WO2017003064A1 - Network device and terminal for multi-net aggregation transmission, and operating method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for a terminal operating for a multi-net aggregation service comprises the steps of: transmitting, to an authentication server, a first message requesting the activation of a multi-net aggregation service; receiving, from the authentication server, a second message which is a response to the first message; and if response information included in the second message is a consent to the request, accessing a gateway positioned on a point of contact of the multi-net.

Description

Network device and terminal for multi-network merge transmission, and operation method thereof

The present invention relates to multi-network merging.

Aggregation transmission is a technique of transmitting data using a plurality of communication networks simultaneously, and processes the data transmitted in each path into one session. Through a merge transmission technology, a terminal may be connected to a plurality of communication networks at one time, and one service / application may communicate by merging a plurality of networks as one network regardless of network type or number of networks. Therefore, the merge transmission system can quickly transmit and receive a large amount of data using a plurality of available network resources. In the sense of merging a plurality of networks, it may be referred to as multinet aggregation.

Among the merge transmission technologies, there is a multi-path TCP (MPTCP) technology that bundles and uses multiple TCP flows. MPTCP is an L4 technology for using multiple IP interfaces simultaneously. A terminal having a plurality of physical interfaces may be connected to a plurality of communication networks at one time through MPTCP technology, and end-to-end communication is generated by generating a session in subflow units. As such, researches on a technology for transmitting data using a plurality of communication networks at the same time have been conducted, but not all servers support multipath communication. Therefore, there is a limit in that a terminal having a multi-communication interface currently does not have multi-path communication with all servers.

On the other hand, even if the terminal configures the multi-network merge service, the multi-network merge service cannot be used unless the terminal is a subscriber to the multi-network merge service. In addition, the terminal may be in a multi-network merge service enabled state and then change to a multi-network merge service disabled state according to the real-time characteristics of the network, the characteristics of the application, the release of the multi-network merge service, and the like. However, until now, there is no method for continuously managing the state of the multi-network merge service of the terminal and notifying the user of the authentication state, and thus there is a limitation in not properly recognizing whether the user is in the multi-network merge service.

An object of the present invention is to provide a network device, a terminal, and an operation method thereof for authenticating a terminal capable of using a multi-network merging service and managing an authentication state of the terminal.

A method for operating a multi-network merging service, the terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, the method comprising: transmitting a first message requesting activation of a multi-network merging service to an authentication server; Receiving a second message that is a response, and if the response information included in the second message is acceptance of the request, connecting to a gateway located at a contact point of a multi-network.

If the response information is acceptance of the request, the second message further includes at least one address of the gateway, and accessing the gateway is based on the first address selected from the at least one address. You can connect to the gateway.

If the response information is acceptance of the request, the second message further includes a status query time, and the method further comprises: sending a third message querying the authentication server for a multi-network merge service status according to the status query time. The method may further include transmitting periodically.

The method may further include receiving a fourth message that is a response to the third message from the authentication server, and when the response information included in the fourth message indicates an authenticated state, the third message at the next status query time. The method may further include the step of releasing the multi-network merge service set in the terminal when the response and the response information included in the fourth message indicate an unauthenticated state.

The method may further include transmitting the third message at a next status query time if the fourth message is not received from the authentication server.

The method may further include displaying notification information included in the fourth message when the response information included in the fourth message indicates an unauthorized state.

If the response information is not acceptance of the request, the second message further includes notification information describing the response information, and the method further comprises displaying the notification information included in the second message. It may include.

The method may further include transmitting a fifth message requesting deactivation of a multi-network merge service to the authentication server, and receiving a sixth message in response to the fifth message from the authentication server.

The fifth message may include a reason for deactivation.

The method includes transmitting a seventh message requesting an address of the authentication server to a domain name server prior to transmitting the first message, and an eighth message in response to the seventh message from the domain name server. The method may further include receiving a message, wherein the eighth message may include at least one address of the authentication server.

The method may further include retransmitting the first message to the authentication server when the response to the first message is not received from the authentication server, and retransmitting the first message to the authentication server. If there is no response after transmitting the first message to the first address of the authentication server, determining whether there is a second address of the authentication server, and if there is a second address of the authentication server, And transmitting the first message to an address, and transmitting the first message to the first address if there is no second address of the authentication server.

Retransmitting the first message to the authentication server may set a reference number for retransmission, and retransmit the first message to the first address or the second address within the reference number.

A method for operating an authentication server according to another embodiment of the present invention for a multi-network merge service of a terminal, the method comprising: receiving a first message requesting activation of a multi-network merge service from the terminal, based on the first message Generating response information for the terminal, and transmitting a second message including the response information to the terminal, wherein the response information indicates whether the multi-network merging service is available to the terminal. Contains authentication results.

The generating of the response information may generate the authentication result based on the subscriber information of the terminal and the service provision state.

When the terminal is a multi-network merge service subscriber, the response information includes an authentication result indicating that the multi-network merge service is available in the terminal and at least one address of a gateway, and the gateway is connected to a multi-network point of contact. The network device may be located and accessed when the terminal uses a multi-network merge service.

When the terminal is a multi-network merge service subscriber, the response information may further include a status query time.

The method includes periodically receiving a third message for querying a multi-network merge service state from the terminal according to the state query time, and transmitting a fourth message, which is a response to the third message, to the terminal. The fourth message may further include an authentication result indicating whether the multi-network merging service is available in the terminal.

When the terminal is not a multi-network merge service subscriber or a service error occurs, the response information may include an authentication result indicating that the multi-network merge service is unavailable in the terminal and notification information describing the authentication result. have.

The method may further include receiving a fifth message requesting deactivation of a multi-network merging service from the terminal, and transmitting a sixth message which is a response to the fifth message to the terminal.

A terminal for providing a multi-network merge service according to another embodiment of the present invention, a memory for storing a communication module, a display, a program, and a processor for executing the program in conjunction with the communication module, the display, and the memory The program may include a first program for authenticating a multi-network merging service, wherein the first program receives a multi-network merging service setting, and receives a first message including a multi-network merging service activation request to an authentication server. Transmits a message, receives a second message that is a response to the first message from the authentication server, and if the response information included in the second message is acceptance, accesses an address of a gateway included in the second message, Notification included in the second message when the response information included in the second message is not acceptance Instructions for displaying information, wherein the gateway is a network device located at the junction of the multi-network and relays traffic in a multi-network aggregation service.

The program includes a second program for querying a status of a multi-network merging service, wherein the second program includes a multi-network merging service to the authentication server according to the status query time when the second message includes a status query time. Transmitting a third message for querying a status, receiving a fourth message that is a response to the third message from the authentication server, and when the response information included in the fourth message indicates an authenticated status, next status query time And transmitting the third message to the terminal and releasing the multi-network merge service when the response information included in the fourth message indicates an unauthenticated state.

The program includes a third program for releasing a multi-network merge service, and when the third program receives input of deactivating the multi-network merge service, the third program authenticates the multi-network merge service deactivation request including a reason for deactivation. It may include commands to send to the server.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the network device authenticates the use of the multi-network merging service of the terminal based on various request messages received from the terminal, and periodically manages the authentication state, so that the authenticated terminal continuously performs the multi-network merging service. Can be controlled to use. According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the network device notifies the terminal of the authentication status for the multi-network merge service, and the terminal displays the notification information, the user recognizes the authentication status for the multi-network merge service and the multi-network merge service. It's easy to see if it's possible. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, even when the network apparatus configures the multi-network merge service in the non-authenticated terminal, the network device may automatically release the multi-network merge service.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating network merge transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a multi-network merging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a multi-network merge transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a multi-network merge service setting screen in a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention by way of example.

5 is a diagram illustrating traffic flow according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart of a multi-network merge service setup and authentication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a multi-network merge service state inquiry method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flowchart of a multi-network merge service deauthentication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing a non-response of an authentication server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of querying multi-network merge service data usage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a multi-network merge service according to a change of a plan according to an embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a hardware block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, the terms “… unit”, “… unit”, “module”, etc. described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. have.

In the present specification, a terminal is a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station (PSS), a user equipment (UE) It may also refer to an access terminal (AT) and the like, and may include all or some functions of a mobile station, a mobile terminal, a subscriber station, a portable subscriber station, a user device, an access terminal, and the like.

The terminal of the present specification includes a base station (BS), an access point (Access Point, AP), a radio access station (Radio Access Station, RAS), a Node B (Node B), an advanced NodeB (evolved NodeB, eNodeB), A network device such as a base transceiver station (BTS), a mobile multihop relay (MMR) -BS, or the like may be connected to a remote server.

The terminal of the present specification is a communication terminal of various forms such as a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal such as a smart pad and a tablet PC, a computer, a television, and may include a plurality of communication interfaces.

The communication interface may vary. For example, the communication interface may be a short-range wireless network interface such as Wi-Fi / WLAN / Bluetooth, and a mobile network interface such as 3G / LTE (Long Term Evolution) / LTE-A (LTE-A). It may include, and the terminal manufacturer may add various communication interfaces. In the present specification, a WiFi interface and a 3G / LTE interface are described as an example, but the communication interface is not limited thereto.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating network merge transmission according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration diagram of a multi-network merge system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. A diagram for describing multi-network merge transmission according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, MultiNet Aggregation transmission is a technology for transmitting data by merging a plurality of communication networks, by dividing data transmitted through one path into a path of a plurality of homogeneous networks or a plurality of heterogeneous networks. Alternatively, data transmitted through a plurality of paths may be bundled and transmitted in one path. Multi-network merge transmission may be referred to as multi-path transmission in the sense of transmitting data in multiple paths simultaneously.

Referring to FIG. 2, the multi-network merging system includes a terminal 100, a gateway 200 connected to the terminal 100 and a plurality of networks, and an authentication server 300.

The terminal 100 may include multiple communication interfaces, and may be connected to a plurality of networks (for example, a WiFi network and a 3G / LTE network) at one time through the multiple communication interfaces.

The terminal 100 is equipped with a management application that a user can access to set up or manage a multi-network connection. The management application may be called, for example, a GiGa LTE manager.

The terminal 100 may include a network agent that performs authentication, state management, and traffic processing for merging multiple networks, and the network agent may be implemented with terminal internal logic. In the terminal 100, the network agent and various applications communicate with each other through a socket. The network agent interworks with the authentication server 300 and the gateway 200 according to the setting information of the management application for network management. Specifically, the network agent includes an authentication server interworking unit implementing the interworking function with the authentication server 300 and a gateway interworking unit implementing the interworking function with the gateway 200. The interworking function with the authentication server 300 may be implemented by the TCP / IP protocol, and the interworking function with the gateway 200 may be implemented by the SOCKS (Socket Secure) protocol. SOCKS is a protocol used to communicate via a proxy server when doing TCP / UDP communication between a server and a client. Here, the network agent may be called a multinet aggregation-agent.

The gateway 200 is a network device that merges subflows transmitted through multiple paths or divides flows transmitted through a single path into subflows of multiple paths. The gateway 200 may be located at a contact point of a multiple network, for example, at a contact point of an LTE network and a WiFi network. Here, the gateway 200 may be referred to as a multinet aggregation gateway (MA-GW).

The gateway 200 divides the data to transfer the received data to the multiple communication interfaces of the terminal 100. The gateway 200 may transmit some data to the terminal 100 through the LTE network, and transmit the remaining data to the terminal 100 through the WiFi network. The terminal 100 merges the data received through the plurality of communication interfaces. In a similar manner, the gateway 200 may merge the data transmitted by the terminal 100 using the multiple communication interface and transmit the merged data to the server 400.

The authentication server 300 authenticates the terminal by determining whether the terminal 100 is capable of multi-network merge service. The authentication server 300 provides the terminal 100 with access information (IP address, port value, etc.) of the gateway 200 so that the authenticated terminal 100 can access the gateway 200. In addition, the authentication server 300 periodically checks the authentication status of the terminal 100 and informs the terminal 100. If the terminal 100 is in a multi-network merge service unavailable state, the authentication server 300 transmits an authentication state and notification information to the terminal. Here, the authentication server 300 may be referred to as a multi-network aggregation policy engine (MultiNet Aggregation-Policy Engine MA-PE). Communication between the terminal 100 and the authentication server 300 will be described in detail below.

The merging technology of the WiFi network and the LTE network may be classified as follows according to the merging point.

L2 / link layer merging creates a dedicated tunnel to the WiFi AP at the boundary point of the LTE core and the access network (ie, eNB).

L3 / network layer merging creates virtual IP tunnels to consolidate IP addresses used independently in LTE and WiFi networks.

L4 / Transport layer merging can create a session over a single access network and then participate in data transmission regardless of the IP addressing system, if additional access networks are available. At this time, the communication subject at the application level supports a structure capable of data communication based on a single session using one or more access networks.

L7 / application layer merging is a dedicated application / network agent recombines data received through its own LTE network and WiFi network or separates application protocol data and transmits them.

As described above, various merge transmissions are possible according to the merge transport layer. Hereinafter, a merge technique using L4-based multi-path TCP (MPTCP) will be described.

Referring to FIG. 3, the gateway 200 relays MPTCP data and TCP data. The gateway 200 may be a proxy server that supports transmission and reception of data through MPTCP when the terminal 100 communicates with a general TCP server. Here, it is assumed that the server 400 and the server 500 do not support multiple communication interfaces.

When the terminal 100 can use the multi-network merging service (for example, the multi-network merging service is activated), the terminal 100 and the gateway 200 are connected to the primary path (3G / LTE network) and the secondary path. (WiFi network) Data is transmitted and received through the primary and secondary subflows generated in each.

When the multi-network merge service is not available in the terminal 100 (for example, when the multi-network merge service is disabled or a service provided by the server 500 is not set to use the multi-network merge transmission), the terminal 100 communicates with server 500 via a default route without having to go through gateway 200. The default path is a basic data transmission / reception path that is not connected to the gateway 200. When the Wi-Fi connection is established, the default path may be a WiFi network, and when the Wi-Fi connection is not established, the default path may be 3G / LTE.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a multi-network merge service setting screen in a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating traffic flow according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 4, the terminal 100 includes a management application that allows a user to access, set a communication environment, and set a communication path for each application. The management application is executed in the terminal 100 and displays a screen on which a user can access and set a communication environment on the display. The management application displays a screen for configuring WiFi settings, mobile data settings, and multi-network merge settings (eg, GiGa LTE settings). The management application displays an area 10 on which a multi-network merge (3G / LTE network + WiFi network) setting can be selected on the screen of the terminal 100.

When the area 10 is selected, a multi-network merging service is set in the terminal 100 (MultiNet ON), and the interworking function of the authentication server interworking unit and the gateway 200 implementing the interworking function with the authentication server 300 is implemented. One gateway interworking unit operates to provide multi-network merge service. Here, ON means activation of the multi-network merge service, and OFF means deactivation of the multi-network merge service.

When the multi-network merging service is set, the management application may display a screen for setting applications capable of data transmission through the multi-network merging. Applications that can use the multi-network merge service may be referred to as whitelists.

The terminal 100 refers to an appropriate routing table, sets MPTCP parameters, and drives a network agent according to on / off of a multi-network merging service. In this case, the terminal 100 may set the main subflow of MPTCP to 3G / LTE network and the sub subflow to WiFi network. Since the main subflow is connected in the 3G / LTE network, a stable network connection can be maintained as compared to the main subflow in the WiFi network. The 3G / LTE network can immediately reinforce resources even if the connection is lost, but the WiFi network guarantees network connection only from the AP resource.

Referring to FIG. 5, the terminal 100 may select a transmission network of each application based on the setting for each application. For example, the terminal 100 communicates with a server of some applications (eg, a messenger application) via an LTE network, and communicates with a server of some applications (eg, a social media application) via a WiFi network. In addition, MPTCP may communicate with a server of some applications (eg, a video service application) through a gateway (MA-GW) 200. That is, the terminal 100 may transmit and receive data through an LTE network and a WiFi network when using an application belonging to a white list, and may transmit and receive data through a default path when using a messenger application.

As such, the terminal 100 manages the MPTCP flow via the gateway 200 when the multi-network merging service is set. In addition, the terminal 100 may switch to the default path in the multi-network merge transmission according to the abnormal situation or session management of the application.

On the other hand, even if the terminal 100 configures a multi-network merge service, the multi-network merge service cannot be used unless the terminal is a subscriber of the multi-network merge service. In addition, the terminal 100 may be changed to the multi-network merge service disabled state according to the real-time characteristics of the network, the characteristics of the application, the release of the multi-network merge service setting, etc. while the terminal 100 is in the multi-network merge service enabled state. Even if the user sets up the multi-network merging service due to such a variable situation, the terminal 100 may not be able to use the multi-network merging service. Next, the authentication server 300 continuously managing the authentication state of the terminal 100, and the terminal 100 communicating with the authentication server 300 and recognizing its authentication state will be described.

6 is a flowchart of a multi-network merge service setup and authentication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when the multi-network merge service is set (ON), the terminal 100 transmits a DNS query request message (DNS Query Request) requesting the address of the authentication server 300 to the domain name server 600. (S110).

The domain name server 600 transmits a DNS Query Response message including the address of the authentication server 300 to the terminal 100 (S120). The DNS query response message may include a plurality of authentication server 300 addresses, and may include, for example, an IPv4 address or an IPv6 address.

The terminal 100 transmits a multi-network merge service activation request message (MA Service Activation Request) to the address of the authentication server 300 included in the DNS query response message (S130). When a plurality of authentication server 300 addresses are included in the DNS query response message, the terminal 100 selects one address and uses the address of the authentication server 300. Although the terminal 100 is connected to the WiFi network, the terminal 100 may be configured to communicate with the 3G / LTE network when communicating with the authentication server 300. The terminal 100 connects to the authentication server 300 through the designated TCP connection port. Among the plurality of authentication server 300 addresses, the address of the authentication server 300 selected by the terminal 100 is called a primary IP, and the address of the authentication server 300 which is not selected is a second address. IP).

The authentication server 300 generates response information based on the subscriber information of the terminal 100 and the service provision state (S140). The response information may include a response result (authentication result), gateway access information, and the like. Since the response result is a response to the activation request, the response result corresponds to the authentication result. For example, information that has accepted the activation request (Accepted), information that does not accept the activation request (Not Accepted), service failure information (General Failure), etc. It may include. When the terminal 100 is a multi-network merge service subscriber, the authentication server 300 authenticates the terminal 100 and generates an activation request accepted (Accepted) as a response result. If the terminal 100 is not a multi-network merge service subscriber, the authentication server 300 does not authenticate the terminal 100 (non-authentication) and generates information (Not Accepted) that does not accept the activation request (response result). When a service error occurs, the authentication server 300 deauthorizes the terminal 100 and generates service failure information (General Failure) as a response result. The gateway access information may include a gateway address, a port, and the like. In the future, when the terminal is in an authenticated state or when the authentication server accepts the activation request, the terminal may use a multi-network merge service. When the terminal is not authenticated or the authentication server does not accept the activation request, the terminal may not use the multi-network merge service.

The authentication server 300 transmits a multi-network merge service activation response message (MA Service Activation Response) including the response information to the terminal 100 (S150).

The terminal 100 checks the authentication status based on the multi-network merge service activation response message (S160).

If the terminal 100 is authenticated, the terminal 100 accesses the gateway 200 based on the information included in the multi-network merge service activation response message (S170).

If not authenticated, the terminal 100 displays a notification message (notification) for the authentication status, and releases the multi-network merge service setting (OFF) (S180). That is, the authentication server 300 controls so that the unauthenticated terminal cannot use the multi-network merge service.

Through such a message exchange, the authentication server 300 manages the authentication state of the terminal 100.

On the other hand, when the terminal 100 does not receive the multi-network merge service activation response message, it performs a processing operation when the authentication server 300 does not respond. When the authentication server 300 does not respond, the terminal 100 may perform the processing described with reference to FIG. 9.

The multi-network merge service activation request message (MA Service Activation Request) includes the information of Table 1. The multi-network merge service activation request message includes a username and a password. The username may be configured with an identifier of an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and a Mobile Station ISDN (MSSI), a terminal 3G / LTE IP, a service destination IP, a service package name, and a terminal model name, but may be variously changed. At this time, MSISDN may utilize the USIM information of the terminal 100, Service Destination IP is the address of the authentication server 300. The username can be expressed as, for example: Username = 450081234567890; 821012345678; 10.1.2.3; 20.1.2.3; com.kt.ollehApp; ABC-M123K

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x00
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	UE Version	32	Char	Terminal Model Name; Binary Version (Example) ABC-M123K; G234123UKK
	Username	Variable (up to 255)	Char	IMSI; MSISDN; Terminal 3G / LTE IP; Service Destination IP; Service Package Name; Terminal Model Name
	Password	Variable (up to 255)	Char	Random generation
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved (0x00)

The multi-network merge service activation response message (MA Service Activation Response) includes the information in Table 2. The multi-network merge service activation response message may include response information, and the response information may include status, notification information, status query time, gateway access information, and the like indicating an authentication result. . The status may indicate Accepted, Not Accepted, General Failure, and the like. The notification information is a parameter in the form of UTF-8, and includes information describing a non-authentication state, and the terminal 100 displays the notification message with reference to the user. The gateway access information may include a gateway address type (MA-GW IP Type), a gateway address (MA-GW IP), and a gateway port (MA-GW Port).

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x10
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	Status	One	Int	0x00: Accepted0x01: Not Accepted0x02: General Failure0xFF: Reserved
	Notification	255	Char	User Announcement Message (UTF-8)
	Status Query Time	2	Int	MA-GW Status Status Query Time (Example) 65535 seconds for 0xFFFF
	MA-GW IP Type	One	Int	0x00: IPv40x01: IPv60x02: FQDN
	MA-GW IP	Variable	Char	MA-GW IP address Last byte Add null cha (0x00) If there are multiple IPs, separate them with ";"
	MA-GW Port	2	Int	MA-GW Port Value
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

The terminal 100 checks the authentication status based on the status code included in the multi-network merge service activation response message, and operates as shown in Table 3 according to the authentication status. When the notification message is included in the response message, the terminal 100 displays the notification information so that the user can easily recognize that the multi-network merge service setting is released.

Status code	Authentication Server Behavior	Terminal operation
0x00	Determined as a subscriber of multi-network merge service, and transmits gateway access information	Preparing for Next Steps Without Performing Notifications
0x01	Determined as a non-subscriber of multi-network merge service, and send notification	Turn off multi-network merge service (OFF), mark messages in Notification parameters as notifications (toasts)
0x02	Judging by service error, sending notification	Turn off multi-network merge service (OFF), mark messages in Notification parameters as notifications (toasts)

7 is a flowchart illustrating a multi-network merge service state inquiry method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the terminal 100 periodically sends a multi-network merge service status query message to the authentication server 300 based on a status query time included in the multi-network merge service activation response message. Transmit (S210). If the terminal 100 is in a multi-network merge service, the terminal 100 periodically queries the multi-network merge service state with reference to the state query time included in the multi-network merge service activation response message. After the multi-network merge service is activated, the terminal 100 checks whether the multi-network merge service is continuously maintained in an activated state (authentication state). Through this, the user can recognize the continuous state of the multi-network merging service.

The authentication server 300 transmits a multi-network merge service status response message (MA Service Status Query Response) including status information to the terminal 100 (S220).

The terminal 100 periodically checks the authentication status based on the multi-network merge service status response message (S230).

If authenticated, the terminal 100 maintains the multi-network merge service setting (ON) based on the authentication status included in the multi-network merge service activation response message (S240). The terminal 100 waits for the next state query time and repeats step S210 when the next state query time arrives.

If not authenticated, the terminal 100 displays a notification on the authentication status, and releases the multi-network merge service setting (OFF) (S250).

Through such a message exchange, the authentication server 300 manages the authentication state of the terminal 100.

The MA Service Status Query Request includes the information of Table 4. The multi-network merge service status query message includes a username and password.

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x02
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	Username	Variable (up to 255)	Char	IMSI; MSISDN; Terminal 3G / LTE IP; Service Destination IP; Service Package Name; Terminal Model Name
	Password	Variable (up to 255)	Char	Random generation
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

The multi-network merge service status response message (MA Service Status Query Response) includes the information of Table 5. The multi-network merge service status response message may include status information, notification information, and the like indicating an authentication result.

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x12
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	Status	One	Int	0x00: Accepted0x01: Not Accepted0x02: General Failure0xFF: Reserved
	Notification	255	Char	User Announcement Message (UTF-8)
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

The terminal 100 checks the authentication status based on the status code included in the multi-network merge service status response message, and operates as shown in Table 6 according to the authentication status.

Status code	Authentication Server Behavior	Terminal operation
0x00	Multi-network merge service subscriber	Multi-network merge service status query at next status query time without performing notification
0x01	Determined as a non-subscriber of multi-network merge service, and send notification	Turn off multi-network merge service, mark messages in Notification parameters as notifications
0x02	Judging by service error, sending notification	Turn off multi-network merge service, mark messages in Notification parameters as notifications

On the other hand, when the terminal 100 does not receive the multi-network merge service status response message, it performs a non-response processing operation of the authentication server 300. If the terminal 100 does not receive a response through the non-response processing operation, the multi-network merge service status query message may be transmitted at the next state query time to maintain the multi-network merge service.

If, in the state where the multi-network merging service is configured in the terminal 100, the 3G / LTE service is capable of normal 3G / LTE service out of the weak electric field or out of zone (OOZ), the terminal 100 may authenticate the authentication server 300. ) Can be reauthenticated by sending a multi-network merge service status query message.

Alternatively, when the terminal 100 receives a 3G / LTE detachment and 3G / LTE bearer deactivate request, the terminal 100 performs a 3G / LTE attach and 3G / LTE bearer activation procedure. In addition, the terminal 100 may transmit a multi-network merge service activation request message to the authentication server 300 to proceed with the authentication procedure. At this time, the UE performs the authentication procedure by recording the 3G / LTE IP obtained through the 3G / LTE Attach (Attach) and 3G / LTE Bearer Activation procedure in the username of the multi-network merge service activation request message You can proceed.

8 is a flowchart of a multi-network merge service deauthentication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, when the multi-network merge service setting is released (OFF), the terminal 100 transmits a multi-network merge service deactivation request message (MA Service Deactivation Request) to the authentication server 300 (S310).

The authentication server 300 transmits a multi-network merge service deactivation response message (MA Service Deactivation Response) including the response information to the terminal 100 (S320).

Through such a message exchange, the authentication server 300 manages the authentication state of the terminal 100.

The multi-network merge service deactivation request message (MA Service Deactivation Request) includes the information of Table 7. The multi-network merge service deactivation request message includes a username, a password, and reason information. The reason may include the network state and the reason for deactivation at the time of the deactivation request, as shown in Table 7. The network state at the time of the deactivation request may indicate, for example, network connection states such as LTE and WiFi (LTE + WiFi), 3G and WiFi (3G + WiFi), LTE (LTE Only), and 3G (3G Only). The reason for deactivation may be due to the fact that the multi-network merge service setting is requested to be released by the user or an error occurred during authentication (SOCKS Authentication) between the terminal 100 and the gateway 200 after authentication by the authentication server 300 is completed. Indicates whether release was requested.

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x01
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	UE Version	32	Char	Terminal Model Name; Binary Version
	Username	255	Char	IMSI; MSISDN; Terminal 3G / LTE IP; Service Destination IP; Service Package Name; Terminal Model Name
	Password	255	Char	Random generation
	Reason	One	Int	0xAB (A, B operation classification) A: Deactivation time network status [Value] 1: GiGA LTE (LTE + WiFi) 2: GiGA LTE (3G + WiFi) 3: GiGA LTE (LTE Only) 4: GiGA LTE (3G Only ) B: Reason for Deactivation [Value] 1: When user turns off MA setting 2: When 0x30 is received by SOCKS Authentication Response 0xFF: Reserved
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

The multi-network merge service deactivation response message (MA Service Deactivation Response) includes the information of Table 8. The multi-network merge service deactivation response message may include a response result for the deactivation request, and the response result may include information (Accepted) that accepted the deactivation request. That is, information that accepts the deactivation request (Accepted) means deauthorization.

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x11
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	Status	One	Int	0x00: Accepted
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of processing a non-response of an authentication server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the terminal 100 transmits a request message to the authentication server 300 (S410). The request message may be a multi-network merge service activation response message, a multi-network merge service status query message, or a multi-network merge service deactivation request message. In this case, the terminal 100 transmits a request message to a primary IP of the authentication server 300.

The terminal 100 waits for reception of a response message to the request message (S420). When receiving the response message, it operates according to the procedure described with reference to FIG.

If the response message is not received, the terminal 100 checks whether there is a second address (secondary IP) of the authentication server 300 (S430). The second address may be received from the domain name server 600 along with the primary IP.

If there is a second address of the authentication server 300, the terminal 100 retransmits the request message to the authentication server 300 of the second address (S440).

The terminal 100 waits for reception of a response message to the request message (S442). When receiving the response message, it operates according to the procedure described with reference to FIG.

If the response message is not received, the terminal 100 determines whether the number of retries is less than the reference number N (S450). The reference number may be two times.

If less than the reference number, the terminal 100 retransmits the request message to the authentication server 300 of the first address (S452).

If more than the reference number of times, the terminal 100 terminates the procedure (S454).

On the other hand, if there is no second address of the authentication server 300, the terminal 100 moves to step S450 to determine the number of retries (S460).

As such, when the terminal 100 does not receive a response message from the authentication server 300, the terminal 100 retransmits the request message to the authentication server 300.

If the terminal 100 does not receive a response through the non-response processing operation of FIG. 9 after transmitting the multi-network merge service status query message, the terminal 100 transmits a multi-network merge service status query message at the next status query time. Network merge service can be maintained.

In addition, when the multi-network merging service is activated (ON) in the terminal 100, if the 3G / LTE service is out of the weak electric field or the out of zone (OOZ), and the normal 3G / LTE service is possible, the terminal 100 The authentication server 300 may reauthenticate by transmitting a multi-network merge service status query message.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of querying multi-network merge service data usage according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the terminal 100 transmits a multi-network merge service usage query message to the authentication server 300 (S510).

The authentication server 300 transmits a multi-network merge service usage response message (MA Service Usage Query Response) to the terminal 100 (S520).

The MA Service Usage Query Request includes the information of Table 9.

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x0X
	Type	One	Int	0x03
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	Username	255	Char	IMSI; MSISDN; Terminal 3G / LTE IP; Service Destination IP; Service Package Name; Terminal Model Name
	Password	255	Char	Random generation
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

The multi-network merge service usage response message (MA Service Usage Query Response) includes the information of Table 10. The multi-network merge service usage response message may include data usage for each communication network.

division	Parameters	Size (Bytes)	Type	Contents
Header	Name	8	Char	"KTMA"
	Version	One	Int	0x01
	Type	One	Int	0x13
	Data size	2	Int	Data size
Data	Status	One	Int	0x00: Accepted0x01: Not Accepted0x02: General Failure0xFF: Reserved
	LTE Usage	8	Int	LTE cumulative usage in bytes
	WiFi Usage	8	Int	Cumulative WiFi Usage (Bytes)
	Notification	255	Char	User Announcement Message (UTF-8)
	Reserved	4	Char	Reserved

11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a multi-network merge service according to a change of a plan according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, after the terminal 100 is authenticated by the authentication server 300, the user plan may be changed in a situation in which the terminal 100 is connected to the gateway 200 and uses a multi-merging service.

If the plan is changed, the P-GW (Packet Gateway) 700 receives a session release / release (session release) command from the billing and billing device (not shown) (S610).

The P-GW 700 deletes a session (S620).

The P-GW 700 makes a detach request to the terminal 100 (S630). The P-GW 700 requests separation to change the IP of the terminal.

The terminal 100 performs a detach accept to the P-GW 700 (S632).

The terminal 100 makes an attach request to the P-GW 700 again (S640).

The P-GW 700 attaches to the terminal 100 (attach accept) (S642). The terminal 100 updates the IP by exchanging a connection request and a connection acceptance message with the P-GW 700.

After reconnecting to the P-GW 700 as described above with reference to FIG. 6, the terminal 100 transmits a multi-network merge service activation request message to the authentication server 300 to receive authentication for the multi-network merge service again. (S650). Operation after transmitting the multi-network merge service activation request message is the same as described with reference to FIG. 6.

Specifically, when the user changes the plan, the plan change command server N-STEP updates the user information with the billing server. The charging server updates the charging policy with the policy server.

In order to reflect the charging change for the terminal 100 to the connected 3G / LTE system, the policy server requests the P-GW 700 to delete the session according to the change of the user plan. The P-GW 700 deletes the session and exchanges the separation request and the separation acceptance message with the terminal 100 on the basis of 3G / LTE for updating the terminal status according to the change of the plan.

When the terminal 100 is separated from the P-GW 700, there is no IP, but in order to update the 3G / LTE subscription, the terminal 100 updates the IP by exchanging an access request and an access acceptance message with the P-GW 700. When the IP is updated and the multi-network merge service is not available, the terminal 100 transmits a multi-network merge service activation request message to the authentication server 300 to confirm whether to join.

The authentication server 300 queries the subscriber based on the multi-network merge service activation request message, and generates an authentication result based on the inquiry result. If the subscription cannot be confirmed due to the change of the plan, the multi-network merge service is no longer used.

Meanwhile, the user's plan may be changed from a plan that does not use a multi-network merge service to a multi-network merge service. In this case, as described above, the terminal 100 receives the authentication of the authentication server 300 through a connection procedure after separation from the P-GW when the plan is changed.

In addition, the operation described with reference to FIG. 11 may be performed by limiting the speed of the terminal for each plan or setting an exception.

12 is a hardware block diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the terminal 100 includes a processor 810, a memory device 820, a storage device 830, a display 840, a communication device 850, and a speaker / microphone 860. It is composed of hardware and stores a program executed in combination with hardware in a designated place. The hardware has the configuration and performance to implement the method of the present invention. The program includes instructions implementing the operating method of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11, and executes the present invention in combination with hardware such as the processor 810 and the memory device 820. The program may include instructions for operating a network agent implemented by a management application and internal terminal logic. The network agent includes an authentication server interworking unit implementing the interworking function with the authentication server 300 and a gateway interworking unit implementing the interworking function with the gateway 200. The terminal also includes various application programs.

The network device including the gateway 200 and the authentication server 300 also includes hardware including a processor, a memory device, a storage device, a communication device, and the like, and stores a program executed in combination with the hardware in a designated place. The hardware has the configuration and performance to implement the method of the present invention. The program includes instructions implementing the operating method of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11, and executes the present invention in combination with hardware such as a processor and a memory device.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the network apparatus authenticates the use of the multi-network merging service of the terminal based on various request messages received from the terminal, and periodically manages the authentication state so that the authenticated terminal is a multi-network merging service. Can be controlled for continuous use. According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the network device notifies the terminal of the authentication status for the multi-network merge service, and the terminal displays the notification information, the user recognizes the authentication status for the multi-network merge service and the multi-network merge service. It's easy to see if it's possible. In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, even when the network apparatus configures the multi-network merge service in the non-authenticated terminal, the network device may automatically release the multi-network merge service.

The embodiments of the present invention described above are not only implemented through the apparatus and the method, but may be implemented through a program for realizing a function corresponding to the configuration of the embodiments of the present invention or a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

Claims (22)

1. A method of operating a terminal for a multi-network merge service,

   Sending a first message requesting activation of a multi-network merge service to the authentication server;

   Receiving a second message from the authentication server in response to the first message, and

   If the response information included in the second message is acceptance of the request, accessing a gateway located at a multi-network point of contact.

   Operation method comprising a.
2. In claim 1,

   If the response information is acceptance of the request, the second message further includes at least one address of the gateway,

   Accessing the gateway

   And accessing the gateway based on a first address selected from the at least one address.
3. In claim 2,

   If the response information is acceptance of the request, the second message further includes a status query time,

   Periodically transmitting a third message for querying a multi-network merge service state to the authentication server according to the state query time

   Operation method further comprising.
4. In claim 3,

   Receiving a fourth message, which is a response to the third message, from the authentication server;

   If the response information included in the fourth message indicates an authenticated state, transmitting the third message at a next state query time; and

   When the response information included in the fourth message indicates an unauthenticated state, releasing the multi-network merge service set in the terminal;

   Operation method further comprising.
5. In claim 4,

   If the fourth message is not received from the authentication server, transmitting the third message at a next status query time

   Operation method further comprising.
6. In claim 4,

   If the response information included in the fourth message indicates a non-authenticated state, displaying the notification information included in the fourth message.

   Operation method further comprising.
7. In claim 1,

   If the response information is not acceptance of the request, the second message further includes notification information describing the response information,

   Displaying the notification information included in the second message.

   Operation method further comprising.
8. In claim 1,

   Transmitting a fifth message requesting deactivation of a multi-network merge service to the authentication server; and

   Receiving a sixth message from the authentication server in response to the fifth message;

   Operation method further comprising.
9. In claim 8,

   The fifth message includes a reason for deactivation.
10. In claim 1,

    Prior to sending the first message

    Sending a seventh message requesting an address of the authentication server to a domain name server, and

    Receiving an eighth message in response to the seventh message from the domain name server,

    And the eighth message includes at least one address of the authentication server.
11. In claim 1,

    Resending the first message to the authentication server if the response to the first message is not received from the authentication server;

    Resending the first message to the authentication server

    If there is no response after transmitting the first message to the first address of the authentication server, determining whether there is a second address of the authentication server;

    If there is a second address of the authentication server, transmitting the first message to the second address, and

    If there is no second address of the authentication server, transmitting the first message to the first address

    Operation method comprising a.
12. In claim 11,

    Resending the first message to the authentication server

    Setting a reference number of retransmissions and retransmitting the first message to the first address or the second address within the reference number.
13. A method in which an authentication server operates for a multi-network merging service of a terminal,

    Receiving a first message requesting activation of a multi-network merge service from the terminal;

    Generating response information for the terminal based on the first message, and

    Transmitting a second message including the response information to the terminal;

    Including,

    The response information includes an authentication result indicating whether the terminal can use the multi-network merge service.
14. In claim 13,

    Generating the response information

    And generating the authentication result based on the subscriber information of the terminal and the service provision state.
15. The method of claim 14,

    When the terminal is a multi-network merge service subscriber, the response information includes an authentication result indicating that the multi-network merge service is available in the terminal and at least one address of the gateway,

    The gateway is a network device which is located at the contact point of the multi-network is connected to the terminal when using the multi-network merge service.
16. The method of claim 15,

    If the terminal is a multi-network merge service subscriber, the response information further comprises a status query time.
17. The method of claim 16,

    Periodically receiving a third message for querying a multi-network merge service state from the terminal according to the state query time; and

    Transmitting a fourth message, which is a response to the third message, to the terminal;

    The fourth message includes an authentication result indicating whether the terminal can use the multi-network merging service.
18. The method of claim 14,

    If the terminal is not a multi-network merge service subscriber or a service error occurs, the response information includes an authentication result indicating that the multi-network merge service is unavailable in the terminal and notification information describing the authentication result. Way.
19. In claim 13,

    Receiving a fifth message requesting deactivation of a multi-network merging service from the terminal, and

    Transmitting a sixth message, which is a response to the fifth message, to the terminal;

    Operation method further comprising.
20. A terminal providing a multi-network merge service,

    Communication module,

    display,

    Memory for storing programs, and

    A processor for executing the program in association with the communication module, the display, and the memory;

    The program includes a first program for multi-network merge service authentication,

    The first program

    When the multi-network merge service setting is received, a first message including a multi-network merge service activation request is transmitted to an authentication server, a second message is received from the authentication server in response to the first message, and the second message is received. If the response information included in the message is acceptance, access is made to the address of the gateway included in the second message. If the response information included in the second message is not acceptance, the notification information included in the second message is displayed. Contains instructions,

    The gateway is a network device that is located at the junction of multiple networks and relays traffic in a multi-network merge service.
21. The method of claim 20,

    The program includes a second program for querying multi-network merge service status,

    The second program is

    If the second message includes a status query time, a third message for querying a multi-network merge service status is transmitted to the authentication server according to the status query time, and the response is a response to the third message from the authentication server. When the fourth message is received and the response information included in the fourth message indicates the authenticated state, the third message is transmitted at a next state query time, and the response information included in the fourth message is not authenticated. If present, the terminal comprising instructions for releasing the multi-network merge service settings.
22. The method of claim 20,

    The program includes a third program for deauthorizing multi-network merge service,

    The third program is

    The terminal comprising instructions for transmitting a multi-network merge service deactivation request including a reason for deactivation when the multi-network merge service setting release is input to the authentication server.

Images