WO2012130067A1

WO2012130067A1 - Location management method and system

Info

Publication number: WO2012130067A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/072702
Authority: WO
Inventors: 王坚
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2011-03-31
Filing date: 2012-03-21
Publication date: 2012-10-04
Also published as: CN102724650A

Abstract

Disclosed are a location management method and system. After the network instructs a terminal to enter a passive update state, the terminal stops a location update timer, and initiates location update toward the network according to the location update indication sent by the network. The present invention optimizes the location management process of the terminal, and can flexibly select the location update mode of the terminal according to the subscription information about the user in combination with the network state. By using the present invention, the signalling burden of the network can be lowered compared to the prior art.

Description

Position management method and system

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of machine type communication technologies, and in particular, to a location management method and system. Background technique

Machine Type Communication (MTC) is a new machine-to-machine (M2M) service that communicates through the 3GPP (The 3rd Generation Partnership Project) mobile communication network. The type of communication is different from the traditional person-to-person communication using the mobile communication network for communication, and has a large number of terminals.

In the prior art, after the terminal initiates attachment to the network, when entering the IDLE state, a location update timer (timer) such as TAU (Tracking Area Update) timer, LAU (Location Area Update, Location area update) timer, RAU (Routing Area Update) timer, etc. When the timer expires, a location update needs to be initiated to the network.

As described above, when the terminal is an MTC device (MTC Device), since the MTC device generally has a relatively fixed location, the existing location management method is not applicable to the MTC terminal; in addition, between a large number of MTC terminals and the network Signaling interactions will also pose a potential congestion threat to the network. Summary of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a location management method and system, which optimizes the location management process of the MTC device and reduces the signaling burden on the network.

To solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a location management method, where the method includes:

After the network indicates that the terminal enters the passive update state, the terminal stops the location update timer, and initiates a location update to the network according to the location update indication sent by the network.

Optionally, the network indicates that the terminal enters a passive update state, and specifically includes: When the terminal initiates an attach request or a location update request to the network, the network includes a passive update status indication in the returned attach response or location update response if the terminal determines to enter the passive update state according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information;

After receiving the attach response or location update response, the terminal enters a passive update state according to the passive update status indication included therein.

Optionally, the method further includes:

After the network indicates that the terminal enters the passive update state, the network initiates a location update, sends a paging message to the terminal, includes the location update indication in the paging message, or sends a broadcast to the terminal. The message includes the location update indication in the paging message.

Optionally, the method further includes:

After the terminal enters the passive update state, when receiving the paging message, if the location update indication is not included, the terminal initiates a service request to the network.

Optionally, the method further includes:

When the terminal initiates an attach request or a location update request to the network, the network includes an active update status indication in the returned attach response or location update response message if the terminal is determined to enter the active update state according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information. ;

After receiving the attach response or location update response message, the terminal starts a location update timer when entering an idle (IDLE) state according to the active update status indication included therein, and updates a timer according to the location. The timing cycle initiates a location update to the network.

Optionally, the method further includes:

After receiving the paging message of the network, the terminal sends a service request to the network after entering the IDLE state. An embodiment of the present invention further provides a location management system, where the system includes an update mode determining unit and a location update initiating unit in the terminal,

The update mode determining unit is configured to determine, according to an indication of the network, whether the location update mode of the terminal is an active update state or a passive update state;

The location update initiating unit is configured to determine a location according to the update mode determining unit The update mode, if it is a passive update state, initiates a location update to the network according to the location update indication sent by the received network.

Optionally, the location update initiating unit is further configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, if it is an active update state, start a location update timer when the terminal enters an idle (IDLE) state, and 4. Initiating a location update to the network according to the timing period of the location update timer.

Optionally, the system further includes a location management function entity in the network,

The location management function entity is configured to: when receiving the attach request or the location update request initiated by the terminal, according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information, if the terminal is determined to enter the passive update state, the attached attachment response or location is returned. The update response includes a passive update status indication; if it is determined that the terminal enters the active update status, the active update status indication is included in the returned attach response or location update response message;

The update mode determining unit is configured to determine, according to the received passive update status indication or the active update status indication included in the attach response or the location update response, whether the location update mode of the terminal is a passive update state or an active update state. .

Optionally, the system further includes a message receiving and determining module in the terminal, where

The location management function entity is further configured to: after the terminal initiates the location update, send a paging message or a broadcast message to the terminal, and include the location message in the paging message or the broadcast message. Location update indication;

The message receiving judging module is configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, in the active update mode, when receiving the paging message, initiate a service request to the network; in the passive update state, receive the homing When the message or the broadcast message is included, if the location update indication is included, it is sent to the location update initiating unit, and if the location update indication is not included, the service request is initiated to the network;

The location update initiating unit is configured to initiate a location update to the network based on the location update indication included in the received paging message or broadcast message.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, where the terminal includes an update mode determining unit and a location update initiating unit, where The update mode determining unit is configured to determine, according to an indication of the network, whether the location update mode of the terminal is an active update state or a passive update state;

The location update initiating unit is configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, if it is a passive update state, initiate a location update to the network according to the received location update indication sent by the network .

Optionally, in the foregoing terminal, the location update initiating unit is further configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, if it is an active update state, start a location update when the terminal enters an idle (IDLE) state. a timer, and initiating a location update to the network according to a timing period of the location update timer.

Optionally, in the foregoing terminal, the update mode determining unit is configured to determine the location of the terminal according to the passive update status indication or the active update status indication included in the attached response or the location update response sent by the received network. Whether the update mode is a passive update state or an active update state.

Optionally, the terminal further includes a message receiving and determining module, where

The message receiving judging module is configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, in the active update mode, when receiving the paging message sent by the network, initiate a service request to the network; In the update state, when receiving the paging message or the broadcast message sent by the network, if the location update indication is included, sending to the location update initiating unit, if the location update indication is not included, initiating a service request to the network;

The location update initiating unit is further configured to initiate a location update to the network according to the received location update indication included in the paging message or the broadcast message.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network, where the network includes a location management function entity, where

The location management function entity is configured to: when receiving the attachment request or the location update request initiated by the terminal, according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information, if the terminal is determined to enter the passive update state, the attached attachment response is returned. Or the location update response includes a passive update status indication; if it is determined that the terminal enters the active update state, the active update status indication is included in the returned attachment response or location update response message.

Optionally, in the foregoing network, the location management function entity is further configured to: indicate the terminal After the network initiates the location update, the network sends a paging message or a broadcast message to the terminal, and the location update indication is included in the paging message or the broadcast message.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a location management solution for a terminal such as an MTC device, and optimizes the location management process, and can flexibly select a location update mode of the terminal according to the user subscription information and the network status. The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention can reduce the signaling burden of the network and avoid network congestion caused by signaling interaction between terminals such as a large number of MTC devices and the network. BRIEF abstract

The drawings are intended to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, and are intended to be a part of the present invention, and the description of the present invention is not intended to limit the invention. In the drawing:

1 is a schematic flow chart of a location management method according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

2 is a schematic flow chart of a location management method according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a location management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Preferred embodiment of the invention

In the embodiment of the present invention, a location management method is provided, and a special state is set for the terminal, which is hereinafter referred to as a "passive update state". When the terminal is in a passive update state, there is no need to perform location according to the TAU timer timing to the network. Update, but initiate a location update based on the network's instructions.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a location management method, including:

After the network indicates that the terminal enters the passive update state, the terminal stops the location update timer, and initiates a location update to the network according to the TAU update indication sent by the network.

The network indicates that the terminal enters a passive update state, and specifically includes:

When the terminal initiates an attach request or a location update request to the network, the network determines the terminal to enter the passive update state according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information, and then returns the attached sound. The passive update status indication is included in the response or location update response message;

After receiving the attach response or location update response message, the terminal enters a passive update state according to the passive update status indication included therein.

Optionally, the method further includes:

After the network instructs the terminal to enter the passive update state, when the network initiates the location update, the network sends a paging message or a broadcast message to the terminal, and includes a location update indication in the paging message or the broadcast message.

Optionally, the method further includes:

When the terminal receives the paging message, if the location update indication is not included, the terminal sends a service request to the network.

Optionally, the method further includes:

When the terminal initiates an attach request or a location update update request to the network, the network includes the active update status in the returned attach response or location update response message if the terminal is determined to enter the active update state according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information. Instruction

After receiving the attach response or the location update response message, the terminal starts the location update timer when entering the IDLE state according to the active update status indication included therein, and updates the timer period according to the location update timer. The network initiates a location update.

Optionally, the method further includes:

After receiving the paging message of the network, the terminal sends a service request to the network after entering the IDLE state.

The location update request/response includes: TAU request/response, LAU request/response, RAU request/response, and the like.

Optionally, the MTC device (MTC Device) is taken as an example, and the location management method of the embodiment of the present invention is specifically described as follows:

First, the MTC Device sends an attach request message to the network. After the network performs the attach process, the network sends an attach response message to the MTC Device according to the network status and the nature of the subscription, and the attach response message indicates that the MTC Device needs to be Detective Listen to the indication message in the paging message. Thereafter, the network instructs the MTC Device to perform location update via the paging message and updates the new location in the HSS. For the MTC Device, the network side will stop the use of the location update timer, so that the MTC Device will not be logged out of the network because there is no location update for a long time.

In addition, the network may also indicate that the MTC Device returns to the normal active update state by including another indication message in the TAU message, or continue to listen to the special indication message in the paging message for passive location update.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the features in the embodiments and the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other.

Embodiment 1

This example uses the location management function entity MME in the network as an example to describe the process in which the MME determines the passive update of the MTC Device. However, the location management function entity may also be an SGSN or the like.

As shown in Figure 1, the process mainly includes the following steps:

Step 101: The MTC device sends an attach message to the MME (Mobility Management Entity), where the message includes the location information of the MTC Device.

Step 102: The MME requests the UE context from the HSS.

Step 103: The HSS sends a UE context to the MME.

Step 104: The MME according to the UE context and the signaling network status (such as the current network load status of the network), for example, when the UE context indicates that the terminal is an MTC Device and is in a fixed area or a limited area, and/or the signaling network has a limited capacity, The passive update mode of the MTC Device can be started.

Step 105: If it is determined that the MTC Device enters the passive update state, the passive update indication is included in the attach response message; and the MME ignores the TAU timer.

Step 106: The UE receives the attach response message of the MME. If the passive update indication is included, the TAU timer is stopped when the UE enters the IDLE state.

Step 107: The UE receives a paging message (or a broadcast message) of the MME, and the UE determines whether the TAU update indication is included in the paging message (or the broadcast message). Step 108: If the update indication is included, the UE will initiate a TAU;

Step 109: If the indication is not included, the UE will initiate a service request (service request). Step 110: When the UE initiates the TAU, the MME may further include, in the TAU accept message, an indication of maintaining the passive update state or returning to the normal location management state (ie, actively updating the state). If the passive update state is maintained, the MME will continue to ignore the TAU timer; if it returns to the normal location management state, the MME will start and set the TAU timer.

Step 108: When the UE receives the TAU accept message, if the indication keeps the passive update state, the UE will continue to ignore the TAU timer; if it returns to the normal location management state, the UE will start and set the TAU timer.

Embodiment 2

This embodiment describes the process in which the MME determines the MTC Device to restore the normal location management state. As shown in FIG. 2, the process mainly includes the following steps:

Step 201: The MTC Device sends an initial attach message to the MME, where the message includes location information of the MTC Device.

Step 202: The MME requests the UE context from the HSS.

Step 203: The HSS sends a UE context to the MME.

Step 204: The MME includes an active update status indication in the attach response message if the MTC Device enters a normal active update state according to the UE context and the signaling network status, and the MME starts the TAU timer.

Step 205: The UE receives an attach response message of the MME.

Step 206: If the attach response message includes the active update status indication, the TAU timer is started when the UE enters the IDLE state.

Step 207: The UE receives a paging message of the MME.

Step 208: Initiate a service request to perform a business process.

Step 209: The TAU timer expires;

Step 210: The UE initiates TAIL In addition, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a location management system. As shown in FIG. 3, the system mainly includes an update mode determining unit 301 and a location update initiating unit 302, where: the update mode determining unit 301 Set to: determine, according to an indication of the network, whether the location update mode of the terminal is an active update state or a passive update state;

The location update initiating unit 302 is configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, if it is a passive update state, initiate a location update to the network according to the received location update indication sent by the network.

Optionally, the system further includes a location management function entity 303 in the network,

The location management function entity 303 is configured to: when receiving the attach request or the location update request initiated by the terminal, according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information, if the terminal is determined to enter the passive update state, the attached attachment response or The location update response includes a passive update status indication; if the terminal is determined to enter the active update state, the active update status indication is included in the returned attach response or location update response message;

The update mode determining unit 301 is configured to determine whether the location update mode of the terminal is a passive update state or an active according to the passive update status indication or the active update status indication included in the received attach response or location update response. update status.

Optionally, the system further includes a message receiving determining module 304 in the terminal,

The location management function entity 303 is further configured to: after instructing the terminal to enter the passive update state, when the network initiates the location update, sending a paging message or a broadcast message to the terminal, where the paging message or the broadcast message is included The location update indication;

The message receiving determining module 304 is configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, in the active update mode, when receiving the paging message, initiate a service request to the network; in the passive update state, receive the When paging or broadcasting a message, if it contains a location update And transmitting, to the location update initiating unit, if the location update indication is not included, initiating a service request to the network;

The location update initiating unit 302 is further configured to initiate a location update to the network based on the received paging message or the location update indication included in the broadcast message.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, as shown in FIG. 3, the terminal includes an update mode determining unit and a location update initiating unit, where

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a network, as shown in FIG. 3, where the network includes a location management function entity, where The location management function entity is configured to: when receiving the attachment request or the location update request initiated by the terminal, according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information, if the terminal is determined to enter the passive update state, the attached attachment response is returned. Or the location update response includes a passive update status indication; if it is determined that the terminal enters the active update state, the active update status indication is included in the returned attachment response or location update response message.

Optionally, in the foregoing network, the location management function entity is further configured to: after the terminal is in the passive update state, when the network initiates the location update, send a paging message or a broadcast message to the terminal, where The location update indication is included in the paging message or the broadcast message.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be embodied in various other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the above modules or steps of the embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by a general computing device, which can be concentrated on a single computing device or distributed among 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 and, in some cases, may be different from The steps shown or described are performed sequentially, or they are separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or a plurality of modules or steps thereof are fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

Industrial applicability

The location management solution for the terminal such as the MTC device provided by the foregoing embodiment optimizes the location management process, and can flexibly select the location update mode of the terminal according to the user subscription information and the network status. By using the above technical solution, the signaling burden of the network can be alleviated, and the signaling interaction between the terminal and the network such as a large number of MTC devices can be prevented from causing network congestion.

Claims

Claim

1. A location management method, comprising:

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the indicating that the terminal enters the passive update status comprises:

When the terminal initiates an attach request or a location update request to the network, the network includes passive in the returned attach response or location update response if the terminal is determined to enter the passive update state according to the current network status and/or the terminal context information. Update status indication;

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

After the network indicates that the terminal enters the passive update state, the network sends a paging message to the terminal when the location is updated, and the location update indication is included in the paging message; or, the terminal sends the location update indication to the terminal. Broadcast message, the location update indication is included in the broadcast message.

4. The method of claim 1 or 3, further comprising:

5. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

When the terminal initiates an attach request or a location update request to the network, the network includes, according to the current network status and/or terminal context information, if the terminal enters the active update state, and includes the returned attachment response or the location update response message. Proactively update status indications;

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

After the terminal enters the IDLE state, if the paging message of the network is received, the terminal The network initiates a service request.

A location management system, comprising: an update mode determining unit and a location update initiating unit in the terminal, wherein

8. The system of claim 7, wherein

The location update initiating unit is further configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, if it is an active update state, start a location update timer when the terminal enters an idle (IDLE) state, and according to the location The timing period of the update timer initiates a location update to the network.

The system of claim 7 or 8, further comprising a location management function entity in the network, the location management function entity being configured to receive an attach request or a location update request initiated by the terminal, according to the current The network status and/or the terminal context information, if the terminal is determined to enter the passive update state, the passive update status indication is included in the returned attach response or location update response; if the terminal is determined to enter the active update state, the attached attached response is returned. Or the location update response message includes an active update status indication;

The update mode determining unit is configured to determine whether the location update mode of the terminal is a passive update state or an active update according to the passive update status indication or the active update status indication included in the received attachment response or location update response. status.

The system of claim 9, further comprising a message receiving and determining module in the terminal, wherein the location management function entity is further configured to: after the terminal is in the passive update state, when the network initiates the location update, Transmitting, by the terminal, a paging message or a broadcast message, where the location update indication is included in the paging message or the broadcast message;

The message receiving determining module is configured to: according to the location update mode determined by the update mode determining unit, in the active update mode, when receiving the paging message, initiate a service request to the network; In the passive update state, when receiving the paging message or the broadcast message, if the location update indication is included, sending to the location update initiating unit, if the location update indication is not included, initiating a service request to the network;

A terminal, comprising an update mode determining unit and a location update initiating unit, wherein the update mode determining unit is configured to determine, according to an indication of the network, whether the location update mode of the terminal is an active update state or a passive update state;

12. The terminal of claim 11, wherein

13. The terminal according to claim 11 or 12, wherein

The update mode determining unit is configured to determine, according to the passive update status indication or the active update status indication included in the attached response or the location update response sent by the received network, whether the location update mode of the terminal is a passive update state or an active update status.

The terminal according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising a message receiving judging module, wherein

The location update initiating unit is further configured to: according to the received paging message or broadcast message Contains location update indications to initiate location updates to the network.

15. A network, comprising a location management function entity, wherein

16. The network of claim 15, wherein

The location management function entity is further configured to: after the terminal is in the passive update state, when the network initiates the location update, send a paging message or a broadcast message to the terminal, in the paging message or the broadcast message. The location update indication is included.