers onto the Paging Coordination Function, thereby indicating that it (the ENB) is to be associated with this/these TA(s) for paging purpose.
• the present invention further proposes different embodiments for such an automatic registration of a RAN entity such as for example ENB, onto a function such as PC function for example.
• the first embodiment is also referred to as registration at application level.
• An example of a method according to this first embodiment is illustrated in figure 3.
• a ENB (or any RAN node) is configured by the RAN operator with the cells it supports and their associated Tracking Area(s).
• a Tracking Area may be any mobility area defined for mobile registration - paging purposes such as the Location Area and the Routing Area of a GSM network.
• the ENB is also configured by the RAN operator with the address of the PCE(s) that manage this Tracking Area.
• the ENB sends a Tracking Area(s) registration message, or registration request, to the PCE(s), as illustrated in step 2.
• Each PCE may perform appropriate authentication in order to prevent a fake ENB to register, as illustrated in step 3.
• the PCE accepts or rejects the Tracking Area(s) registration request from the ENB.
• the PCE adds (and/or possibly removes, depending on information within the registration message) the ENB address in the Radio Access Network entity list associated with the Tracking Area(s), as illustrated in step 5.
• the PCE is invoked to page the UE on a given TA.
• the PCE notifies all the ENBs that have registered for the Tracking Area, as illustrated in step 6.
• the ENB pages the UE on the cells corresponding to the Tracking Area, as illustrated in step 7.
• the second embodiment is also referred to as registration at transport level. An example of a method according to this second embodiment is illustrated in figure 4.
• This second embodiment uses IP multicast capability of the transport network. Details on the IP protocol and its associated IP multicast capability will not be recalled here. Such details can be found in particular in documents published by the IETF (Internet Engineeering Task Force), such as in particular in RFC 2236 for
• IGMP Internet Group Management Protocol
• the ENB registers onto the IP multicast addresses(s) associated with the TA(s) of the cells it supports.
• An UE is paged via a paging message sent by the PCE to the IP Multicast address corresponding to the TA where the UE has been registered.
• this second embodiment uses IP multicast facility in order to perform this automatic registration.
• each Tracking Area is associated with a multicast address.
• Each ENB subscribes to each multicast address(es) associated with the Tracking Area(s) the ENB is associated with.
• the PCE wanting to page a UE in a Tracking Area sends a multicast IP message with the multicast destination address corresponding to this Tracking Area.
• the IP multicast address associated with a Location/ Tracking Area such as "LAxy" (where xy is the Location/ Tracking Area number) is automatically learnt by ENB/PCE from Domain Name Server (DNS).
• DNS Domain Name Server
• the ENB/PCE build automatically a DNS name associated with the Location/ Tracking Area "LAxy” (as illustrated in steps 10, 1 1 ), interrogate DNS for translation from this DNS name (as illustrated in steps 12, 13), and get as result (as illustrated in steps 14, 1 5), the IP multicast address to be associated with the Tracking Area.
• the IP multicast address to be associated with the Tracking Area is used by PCE to send paging request on this Location/ Tracking Area "LAxy" (as illustrated in step 17).
• the ENB(s) upon reception of the paging request on the IP multicast address associated with the Tracking Area page(s) the UE on the cells corresponding to this Tracking Area, as illustrated in step 18.
• the DNS name is made up by using a fixed pattern configured by O&M in all ENB/PCE (simple configuration as valid for all ENB/PCE) with a pattern like "LAxy".
• a benefit is that there is no need to define a specific IP multicast configuration message from PCE to ENB.
• the present invention also has for its object a Radio Access Network entity, and an entity in charge of Mobility Management function and/or Paging Coordination function, comprising means for carrying out a method according to the present invention, for example as disclosed above in connection with figure 3 or 4.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=36269385

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (1)

Families Citing this family (18)

Citations (4)

Family Cites Families (26)

• 2005
  • 2005-11-07 ES ES19159911T patent/ES2836180T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2005-11-07 EP EP19159911.7A patent/EP3522447B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2005-11-07 EP EP05292352.1A patent/EP1783962B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2006
  • 2006-11-02 WO PCT/EP2006/068050 patent/WO2007051826A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2006-11-02 KR KR1020087013647A patent/KR101313383B1/ko active Active
  • 2006-11-02 JP JP2008539404A patent/JP5607305B2/ja active Active
  • 2006-11-06 US US11/556,730 patent/US10257883B2/en active Active
  • 2006-11-06 CN CN200610143796.1A patent/CN1972514B/zh active Active
• 2012
  • 2012-12-28 JP JP2012286703A patent/JP5758872B2/ja active Active
• 2019
  • 2019-04-04 US US16/375,188 patent/US10779361B2/en active Active

Patent Citations (4)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events