WO2011000271A1

WO2011000271A1 - Method and device for acquiring connection condition of user-plane

Info

Publication number: WO2011000271A1
Application number: PCT/CN2010/074129
Authority: WO
Inventors: 徐建华; 徐方; 樊伟毅; 刘霖
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2009-07-02
Filing date: 2010-06-21
Publication date: 2011-01-06
Also published as: CN101938758A; CN101938758B

Abstract

A method and a device for acquiring the connection condition of user-plane are provided, and the method includes: the current Evolved Node B (eNB) acquires the Internet Protocol (IP) address information of the opposite eNB, then the current eNB sends a detection message to the opposite eNB according to the acquired IP address information, and the connection condition of the user-plane is determined on the basis of the receiving condition of receiving the detection response message from the opposite eNB. The connection condition of the user-plane can be acquired by means of this present invention, and thus the connection condition of X2 interface can be determined.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a method and apparatus for acquiring a user plane connection state. In an LTE (Long Term Evolution) system, an eNB (Evolved NodeB, evolved Node B) may have an X2 interface, and eNBs can directly communicate through the X2 interface.

The X2 interface connection consists of two parts: one is the X2 port control plane connection, the control plane connection is a pre-established virtual circuit, ie, SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) coupling; the other is the X2 port user For the connection, the user plane connection is connectionless. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is used. In the system implementation, it is usually necessary to obtain the connection status of the X2 port, including the control plane connection status and the user plane connection status. For example, when triggering cross-eNB handover, it is necessary to select whether to switch based on S1 or X2 based on the connection status of the X2 port. Currently, the only basis for determining whether the X2 interface is connected is whether the control plane SCTP coupling is established, however, Due to the flexibility and diversity of the networking mode, in most cases, the IP address used for the control plane connection of the X2 port is inconsistent with the IP address used for the user plane connection, and the control plane route and the user plane route may also be inconsistent. Unable to - derive the state of the user plane connection according to the state of the control plane connection, and thus cannot enter one When the connection state of the X2 port is judged, the subsequent processing based on the X2 port connection state cannot be performed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the problem in the related art that the connection state of the X2 port user plane cannot be accurately obtained, and thus, the present invention The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for acquiring a user plane connection state based on an X2 port, to solve at least one of the above problems. In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, a user plane connection state acquisition method is provided. The method includes: the current eNB acquires the IP address information of the peer eNB; the current eNB sends a probe message to the opposite eNB according to the acquired IP address information; and determines according to the reception status of the probe response message received from the opposite eNB. User plane connection status. Preferably, the current eNB acquiring the IP address information of the peer eNB includes: the current eNB sends an X2 setup request message for requesting to establish X2 to the opposite eNB; and the current eNB receives the X2 setup response that carries the IP address information from the opposite eNB. The message is obtained, and the IP address information of the opposite eNB is obtained from the X2 setup response message. Preferably, the X2 setup request message carries the IP address information of the current eNB, and is received.

Before the X2 establishes the response message, the foregoing method further includes: acquiring, by the peer eNB, IP address information of the current eNB. Preferably, the current eNB acquiring the IP address information of the peer eNB includes: the current eNB receiving the configuration update message from the peer eNB, and acquiring the IP address information of the peer eNB from the configuration update message. Preferably, sending the probe message comprises: starting a delay timer; delaying the timer to timeout, sending a probe message. Preferably, the sending the probe message comprises: sending a probe message, and starting a reception timer; determining, according to the reception status of the probe response message from the opposite eNB, determining the user plane connection status comprises: if the probe response is received before the reception timer expires The message determines that the user plane connection status is a connection; if the probe response message is not received before the reception timer expires, subsequent processing is performed according to a predetermined rule. Preferably, the foregoing processing of the predetermined rule includes one of the following: if the timeout period of the receiving timer exceeds a predetermined threshold, determining that the user plane connection state is disconnected, otherwise, resending the probe message; directly determining that the user plane connection status is disconnect. Preferably, sending the probe message includes: S1, starting a delay timer; S2, delaying the timer to timeout, sending a probe message, and starting a reception timer; determining according to receiving the detection response message from the opposite eNB, determining The user plane connection status includes: S3. If the probe response message is received before the reception timer expires, it is determined that the user plane connection status is a connection; S4, if the probe response message is not received before the reception timer expires, and the timer is received If the number of timeouts exceeds the predetermined threshold N, it is determined that the user plane connection state is off; otherwise, it returns to S 1 ; where N is an integer equal to or greater than 1. Preferably, the IP address information is one or more IP addresses, and the method further includes: if the user plane connection status corresponding to the one or more IP addresses is not all connected, performing the S1 port based Switching; or if the user plane connection status corresponding to one or more IP addresses is all disconnected, the switch based on the S1 port is performed. In order to achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present invention, a user plane connection state acquiring device is provided. The device includes: an acquiring unit, configured to acquire IP address information of the peer eNB, a transmitter, configured to send a probe message to the opposite eNB according to the IP address information acquired by the acquiring unit, and a receiver, configured to receive the eNB from the opposite end a probe response message sent in response to the probe message; a determiner configured to determine a user plane connection status according to the receiver's reception status of the probe response message. Preferably, the foregoing apparatus further includes at least one of the following: a delay timer, configured to set a time when the transmitter sends the probe message, a receiving timer, configured to set a time when the receiver receives the probe response message, and a counter, configured to receive The timeout of the timer is recorded; the comparator is configured to compare the counter value of the counter with a predetermined threshold; and the controller is configured to control the opening or closing of the delay timer and/or the receiving timer. Preferably, the decider is connected to the comparator and the controller, and when the comparison result of the comparator is that the counter value of the counter exceeds a predetermined threshold, the user plane connection state is determined to be off; the comparator comparison result is that the counter count value is not When the predetermined threshold is exceeded, the dispatch controller restarts the delay timer. The method for obtaining the IP address of the peer eNB by using the eNB, and determining whether the IP address is reachable by using the IP address information to send the probe message, can solve the problem that the user plane connection status cannot be obtained in the prior art, and further The connection state of the X2 port can be determined according to the obtained user plane connection state. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are set to illustrate,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an X interface between eNBs according to the related art; FIG. 2 is a structural block diagram of a user plane connection state obtaining apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for acquiring a user plane connection state according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of obtaining an IP address by an X2 establishment process according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a flowchart of obtaining an IP address by an IP configuration update process according to an embodiment of the present invention; Flow chart of the keep-alive process of the embodiment of the invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict. In the embodiment of the present invention, a solution for obtaining the connection state of the X2 port user plane is provided. By obtaining the X2 port user plane connection state, the X2 port connection state can be obtained, and further, the X2 port connection state can be further performed as needed. operating. Preferably, in the embodiment of the present invention, an X2AP (X2 Application Part) interaction process is used to obtain a user plane IP address of the opposite eNB (for example, may be an adjacent eNB), and then communicate with the IP address, for example, with IP. The address is subjected to keep-alive processing to obtain a user plane connection state between the current eNB and the opposite eNB. According to the embodiment of the present invention, a user plane connection state obtaining device is first provided, and specifically, used to acquire an X2 port user plane connection state. The description will be made in conjunction with the drawings, in which the same or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals. 2 is a structural block diagram of a user plane connection state obtaining apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus has the following structure: an acquiring unit 2, a transmitter 4, a receiver 6, and a decider 8; Integration is implemented in one eNB. Specifically, the obtaining unit 2 is configured to obtain the IP address information of the peer eNB, and the acquiring unit 2 preferably has an interface or a channel that interacts with the external, through which the message interaction can be performed. For example, the X2AP interaction as described above may preferably be an interaction of an X2 port establishment process, an interaction when an IP address configuration changes, and the like. Through the interaction process, the obtaining unit 2 obtains the IP address information of the peer eNB. The IP address information mentioned here may be an IP address or multiple IP addresses. For multiple IP addresses, the IP address may be used. The form of the list is implemented. The transmitter 4 can be connected to the acquiring unit 2 by wire or wirelessly, and configured to send a probe message to the opposite eNB according to the IP address information acquired by the obtaining unit 2; when the IP address information is multiple IP addresses The probe message may be sent to each IP address of the peer eNB, where the probe message may be a GTPU ECHO packet or other message or request that can implement the probe function. The receiver 6 is configured to receive a probe response message sent by the correspondent eNB in response to the probe message. For example, for the GTPU ECHO packet, the probe response message is a GTPU ECHO REPLY packet. The decider 8 is configured to determine the user plane connection status according to the receiver's reception status of the probe response message. For example, in the architecture shown in FIG. 2, the decider 8 may enter the following decision: If the receiver 6 receives the probe response message, it considers that the user plane connection status is reachable or connected; otherwise, the user plane connection status is considered as unavailable. Up or down. The above describes the general structure of the user plane connection state acquiring apparatus provided by the embodiment of the present invention. In the specific implementation, it is also necessary to consider the reliability and efficiency of the operation, as well as the size of the data traffic. In view of this, FIG. 3 shows a preferred structure of the user plane connection state acquiring apparatus provided by the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, on the basis of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the following components may be further provided: a delay timer 31, a reception timer 33, a counter 35, a comparator 37, and a controller 39. Specifically, the delay timer 31 is used to set the time when the transmitter 4 sends the probe message. For example, the delay timer can be started. When the delay timer expires, the transmitter 4 sends a probe message. Similarly, the receiving timer 33 is used to set the timing at which the receiver 6 receives the probe response message. For example, if the receiver 6 has not received the probe response message when the receiving timer 33 times out, the current reception may be considered to have failed. The controller 39 is for controlling the delay timing 31 and/or the opening or closing of the reception timer 33, which can be connected to the comparator 37. For example, if the receiver 6 receives the probe response message before the reception timer 33 times out, the reception timer is killed or turned off. Through the system architecture described above, the user plane connection state can be obtained relatively efficiently compared to the architecture shown in FIG. 2. By setting a delay timer, data traffic can be controlled without continuously sending probe messages multiple times. The data traffic is too large. Further preferably, in order to ensure the reliability of the reception of the received message, thereby correctly determining the state of the user plane connection, the counter 35 and the comparator 37 are set. The counter 35 is used to record the number of timesout of the receiving timer, the initial value can be set to 0, the receiving timer is incremented by 1 every timeout, and the comparator 37 is used to compare the counter value of the counter 35 with a predetermined threshold. For example, the predetermined threshold here can be set to 3. Under the above system architecture, the decider 8 can judge based on the comparison result of the comparator 37. The user connection state, if the comparison result of the comparator is that the count value of the counter 35 exceeds a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the user plane connection state of an IP address is off. If the comparison result of the comparator is that the count value of the counter 35 does not exceed the predetermined threshold, the controller 37 will control the restart delay timer to resend the probe message when the delay timer expires. It is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a base station or other network element having the above-mentioned user plane connection state acquiring means. Method Embodiment 1 According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for acquiring a user plane connection state is further provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the implementation of the method generally includes the following steps: Step S402: The current eNB acquires IP address information of the peer eNB. As described above, the address information herein may be one or more IP addresses. Step S404, according to Obtaining the IP address information, the current eNB sends a probe message to the peer eNB, for example, may be a GTPU ECHO packet or other message with a detection function; Step S406, determining the user plane according to the reception status of the probe response message to the opposite eNB Connection status, if the probe message is a GTPU ECHO packet, the probe response message here is the GTPU ECHO REPLY packet. The details of the above processing are specifically described below.

Acquisition of IP Address Information In the embodiment of the present invention, two methods for obtaining IP address information are exemplarily provided. Of course, the present invention is not limited thereto. One way is to include the user plane IP address in the eNB in the X2 SETUP REQUEST message and the X2 SETUP RESPONSE message when the X2 port connection is established, thus establishing an X2 port-connected eNB. The IP address of the target can be obtained between. Alternatively, when the IP address configuration changes, the eNB CONFIGURATION UPDATE message is used to notify the other party. Example 1: Processing of the X2 establishment process FIG. 5 shows the processing of the initiator side in the X2 establishment process. As shown in FIG. 4, step 4 gathers S502, and the current eNB initiates an X2 SETUP REQUEST (X2 setup request) to the adjacent (peer) eNB. ;), and carrying one or more IP addresses for the user plane connection of the current eNB configuration in the message, preferably, setting the timer T_X2Setup to wait for the response of the neighboring eNB. Step S504, if the timer T-X2Setup timeout message is received, the abnormal processing step is performed, and the exception processing is performed. Step S506-a, before receiving the timer expires, receiving the X2 SETUP RESPONSE of the opposite eNB (X2 establishment response;), killing the timer T_X2Setup, and acquiring one or more users of the opposite eNB from the message body. The IP address of the face connection is saved locally, and the process ends; or, in step S506-b, the X2 SETUP FAILURE owed to the opposite eNB before the timer expires (the X2 establishment fails;), kills the timer T_X2Setup, if X2 SETUP FAILURE includes IE Time To Wait, the delay timer is set according to Time To Wait, the delay timer is enabled, and the delay timer expires and then steps 4 to S502. In the exception processing step, set the delay timer to the default value, enable the delay timer, and delay the timer to step 4 to process S502. In the foregoing implementation process, the IP address acquisition of the current eNB to the opposite eNB is implemented, and the timer and the delay timer are set to ensure high receiving efficiency and small data traffic. On the other hand, the processing of the receiving side in the X2 establishment process is as follows: The opposite eNB receives the X2 SETUP REQUEST message sent by the current eNB, and extracts one or more of the current eNBs from the message body for the user plane. The IP address of the connection is stored locally; the peer eNB returns an X2 SETUP RESPONSE to the current eNB, and carries one or more IP addresses for the user plane connection configured by the eNB in the message. Example 2: Processing of changing the IP address configuration FIG. 6 shows the processing of the initiator when the IP address configuration changes, as shown in FIG. 6: Step S602: If the configuration of the IP address for the user plane connection of the current eNB changes, The eNB CONFIGURATION UPDATE is sent to the opposite eNB, the updated IP address is included in the message, and the timer T_X2Update is set to wait for the response of the neighboring eNB. Step S604, if the timer T_X2Update timeout message is received, the process proceeds to the exception processing step. In step S606-a, before the timer expires, the eNB CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE of the opposite eNB is received, the timer T_X2Update is killed, and the processing ends. Step S606-b, before receiving the timer expires, receiving the eNB CONFIGURATION of the neighboring eNB UPDATE FAILURE (eNB configuration update failed;), kill timer T_X2Update, if eNB CONFIGURATION UPDATE FAILURE contains IE Time To Wait, then set the delay timer according to Time To Wait, enable delay timer, delay timing After the timer expires, the process goes to step S602. In the exception processing step, set the delay timer to the default value, enable the delay timer, and delay the timer to step 4 and then S602.

When the IP address configuration changes, the receiver processes as follows: If the peer eNB receives the message eNB CONFIGURATION UPDATE sent by the current eNB, the new IP address is retrieved from the message and updated to the local, and the opposite eNB replies to the current eNB with the eNB CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE. . After the IP address information of the peer eNB is obtained, the probe message can be sent to the IP address for the user plane connection, and the user plane connection can be determined by the interaction of the probe message and the probe response message. , as described in steps S404 and S406 above. Preferably, after the probe message is sent in step S404, a timer (which may be referred to as a reception timer) is started, and the response of the opposite eNB is awaited. If the probe response message is received before the receiving timer expires, it is determined that the user plane connection status is a connection; if the response of the opposite eNB is received before the set reception timer expires, the user who is considered to be the current IP address The surface connection ^ I state is reachable. Otherwise, the user interface connection status of the current IP address can be directly determined to be disconnected. The number of timer timeouts can be further compared with a predetermined threshold. If the predetermined threshold is exceeded, the current IP is determined. The user plane connection status of the address is disconnected, otherwise, the probe message is resent. It should be noted that the sending operation of the probe message can be controlled by setting a delay timer. That is, the delay timer is started, and when the delay timer expires, the probe message is sent. The keep alive process will be specifically described below in conjunction with the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7 : Step S702: The current eNB locally maintains the IP address of each peer eNB and its state, and keeps the count ErrCount parameter. Step S704, starting a delay timer T_EchoDelay. Step S706, the eNB receives the delay timer T_EchoDelay timeout message, and proceeds to step S708 for processing. Step S708, sending a GTPU ECHO data packet to the IP address of the opposite eNB, and setting a timer T_EchoReply to wait for a response. Step S710, if a timer T_EchoReply timeout message is received, the keep-alive failure counter ErrCount is incremented by one. Step S712, comparing ErrCount with the maximum number of keep-alive failures MAXERR, if

If ErrCount is greater than MAXERR, the process proceeds to step S718; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S704. Step S714, if the GTPU ECHO REPLY packet sent by the neighboring eNB is received before the timer T_EchoReply times out, the process goes to step S716. Step S716, killing the timer T_EchoReply, setting the keep-alive failure counter ErrCount to

0, the process proceeds to step S704. Step S718, setting the state of the target IP to be unreachable, and the process ends. It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowchart of the accompanying drawings may be performed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions, and, although the logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, The steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than that herein. After obtaining the user plane connection state, the method embodiment 2 can select the switching mode used when switching according to the acquired user plane connection state. The operations involved in the specific processing are as follows: The current eNB triggers handover across the eNB, and if the target eNB is not connected to the current eNB under the same MME Pool, the S1-port based handover is selected. If there is no X2 SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) connection between the target _e NB and the current eNB, then the S1 port based handover is selected. If the state of one or more IP addresses of the target eNB is reachable, then the X2-port based handover is selected, otherwise, the S1-port based handover is selected. Alternatively, if the state of one or more IP addresses of the target eNB is unreachable, then the X2-port based handover is selected, otherwise, the S1-port based handover is selected to be used. With the above at least one technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the current eNB and the eNB can be obtained. The X2 interface user plane connection status between the peer eNBs can further obtain the X2 port connection status, so that other processing such as switching mode selection can be performed. At the same time, by setting the receiving timer and/or the delay timer in the implementation process, the reliability of the 'j, data flow and receiving operation can be guaranteed. Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the above modules or steps of the present invention can be implemented by a general-purpose computing device, which can be concentrated on a single computing device or distributed over a network composed of multiple computing devices. Alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by the computing device, such that they may be stored in the storage device by the computing device, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or they may be Multiple modules or steps are made into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software. The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the scope of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

A method for obtaining a user plane connection state, which is characterized by comprising:

The current eNodeB B eNB obtains the Internet Protocol IP address information of the peer eNB; the current eNB sends a probe message to the peer eNB according to the obtained IP address information;

The user plane connection status is determined according to the reception status of the probe response message received from the opposite eNB. According to the method of claim 1, the acquiring, by the current eNB, the IP address information of the peer eNB includes:

The current eNB sends an X2 setup request message for requesting to establish X2 to the opposite eNB;

The current eNB receives an X2 setup response message carrying the IP address information from the peer eNB, and obtains the IP address information of the peer eNB from the X2 setup response message. The method according to claim 2, wherein the X2 setup request message carries the IP address information of the current eNB, and before receiving the X2 setup response message, the method further includes: the pair The terminal eNB acquires IP address information of the current eNB. According to the method of claim 1, the acquiring, by the current eNB, the IP address information of the peer eNB includes:

The current eNB receives a configuration update message that carries the IP address information from the peer eNB, and obtains the IP address information of the peer eNB from the configuration update message. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the transmitting the probe message comprises:

Start delay timer;

The delay timer expires and the probe message is sent. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that

Sending the probe message includes:

Sending the probe message, and starting a receiving timer;

Determining the user plane connection status according to the receiving status of the probe response message received from the peer eNB includes:

If the probe response message is received before the receiving timer expires, determining that the user plane connection status is a connection;

If the probe response message is not received before the reception timer expires, subsequent processing is performed according to a predetermined rule. The method according to claim 6, wherein the performing the subsequent processing according to the predetermined rule comprises one of the following:

If the number of timesout of the receiving timer exceeds a predetermined threshold, determining that the user plane connection status is off, otherwise, resending the probe message;

It is directly determined that the user plane connection state is disconnected. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that

Sending the probe message includes:

51, start delay timer;

The delay timer expires, the detection message is sent, and the receiving timer is started. According to the receiving status of the probe response message received by the peer eNB, determining the user plane connection status includes:

53. If the probe response message is received before the receiving timer expires, determining that the user plane connection status is a connection;

If the probe response message is not received before the receiving timer expires, and the number of timesout of the receiving timer exceeds a predetermined threshold N, it is determined that the user plane connection state is disconnected; otherwise, returning to S 1 ; wherein N is an integer equal to or greater than 1.

The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the IP address information is one or more IP addresses, the method further comprising:

If the user plane connection states corresponding to the one or more IP addresses are not all connected, the S1-port based handover is performed.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein if the user plane connection status corresponding to the one or more IP addresses is all disconnected, the S1-port based handover is performed.

A user plane connection state obtaining device, comprising:

An obtaining unit, configured to obtain internet protocol IP address information of the peer eNodeB B eNB;

a transmitter, configured to send the probe message to the peer eNB by using the IP address information acquired by the acquiring unit;

a receiver, configured to receive a probe response message sent by the peer eNB in response to the probe message;

And a determiner, configured to determine a user plane connection status according to the receiving condition of the probe response message by the receiver.

The device according to claim 11, further comprising at least one of: a delay timer, configured to set a time when the transmitter sends the probe message; a receiving timer, configured to set a time at which the receiver receives the probe response message; a counter for recording a timeout count of the receiving timer; a comparator, configured to compare the count value of the counter with a predetermined threshold; Controlling the delay timer and/or the receiving timer to be turned on or off.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the decider is connected to the comparator and the controller, when a comparison result of the comparator is that the counter value of the counter exceeds the predetermined threshold Determining that the user plane connection state is off; and when the comparison result of the comparator is that the counter value of the counter does not exceed the predetermined threshold, the controller is scheduled to restart the delay timer.