WO2009059528A1

WO2009059528A1 - Method, system and apparatus for selecting a core network node

Info

Publication number: WO2009059528A1
Application number: PCT/CN2008/072853
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chunliang Liu; Fei Zeng
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2007-10-31
Filing date: 2008-10-28
Publication date: 2009-05-14
Also published as: CN101426245A

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus for selecting a core network node are provided. A method for selecting a core network node includes: receiving the request of the mobile terminal for accessing the core network node; a node selecting apparatus distributes the accessing core network node to the mobile terminal according to the present available capacity proportion of the core network node. A system and apparatus for selecting a core network node are also provided. The solution can balance the load of the core network node.

Description

Method, system and device for selecting a core network node

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200710166418.X, filed on October 31, 2007, entitled "Method, System and Apparatus for Selecting Core Network Nodes", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference. Combined in this application.

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies, and in particular, to a method, system and apparatus for selecting a core network node.

Background technique

The core network (Core Network, CN) is a network element that provides core switching and call routing functions, and includes a number of nodes that implement different functions, such as a Mobile Switch Center (MSC), a Gateway (Media Gateway, MGW), and a home network. Home Location Register (HLR), etc.

In the Third Generation Partnership Project ^{(The 3 rd Partnership Project, 3GPP} ) of the relevant agreements, the concept of MSC Pool (Pool) is. Specifically, in an MSC Pool, multiple MSCs operate in parallel to share the services in the MSC Pool. This MSC Pool can be referred to as a CN node group.

FIG. 1 shows a network structure diagram including an MSC Pool in the prior art. For convenience of explanation, some nodes such as a base station, an HLR, and the like are omitted in the figure. Figure 1 illustrates an example in which three MSCs are included in the network, including three MGWs, three radio network controllers (RNCs), a base station controller (BSC), and an MSC pool. Any MGW can be connected to each MSC in the MSC Pool, and any RNC/BSC can be connected to each MGW. The core network side includes an MSC and an MGW, and the radio access network (RAN) side includes a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC). Generally, the CN node capacity is configured on each CN node. As shown in the figure, the capacity of MSC1, MSC2, and MSC3 is 2k, 3k, and 5k.

In the prior art, the user equipment (UE) initiates an access request message to the RAN, where the message includes a Network Resource Identifier (NRI) of the CN node address, and the RAN parses the access request message. Finding the corresponding MSC in the MSC Pool and routing the access request to the corresponding MSC. If the CN node address in the access request message is not available If the NRI is configured to be derivable, or if no NRI is successfully derived from the access request message, a CN node will be selected for the UE through the Node Selection Function (NAS). If the MSC in the MSC Pool is selected, the MSC that the UE selects is selected according to the proportion of the number of bearable users configured by each MSC. Specifically, according to the foregoing configuration, if 10 users are accessed, 2 of the 10 users are allocated to MSC1, 3 are assigned to MSC2, and 5 are assigned to MSC3, that is, according to each MSC The proportion of the configured number of users that can be carried. The allocation of the foregoing MSC may be implemented by the MGW or by the RNC/BSC.

In the research and practice of the prior art, the inventors found the following problems in the prior art:

In the prior art, the node selection function can only be provided according to the configured CN node capacity, which may result in unbalanced load of each CN node, and may even cause partial CN nodes to be overloaded.

Summary of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system, and apparatus for selecting a core network node to implement load balancing of a core network node.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a core network node, including:

Receiving a request for the mobile terminal to access the core network node;

The node selection device allocates the accessed core network node to the mobile terminal according to the current available capacity ratio of the core network node.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a system for selecting a core network node, including at least one core network node, and a node selection device, where

a core network node, configured to deliver current resource information;

a node selection device, configured to receive current resource information of a core network node, where the current resource information includes a current available capacity or a current load, and when the resource information is a current load, converting the load into a current available capacity; and receiving The mobile terminal accesses the request of the core network node, and according to the current available capacity of the core network node, allocates the accessed core network node to the mobile terminal requesting access to the core network node according to the current available capacity ratio.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a node selection device for selecting a core network node, including an access request receiving unit, and an access allocation unit, where

An access request receiving unit, configured to receive a request for the mobile terminal to access the core network node; The access allocation unit is configured to allocate the accessed core network node to the mobile terminal according to the current available capacity ratio of the core network node.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a core network node, including a sending unit, and an access unit, where the sending unit is configured to send current resource information;

An access unit, configured to provide mobile terminal access.

According to the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the CN node that requests access to the CN node allocates the accessed CN node according to the current available capacity ratio according to the current available capacity of the CN node, so that the load of the CN node can be balanced.

DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only It is a certain embodiment of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained from those skilled in the art without any inventive labor.

1 is a network structure diagram of a mobile switching center pool in the prior art;

2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a flow chart of a complete embodiment of the method of the present invention;

4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

Figure 6 is another block diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention.

detailed description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative work shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

In the prior art, the node selection function can only be provided according to the configured CN node capacity, but the current number of users of each CN node is constantly changing. When the actual remaining available capacity ratio and the configured ratio have greatly differed, The CN node load is not balanced, and may even cause some CN nodes to be overloaded. As in the above example, when the actual number of users of MSC3 is close to 95% of its total capacity, the actual number of users of MSC1 and MSC2 is 30% of the total capacity, respectively. The users can be distributed according to the proportion of each MSC configuration, that is, distributed to MSC1, MSC2 and MSC3 according to the ratio of 2:3:5. As a result, the load of each MSC is unbalanced, that is, the load of MSC3 may be high and the load of MSC1 and MSC2 is relatively high. Low, severely causes MSC3 to overload.

The embodiments of the present invention are further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Step 201: Receive a request for the mobile terminal to access the core network node.

Step 202: Allocate an access core network node to the mobile terminal according to a current available capacity ratio of the core network node.

The step of receiving the request of the mobile terminal to access the core network node may further include the step of: receiving current resource information delivered by the core network node.

For example, the core network node here is the MSC in the MSC Pool. As mentioned above, the core network node selected for the mobile terminal can be implemented by the MGW or by the RNC/BSC. Therefore, in this step, the MSC that is selected for the mobile terminal to access may be implemented by the MGW or the RNC/BSC. The step of receiving the current resource information delivered by the core network node includes:

Each MSC in the MSC Pool sends a message containing its current resource information to the MGW or RNC/BSC.

In order to ensure that the current resource information is sent by the MSCs in the MSC Pool at the same time, each MSC may be required to send the current resource information at the same time. Of course, each MSC may also be required to send its current resource information at the same time. Specifically, each MSC may be required to send its current resource information within a predetermined time period, and the predetermined time period may be a time period starting from an absolute time, which is referred to as a first time period, for example, each MSC is at 10:00. Send the respective current resource information within 5 minutes from the beginning. In this way, the resource information delivered by each MSC as much as possible at the same time can be guaranteed, so as to provide a reliable basis for the subsequent selection of the MSC.

Further, each MSC in the MSC Pool may also send a message containing the current current resource information to the MGW or the RNC/BSC according to a predetermined period. In this way, the current resource information of each MSC in the MSC Pool is periodically updated to further ensure the equalization of the MSC resources in the MSC Pool.

The sending a message including the current resource information may be sent by using an M3UA link between the MSC and the MGW. M3UA is Signaling System 7, SS7 messaging The Message Transfer Part 3 (MTP3) user adaptation layer protocol is used to implement interworking between SS7 and Internet Protocol (IP) and to carry MTP3 user messages on the IP network.

The sending a message containing the current resource information may also be sent through the M2UA link. M2UA is the SS7 messaging part MTP2 adaptation layer protocol, which is used to implement SS7 and IP interworking and to carry SS7 messages on the IP network.

When transmitted over an M3UA or M2UA link, the resource information message can be implemented by extending a Service Indicator (SI). For example, the resource information can be represented by SI in the extended data (data) message. The message content includes the identifier of the CN node and the current resource information. The extension of SI to 7 indicates that the resource message is mainly because the current SI 7 message between the MSC and the MGW is not applied and does not cause a collision. It is also possible to extend the Signaling Connection Control Part (SCCP) or the Base Station System Application Part (BSSAP) to represent resource information. The reason is similar to the previous one.

The sending a message containing the current resource information may also be sent through the H.248 link. The H.248 protocol is a media gateway control protocol. For example, in the ServiceChange message of H.248, the ServiceChangeInfo package in the ServiceChangeDescriptor is extended to carry the currently available capacity message.

If the current resource information is the currently available capacity, it can be calculated from the total capacity and the current CPU usage of the MSC. Specifically, it can be calculated according to the following formula:

Current available capacity = total capacity X conversion factor

The following table lists the correspondence between the current CPU usage and the conversion factor:

Table 1. Table of relationship between conversion factor and current CPU usage

When the resource information is the currently available capacity, according to the current available capacity of the core network node, the mobile terminal that requests access to the core network node allocates the accessed core network section according to the current available capacity ratio. Point; when the resource information is the current load, the load is converted into the current available capacity, and the mobile terminal requesting access to the core network node is allocated according to the current available capacity according to the current available capacity of the core network node. node.

Specifically, when the resource information received by the MGW or the RNC/BSC is the currently available capacity, according to the current available capacity of the MSC, the mobile terminal requesting access to the MSC allocates the accessed MSC according to the current available capacity ratio; when the MGW or When the resource information received by the RNC/BSC is the current load, the load is converted into the current available capacity. According to the current available capacity of the MSC, the mobile terminal requesting access to the MSC allocates the accessed MSC according to the current available capacity ratio.

Here, the current load may be the aforementioned CPU usage.

Considering the time error of each MSC, or the required delay of each MSC to deliver the current resource information, a second time period may be set in the MGW or the RNC/BSC, and each time is received in the second time period. The resource information sent by the MSC is that each MSC sends the current resource information at the same time, so the accessed MSC can be allocated according to the current available capacity ratio.

The first time period and the second time period can be used in combination. For example, if the first time period is set to 5 minutes, each MSC sends its current resource information within 5 minutes starting from 10:00; the second time period is set to 3 minutes, when the MGW receives the first time. When the current resource information of a certain MSC is started, the resource information sent by each MSC is received within 3 minutes from the start of the counting, and it is considered that each MSC sends the current resource information at the same time, so that it can be currently available. The capacity ratio is allocated to the connected MSC. In this way, the resource information delivered by each MSC as much as possible at the same time can be guaranteed, so as to provide a reliable basis for the subsequent selection of the MSC.

As described above, when the current resource information is the current load of the MSC, that is, the current resource information is the current occupancy rate of the CPU of the MSC, the step may be that the MGW receives the current occupancy rate of the CPU and receives the current CPU usage. The rate is then converted to the current available capacity of the MSC, thereby allocating the accessed MSC to the UE according to the current available capacity ratio. The current available capacity can be obtained by multiplying the total capacity of the MSC by the conversion factor in Table 1 above.

It should be noted that the embodiment is not limited to the selection of the MSC. As long as the same type of CN nodes operate in parallel and share the same services, the method of the embodiment can be used.

The following is a description of a complete embodiment of the method of the invention, which assumes MSC

There are two MSCs in the Pool. Figure 3 shows a flow chart of the complete embodiment comprising the following steps: Step 301: The MSC1 in the MSC Pool converts its first CPU usage to the first current available capacity, and sets the total capacity of the MSC1 to 10k, and the first CPU occupancy rate is 74% (corresponding to a conversion factor of 0.2). The current available capacity is 10k*0.2=2k.

Step 302: The MSC2 in the MSC Pool converts its second CPU usage to the second current available capacity, and sets the total capacity of the MSC1 to 5k, and the second CPU occupancy rate is 61% (corresponding to a conversion factor of 0.6), then the second The current available capacity is 5k*0.6=3k.

The above steps 301 and 302 have no order.

Step 303: The MSC1 and the MSC2 in the MSC Pool send messages containing the respective currently available capacity to the MGW according to the same predetermined period from the same scheduled time.

The message is sent through the extended data message on the M3UA link. Specifically, the data message has a SI of 7 indicating the available capacity message, and the message content includes the currently available capacity of the MSC.

Step 304: The MGW receives the current available capacity of the MSC1 and the MSC2, and allocates the mobile terminal to the MSC1 and the MSC2 for the mobile terminal according to the ratio of 2:3 (ie, 2k: 3k).

It can be seen from the above embodiment that the current available capacity delivered by the CN node is received, and according to the currently available capacity of the received CN node, the mobile terminal requesting access to the CN node allocates the accessed CN node according to the current available capacity ratio, so that Balance the load of the CN node.

The following is a description of another complete embodiment of the method of the invention, which still assumes MSC

There are two MSCs in the Pool, including:

Step A: In the MSC Pool, MSC1 and MSC2 respectively send messages containing their respective CPU usage rates to the RNC/BSC according to the same predetermined period from the same scheduled time.

The MSC1 corresponds to the first CPU usage, and the MSC2 corresponds to the second CPU usage.

For example, if the M2UA link is used between the MSC and the gateway, the message can be sent through the extended data message on the M2UA link.

Step B: The RNC/BSC obtains the first current available capacity of the MSC1 by using the received first CPU usage of the MSC1, and obtains the second current available capacity of the MSC2 by using the received second CPU usage of the MSC2.

Let MSC1 have a total capacity of 10k and the first CPU occupancy rate is 74% (corresponding to a conversion factor of 0.2), then the first current available capacity is 10k*0.2=2k.

Let MSC1 have a total capacity of 5k and a second CPU occupancy rate of 61% (corresponding to a conversion factor of 0.6). Then the second currently available capacity is 5k*0.6=3k.

Step C: The RNC/BSC allocates the mobile terminal to the MSC1 and the MSC2 for the mobile terminal according to the ratio of 2:3 (i.e., 2k: 3k).

The system embodiment of the present invention is described below. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the system, as shown in the figure, including at least one core network node 401, a node selection device 402, wherein

The core network node 401 is configured to send current resource information.

The node selection device 402 is configured to receive current resource information delivered by the core network node 401, where the current resource information includes a current available capacity or a current load, and when the resource information is a current load, the load is converted into a current available capacity. And receiving the request of the mobile terminal to access the core network node, and according to the current available capacity of the core network node 401, the mobile terminal requesting access to the core network node 401 allocates the accessed core network node 401 according to the current available capacity ratio.

The node selection device 402 can be a gateway or a radio network controller/base station controller.

The core network node 401 can be a mobile switching center in a pool of mobile switching centers.

The method for selecting an access network node by using the system embodiment is similar to the previous method, and details are not described herein again.

The following describes an embodiment of a node selection apparatus for selecting a core network node according to the present invention. Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the apparatus. As shown in the figure, a node selection device for selecting a core network node includes an access request receiving unit 501 and an access allocation unit 502.

The access request receiving unit 501 is configured to receive a request for the mobile terminal to access the core network node, and the access allocation unit 502 is configured to allocate the accessed core network node according to the current available capacity ratio of the core network node.

The resource information receiving unit 503 is further configured to receive current resource information delivered by the core network node.

The current resource information includes a current available capacity or a current load.

When the resource information received by the resource information receiving unit is the currently available capacity, the mobile terminal requesting access to the core network node allocates the accessed core network node according to the current available capacity ratio according to the current available capacity of the core network node.

When the resource information is the current load, the device further includes a conversion unit (not shown) for converting the load to the current available capacity. Thereby, the access allocation unit 502 can be based on the core network node The currently available capacity is allocated to the mobile network terminal that accesses the core network node according to the current available capacity ratio.

The resource information receiving unit 503 can receive the current resource information delivered by the core network node through the M3UA link, or the M2UA link, or the H248 link.

The resource information receiving unit 503 receives the SI transmission by the core network node through the extended data message, or by extending the SCCP transmission, or by extending the current resource information transmitted by the BSSAP.

The apparatus may further include a second time period timing unit 601. As shown in FIG. 6, the control resource information receiving unit 503 receives the mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool for delivery in a predetermined second time period. Current resource information.

The device can be located in the MGW or RNC/BSC.

The method for selecting an access network node by using the device embodiment is similar to the previous method, and details are not described herein again.

The following describes the core network node embodiment of the present invention, including a sending unit, an access unit, where the sending unit is configured to deliver current resource information;

An access unit, configured to provide mobile terminal access.

The current resource information delivered by the sending unit includes the current available capacity or current load of the core network node.

The core network node is a mobile switching center in a pool of mobile switching centers.

It can be seen from the above embodiment that the current resource information delivered by the CN node is received, and when the resource information received by the resource information receiving unit is the currently available capacity, according to the current available capacity of the core network node, the core network node is requested to access. The mobile terminal allocates the accessed core network node according to the current available capacity ratio; when the resource information is the current load, the load is converted into the current available capacity, and the core network node is requested to access the core network node according to the current available capacity of the core network node. The mobile terminal allocates the accessed core network node according to the current available capacity ratio, so that the load of the CN node can be balanced.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the above description of the embodiments that the present invention can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention can be embodied in the form of a software product in essence or in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a storage medium such as a ROM/RAM or a disk. , CD, etc., including a number of instructions to make a computer device (can be a personal computer, server, Or a network device or the like) performs the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention or in certain portions of the embodiments. While the invention has been described by the embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that

Claims

Rights request

A method for selecting a core network node, the method comprising:

Receiving a request for the mobile terminal to access the core network node;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving the mobile terminal to access the request of the core network node further comprises:

Receive current resource information delivered by the core network node.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the current resource information comprises a current available capacity or a current load.

The method of claim 3, wherein when the resource information is the current load, the method further includes:

Convert the load to the current available capacity.

The method according to claim 2, wherein the core network node is a mobile switching center in a pool of mobile switching centers, and the node selecting device is a gateway or a radio network controller/base station controller.

The method according to claim 5, wherein the gateway or the radio network controller/base controller receives the current resource information delivered by the mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool, including: gateway or wireless network control Receiving, by the base station controller, current resource information sent by each mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool at the same time;

Or,

Receiving, by the gateway or the radio network controller/base station controller, current resource information that is sent by each mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool in a predetermined first time period;

Or,

The gateway or the radio network controller/base controller receives the current resource information delivered by each mobile switching center in the pool of the mobile switching center according to a predetermined period.

The method according to claim 6, wherein the receiving the current resource information delivered by each mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool includes:

Receiving the mobile switching center through an M3UA link, or an M2UA link, or an H.248 link Current resource information delivered by each mobile switching center in the pool.

The method of claim 7, wherein the receiving, by the M3UA link or the M2UA link, the current resource information that is delivered, includes:

The current resource information delivered by the service indicator in the extended data message in the M3UA link or the M2UA link, or the extended signaling connection control part, or the extended base station subsystem application part.

The method according to claim 5, wherein the receiving the current resource information delivered by the mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool by the gateway or the radio network controller/base station controller includes:

After receiving the current resource information delivered by each mobile switching center in the mobile switching center pool for the first time, the gateway or the radio network controller/base station controller receives the other mobile switching center pool in a predetermined second time period. Current resource information delivered by each mobile switching center.

A system for selecting a core network node, comprising: at least one core network node, a node selection device, wherein

a core network node, configured to deliver current resource information;

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the node selection device is a gateway or a radio network controller/base station controller.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the core network node is a mobile switching center in a pool of mobile switching centers.

A node selection device for selecting a core network node, comprising: an access request receiving unit, and an access allocation unit, wherein

An access request receiving unit, configured to receive a request for the mobile terminal to access the core network node;

An access allocation unit is configured to allocate a core network node for access to the mobile terminal according to a current available capacity ratio of the core network node.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a resource information receiving unit, It is used to receive current resource information delivered by a core network node.

The device according to claim 14, wherein the current resource information includes a current available capacity or a current load, and when the resource information is a current load, the device further includes a converting unit, The current load is converted to the current available capacity.

The device according to claim 14, wherein the resource information receiving unit receives the current resource information delivered by the core network node through the M3UA link, or the M2UA link, or the H248 link.

The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the resource information receiving unit receives current resource information that is sent by the core network node through a service indicator in the extended data message, or is sent by using an extended signaling connection control part. Current resource information, or current resource information sent by extending the base station subsystem application part.

18. The apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a second time period timing unit, configured to control the resource information receiving unit to receive each mobile switching center in the pool of mobile switching centers within a predetermined second time period. Current available resource information.

A core network node, comprising: a sending unit, an access unit, wherein the sending unit is configured to send current resource information; and the access unit is configured to provide access to the mobile terminal.

The core network node according to claim 19, wherein the current resource information delivered by the sending unit includes a current available capacity or a current load of the core network node.

The core network node according to claim 19, wherein the core network node is a mobile switching center in a pool of mobile switching centers.