Resource control method in group communication and group communication server
Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of trunking communication technologies, and in particular, to a resource control method and a group communication server in group communication.
Background
The trunking communication system is a special wireless communication system which is developed for meeting the demand of industry user command and scheduling and is applied to a specific industry.
A typical service in a group communication system is a group communication service, which includes 3 "one-to-one-response" functions of group call, emergency group call and broadcast call. The group call refers to a one-to-many talkback call initiated by a user, wherein group members can apply for the right of speaking and speak, and only one group member can be used as a calling party during the conversation. An emergency group call is a special talk-back mode in an emergency situation with the highest call priority for notifying information to a pre-designated group in the shortest time and in the most convenient manner. The broadcast call is a special group call, and is different from the group call in that only one fixed calling member exists and a speaking right rotation process does not exist.
Currently, The third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) is studying The problem of supporting trunking communication based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, and proposes to support trunking communication using evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) technology.
An existing Group communication system Enabler _ long term evolution (GCSE _ LTE) architecture supporting trunking communication is shown in fig. 1. Wherein, Uu, M1, M2, M3, S1-U, Sm, S11, S5, SG-imb, SG-mb, SGi, Gxn and Rx are interfaces between communication nodes.
The group communication flow based on the architecture shown in fig. 1 is as follows:
a GCSE access Server (GCSE AS) requests a Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI) of a GCSE Group (GCSE Group) from a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) through a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF);
the GCSE AS maintains a mapping of TMGI and GCSE group identity (GCSE group ID);
establishing eMBMS bearer for the GCSE group in advance, and scheduling air interface resources for the GCSE group in advance;
user Equipment (User Equipment, UE, also called terminal) sends a registration message to a GCSE AS, where the registration message includes a GCSE group ID in which the UE is interested;
the GCSE AS returns the TMGI of the GCSE group interested by the UE to the UE, and the UE maintains the mapping between the TMGI and the GCSE group ID;
the UE monitors the network to determine whether eMBMS transmission corresponding to each TMGI is available;
the UE initiates a group communication establishment process, a unicast bearer is used in an uplink, and the UE indicates that eMBMS transmission of the corresponding TMGI is available in a group establishment signaling.
The GCSE AS determines whether to use a pre-established eMBMS bearer for downlink data transmission, and if the GCSE AS determines to use the pre-established eMBMS bearer for downlink data transmission, the universal terrestrial radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) can optimize the utilization of pre-scheduled air interface resources by determining to use Point-to-Point (P2P, Point-to-Point) or Point-to-multipoint (P2M, Point-to-Multi-points).
Because the time delay of the eMBMS bearer establishment process is higher, the time delay requirement of trunking communication cannot be met. Therefore, in the existing group communication flow, the time delay is reduced by adopting a mode of establishing the eMBMS bearer in advance. However, after the eMBMS bearer is established in advance, no group communication may occur for a long time, or only a small number of terminals use the pre-established eMBMS bearer for group communication, which may cause a waste of bearer resources.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a resource control method in group communication and a group communication server, so as to solve the problem of bearing resource waste.
The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
a method of resource control in group communications, comprising:
the group communication server counts the number of terminals interested in a communication group in each sub-region of a group communication service region of the communication group, wherein the group communication service region of the communication group is divided into a plurality of sub-regions;
when the number of terminals interested in the communication group increases to a first terminal number threshold indicating bearer establishment, the group communication server requests a core network node to establish a multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for the communication group.
A group communication server, comprising:
the terminal quantity counting module is used for counting the quantity of terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-region of a group communication service region of the communication group, wherein the group communication service region of the communication group is divided into a plurality of sub-regions;
a bearer establishment request module, configured to request, to a core network node, establishment of a multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for a communication group when the number of terminals interested in the communication group increases to a first terminal number threshold indicating bearer establishment.
According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, in the group communication, when the number of the terminals interested in the communication group reaches the first terminal number threshold value indicating the establishment of the bearer, the MBMS bearer for the communication group is established. By setting the first terminal quantity threshold, no group communication occurs for a long time after the MBMS bearer is established, and only a small number of terminals use the MBMS bearer to perform group communication, thereby reducing the waste of bearer resources.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture for implementing group communication in the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a third method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a fourth method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a fifth method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a sixth method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a group communication server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
The embodiment of the invention provides a resource control method in group communication and a corresponding group communication server. The group communication server counts the number of terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-area in the group communication service area of the communication group; when the number of terminals interested in the communication group increases to a first terminal number threshold indicating bearer establishment, the group communication server requests the core network node to establish a multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for the communication group. By setting the first terminal quantity threshold, no group communication occurs for a long time after the MBMS bearer is established, and only a small number of terminals use the MBMS bearer to perform group communication, thereby reducing the waste of bearer resources.
The terminal involved in the embodiment of the invention refers to a trunking terminal (namely GCSE Application UE).
The group communication server in the embodiment of the invention can be GCSE AS, and can also be other network nodes with resource control function in group communication.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal interested in the communication group is a terminal that desires to receive data of the communication group.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the core network node in communication with the group communication server may be, but is not limited to, a BM-SC.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the access network node may be, but is not limited to, a node b (nb), an evolved node b (enb), a home base station (HNB), a wireless Access Point (AP), a Relay Node (RN), a wireless router, and the like.
The MBMS bearer in the embodiment of the present invention may be a conventional MBMS bearer, or may also be referred to as an eMBMS bearer.
The group communication service area in the embodiment of the present invention refers to a geographical location area where a group communication server provides a point-to-multipoint service.
The group communication service area of the communication group in the embodiment of the present invention is divided into a plurality of sub-areas, and the sub-area is a geographical location area and may be one or more cells. And each sub-area corresponds to one identifier.
The multicast area in the embodiment of the present invention refers to an area formed by sub-areas using point-to-multipoint transmission of downlink data of a communication group.
The multicast area is a sub-area of the group communication area.
The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating a resource control method in group communication according to an embodiment of the present invention, which specifically includes the following operations:
step 20, the group communication server counts the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-area of the group communication service area of the communication group.
There are various ways to count the number of terminals interested in group communication in each sub-area.
For example, each time the identification information of the communication group which the terminal is interested in is received, the identification information of the terminal and the identification information of the communication group which the terminal is interested in are stored in a correlated manner, each time the terminal de-registration message is received, the identification information of the terminal and the identification information of the communication group which the terminal is interested in are deleted, and the number of the terminals which are interested in the communication group can be determined by counting the number of the stored identification information of the communication group which the terminal is interested in. Specifically, in the saving process, the identification information of the terminal and the identification information of the communication group in which the terminal is interested are saved in groups by taking the sub-area as a unit.
Preferably, the state identifier may be set for the terminal, the state identifier of the terminal in the communication group of interest is set to be interested in the communication group according to the identification information of the communication group of interest sent by the terminal, and after receiving the registration release message sent by the terminal, the state identifier of the terminal in the communication group of original interest is set to be uninteresting in the communication group. Wherein the terminal may, but is not limited to, carry the identification information of the communication group of interest in the registration message. Correspondingly, the group communication server counts the number of the terminals interested in the communication group according to the state identification of each terminal.
Step 21, when the number of terminals interested in the communication group is increased to the first terminal number threshold indicating bearer establishment, the group communication server requests the core network node to establish the MBMS bearer for the communication group.
If each sub-region corresponds to a first terminal number threshold, increasing the number of terminals interested in the communication group to the first terminal number threshold means increasing the number of terminals interested in the communication group in part or all of the sub-regions of the group communication service region of the communication group to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-region. The first terminal number threshold corresponding to each sub-region may be the same or different.
Or, one group communication service area corresponds to one first terminal number threshold, and increasing the number of terminals interested in a communication group to the first terminal number threshold means that the total number of terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-area of the group communication service area is increased to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the group communication service area.
Accordingly, the group communication server may request, to the core network node, establishment of the MBMS bearer for the communication group when the number of terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-area of the group communication service area of the communication group increases to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area. When judging whether the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in the sub-area is increased to a first terminal number threshold, judging that the first terminal number threshold according to the judgment is a first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area. The implementation mode can effectively reduce the waste of bearing resources.
The group communication server may also request the core network node to establish the MBMS bearer for the communication group when the number of terminals interested in the communication group in a predetermined number of sub-areas of the group communication service area of the communication group increases to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area. Compared with the prior art, the implementation mode can reduce the waste of bearing resources and can ensure that the MBMS bearing is established in time.
The group communication server may also request the core network node to establish the MBMS bearer for the communication group when the number of terminals interested in the communication group in the designated sub-area of the group communication service area of the communication group increases to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area. The designated sub-region is at least one sub-region predetermined according to actual requirements and the like. For example, a sub-area with dense user distribution (e.g., a sub-area covering a place such as an office building, school, etc.) is determined as the designated sub-area. Compared with the prior art, the implementation mode can reduce the waste of bearing resources and can ensure that the MBMS bearing is established in time.
The group communication server may further request the core network node to establish the MBMS bearer for the communication group when the total number of terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-area of the group communication service area of the communication group increases to a first terminal number threshold for one of the group communication service areas. The realization mode of the statistical quantity and the condition judgment is simple.
In order to further reduce the waste of bearer resources, after the MBMS bearer is established, the established MBMS bearer may be deleted when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Based on the implementation of the establishment of each bearer, the implementation of determining and deleting the MBMS bearer may be: and when the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in each subarea of the group communication service area of the communication group is reduced to a second terminal number threshold value corresponding to the subarea and indicating bearer release, the group communication server requests the core network node to release the multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for the communication group. Each sub-region may correspond to a second terminal quantity threshold, and the second terminal quantity thresholds corresponding to each sub-region may be the same or different. The implementation mode can effectively reduce the waste of bearing resources.
Of course, the implementation manner of releasing the MBMS bearer may also be: and when the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in the sub-areas with the preset number of the group communication service areas of the communication group is reduced to the threshold value of the second terminal number, the group communication server requests the core network node to release the multimedia broadcast multicast service bearing aiming at the communication group. The sub-regions with the predetermined number may correspond to the same second terminal number threshold, or each sub-region may correspond to one second terminal number threshold, and when it is determined whether the number of terminals interested in the communication group in the sub-region is reduced to the second terminal number threshold, it is determined that the second terminal number threshold according to the determination is the second terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-region. The implementation mode can effectively reduce the waste of bearing resources. Compared with the prior art, the implementation mode can reduce the waste of bearing resources and can ensure that the MBMS bearing is established in time.
The implementation manner of releasing the MBMS bearer may also be: and when the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in the designated sub-area of the group communication service area of the communication group is reduced to a second terminal number threshold value, the group communication server requests the core network node to release the multimedia broadcast multicast service bearing aiming at the communication group. The multiple designated sub-regions may correspond to the same second terminal quantity threshold, or each designated sub-region may correspond to one second terminal quantity threshold, and when it is determined whether the quantity of the terminals interested in the communication group in the designated sub-region is reduced to the second terminal quantity threshold, it is determined that the second terminal quantity threshold according to the determination is the second terminal quantity threshold corresponding to the designated sub-region. The implementation mode can effectively reduce the waste of bearing resources. Compared with the prior art, the implementation mode can reduce the waste of bearing resources and can ensure that the MBMS bearing is established in time.
The implementation manner of releasing the MBMS bearer may also be: and when the total number of the terminals interested in the communication group in each subarea of the group communication service area of the communication group is reduced to a second terminal number threshold value, the group communication server requests the core network node to release the multimedia broadcast multicast service bearing aiming at the communication group. The realization mode of the statistical quantity and the condition judgment is simple.
Since the distribution of the terminals is dynamically changed, in order to avoid frequent establishment/removal of the MBMS bearer, preferably, if each sub-area corresponds to one first terminal quantity threshold and one second terminal quantity threshold, the first terminal quantity threshold corresponding to the same sub-area is greater than or equal to the second terminal quantity threshold; if the group communication service area corresponds to a first terminal quantity threshold value, each sub-area corresponds to a second terminal quantity threshold value, and the first terminal quantity threshold value corresponding to the group communication service area is larger than or equal to the second terminal quantity threshold value; and if each sub-area corresponds to a first terminal quantity threshold, the group communication service area corresponds to a second terminal quantity threshold, and the first terminal quantity threshold corresponding to each sub-area is greater than or equal to the second terminal quantity threshold corresponding to the group communication server area.
If each sub-area corresponds to a first terminal quantity threshold and a second terminal quantity threshold, on the basis of the corresponding embodiments, in the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the multicast area may also be updated according to the statistical result of the number of terminals interested in the communication group. The specific implementation mode can be as follows: when the MBMS load bearing aiming at the communication group is established and not released; when the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in the sub-area is reduced to a second terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area, sending a first request for updating the multicast area to the core network node, wherein the first request for updating the multicast area carries the sub-area identifier and indication information for rejecting the sub-area from the multicast area; and when the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in the sub-area is increased to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area or is smaller than the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area, the number of the terminals is increased to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-area again, a second request for updating the multicast area is sent to the core network node, and the second request for updating the multicast area carries the sub-area identifier and indication information for adding the sub-area to the multicast area.
The MBMS bearer is established based on any implementation mode, and when the MBMS bearer is not released, the group call communication can be established according to the received group call request. The specific implementation mode can be as follows: the group communication server receives a group call request aiming at the communication group; after determining that the MBMS bearer for the communication group has been established, the group communication server requests, through the core network node, an access network node corresponding to each sub-region in the multicast region of the communication group to schedule air interface resources for the communication group.
In the embodiment of the invention, the core network side determines the cell list corresponding to the sub-region according to the corresponding relation between the sub-region and the cell, and further determines the access network node of each cell in the cell list. Therefore, the access network node corresponding to the sub-area refers to an access network node of a cell corresponding to the sub-area. The cell corresponding to the sub-region refers to a cell within the coverage of the sub-region.
In the prior art, air interface resources are also scheduled for a communication group in advance. Due to the limited air interface resources, the air interface resources are scheduled in advance, but the group call communication is not established in time, which causes the waste of the air interface resources. In the embodiment of the invention, the access network node is requested to schedule the air interface resource for the communication group after the group call request is received, thereby avoiding the waste of the air interface resource.
The method provided by the embodiment of the invention is explained in detail by taking the statistics of the number of the terminals interested in the communication group based on the state identifier of the terminal as an example.
In the following application embodiments, each sub-area of the group communication service area is a cell.
And setting state identifiers for the terminals, wherein each terminal has four states which are represented by different values of the state identifiers. These four states are respectively:
unregistered (De-registered) state: the terminal in this state should first initiate a registration message to the group communication server, and then initiate the trunking service;
registration (Registered) status: the terminal successfully Registered with the group communication server enters a Registered state, and the group communication server can send a control signaling to the terminal in the state, for example, a dynamic recombination process is executed;
state of interest (Interested): the state is associated with the identification information of the communication group, and the terminal that successfully sends the identification information of the communication group of interest to the group communication server has the state corresponding to the identification information of the communication group of interest, and during the group call, the group communication server should initiate a group call request to the terminal in the state and invite the terminal in the state to join in the group call communication.
Connected (Active) state: the state is associated with the identification information of the communication group, the terminal enters the state after successfully initiating/joining the group call communication, and the terminal in the state can receive/send the group call data.
Based on the setting of the terminal state, in the group communication, the processing procedure of the MBMS bearer establishment phase is as shown in fig. 3, and specifically includes the following operations:
step 300a, the UE sends a registration message to the group communication server, where the registration message carries identification information of the communication group of interest.
And 310a, the group communication server sets the state identifier of the UE to be an Interested state, and associates the state identifier with the identifier information of the communication group Interested by the UE and the identifier information of the UE access cell.
Step 300b, the UE sends a deregistration message to the group communication server.
Step 310b, the group communication server sets the state identifier of the UE to De-registered.
Step 320, the group communication server counts the number of terminals interested in the corresponding communication group in each cell of the group communication service area of each communication group.
It should be noted that there is no strict timing relationship between steps 300a, 310a, 300b, 310b, and 320. The group communication server may receive a registration message from the UE at any time and update a state of the UE according to the registration message, and may also receive a de-registration message from the UE at any time and update the state of the UE according to the de-registration message. The group communication server may count the number of terminals interested in the communication group according to a predetermined period, or may count the number of UEs after updating the state of the UE each time.
When the group communication server judges that the number of the terminals interested in a certain communication group in each cell is increased to a first terminal number threshold (Tsetup) indicating bearer establishment corresponding to the cell, step 330 is executed, and the group communication server sends an MBMS bearer establishment request to the BM-SC, wherein the MBMS bearer establishment request carries position information of a multicast area.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the multicast area is a sub-area of a group communication service area of a communication group.
The location information of the multicast area carried in the MBMS bearer establishment request may be identification information of a cell constituting the multicast area, location information of a cell constituting the multicast area, or a location of the multicast area obtained according to the location information of the cell constituting the multicast area.
It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, only the number of terminals interested in a certain communication group in each cell is increased to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the cell, which is taken as an example of the decision condition for establishing the MBMS bearer, but is not limited to this decision condition.
Step 340, the BM-SC allocates a TMGI to the communication group corresponding to the MBMS bearer establishment request, and returns a response message carrying the TMGI to the group communication server.
Step 350, the group communication server maintains a mapping relationship between the TMGI and the communication group identity.
And step 360-3110, establishing the MBMS bearer.
At this time, all the established MBMS bearers are in an Inactive (Inactive) state, and bearer resource allocation is not required.
After the MBMS bearer is established, the UE may still register or deregister with the group communication server, and accordingly, the group communication server counts the number of terminals interested in the communication group according to the state of the UE. In order to further reduce the waste of bearer resources, the established MBMS bearer may also be released when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the processing flow is as shown in fig. 4, and mainly includes the following operations:
when the group communication server determines that the number of terminals interested in a certain communication group in each cell is reduced to a second terminal number threshold (Trelease) indicating bearer release corresponding to the cell, step 400 is executed, and the group communication server sends an MBMS bearer tear-down request to the BM-SC, where the MBMS bearer tear-down request carries the TMGI of the communication group.
Step 410, the BM-SC determines the corresponding MBMS bearer according to the TMGI, releases the bearer resource, and returns a response message.
Step 420-470, MBMS bearer release process.
Since the distribution of the UEs is dynamically changed, the number of terminals in a cell in a group communication service area is also changed, when a terminal interested in the group communication enters or leaves a cell, it may be caused that the group communication server applies different data transmission strategies to the cell, i.e. multicast or unicast, so when the group communication server has already established an MBMS bearer for a communication group and is not released, and it is monitored that the number of terminals interested in the group communication in a cell reaches the first terminal number threshold/the second terminal number threshold, the group communication server needs to adjust the multicast area, i.e. the group communication server needs to initiate a bearer update process to bring the cell into/out of the multicast area. The specific implementation is shown in fig. 5, and includes the following operations:
if the MBMS bearer has been established for a certain communication group and is not released, when the number of terminals in a group communication service area of the communication group that have cells interested in the communication group is reduced to a second terminal number threshold corresponding to the cell, step 500 is executed, where the group communication server sends an MBMS bearer update request to the BM-SC, where the request carries identification information of the cell, and indication information for rejecting the cell from the multicast area.
Wherein the identification information of the cell can be represented by the location information of the cell.
The MBMS bearer update request is a first request to update a multicast area.
Step 510, the BM-SC returns a response message to the group communication server to confirm the update process.
Step 520-570, the MBMS bearer update process notifies the access network (RAN) side to reject the cell out of the multicast area.
If the MBMS bearer has been established for a certain communication group and the MBMS bearer is not released, when the number of terminals of which the cell is interested in the communication group in the group communication service area of the communication group is increased to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the cell, or the number of terminals of which the cell is interested in the communication group is smaller than the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the cell, the number of terminals is increased to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the cell again, step 580 is executed, where the group communication server sends an MBMS bearer update request to the BM-SC, where the request carries identification information of the cell, and indication information for adding the cell to the multicast area.
Wherein the identification information of the cell can be represented by the location information of the cell.
The MBMS bearer update request is a second request to update the multicast area.
Step 590, the BM-SC returns a response message to the group communication server to confirm the update procedure.
5100-5150, notifying the RAN side to add the cell to the multicast area in the MBMS bearer updating process.
Based on any embodiment of fig. 3 to 5, when an MBMS bearer is established and not released, if a group call request is received, a processing procedure of the processing procedure is as shown in fig. 6, and specifically includes:
step 600, after receiving the group call request of the calling terminal or the dispatching desk, the group communication server determines whether the MBMS bearer of the communication group to which the group call request is directed has been established, and if so, executes step 610.
Step 610, the group communication server sends a group call establishment request to the BM-SC, where the group call establishment request carries the TMGI, and informs the EPS to establish RAN side resources and call UE to join the group call.
And step 620-640, the BM-SC sends a group call establishment request to the RAN, each node pre-establishes an MBMS bearer associated with the TMGI carried in the group call establishment request to enter an Active (Active) state, and allocates bearer resources.
Step 650, the RAN establishes resources for MBMS data transmission, i.e. scheduling air interface resources for the corresponding communication group.
Step 660, the RAN side initiates group paging, where the paging message carries the TMGI, and the UE matches the group paging message through the previously received TMGI.
It should be noted that the group paging procedure may be performed either after the MBMS broadcast resource establishment is completed or in parallel with the MBMS broadcast resource establishment procedure.
Step 670-6100, the group call establishment response process, informs the group communication server RAN side resource establishment completion, can perform MBMS data transmission.
Step 6110, the UE notifies the group communication server that it joins the group call.
Based on any embodiment of fig. 3 to 5, when the MBMS bearer is established and not released, if the group call request is received, another processing procedure is as shown in fig. 7, which specifically includes:
step 700, after receiving the group call request of the calling terminal or the dispatching desk, the group communication server determines whether the MBMS bearer of the communication group to which the group call request is directed has been established, and if so, executes step 710.
Step 710, the group communication server sends a group call establishment request carrying information such as TMGI and IP multicast address to the UE through a point-to-point transmission channel between the group communication server and the UE.
Step 720, after receiving the group call establishment request, the UE joins the group call.
Step 730, the group communication server sends a bearer update request to the BM-SC, carrying the TMGI, and informs the EPS to establish RAN side resources.
Step 740-760, BM-SC sends a bearer update request to RAN, MBMS bearers pre-established on each node and associated with TMGI carried in the bearer update request enter Active state, and bearer resources are allocated.
Step 770, the RAN establishes resources for MBMS data transmission.
And 780-7110, carrying an update response process, notifying the group communication server that the RAN side resource establishment is completed, and performing MBMS data transmission.
Based on the same inventive concept as the method, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a group communication server, as shown in fig. 8, where the group communication server includes:
a terminal number counting module 800, configured to count the number of terminals interested in a communication group in each sub-region in a group communication service region of the communication group, where the group communication service region of the communication group is divided into a plurality of sub-regions;
a bearer establishment requesting module 810, configured to request, to a core network node, establishment of a multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for a communication group when the number of terminals interested in the communication group increases to a first terminal number threshold indicating bearer establishment.
The specific implementation manner of the group communication server of the present invention may refer to the description of the method embodiment, and repeated descriptions will not be repeated.
Preferably, each sub-region corresponds to a first terminal number threshold, and increasing the number of terminals interested in the communication group to the first terminal number threshold means:
and increasing the number of the terminals interested in the communication group in part or all of the subareas of the group communication service area of the communication group to a first terminal number threshold corresponding to the subarea.
Preferably, the group communication service area of the communication group corresponds to a first terminal number threshold, and increasing the number of terminals interested in the communication group to the first terminal number threshold means: and increasing the total number of the terminals interested in the communication group in each subarea of the group communication service area to a first terminal number threshold corresponding to the group communication service area.
Based on the two preferred embodiments, the group communication server provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include a bearer release request module, configured to request a core network node to release the multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for the communication group when the number of terminals interested in the communication group in each sub-region of the group communication service area of the communication group is reduced to a second terminal number threshold indicating bearer release corresponding to the sub-region.
Preferably, if each sub-region corresponds to a first terminal quantity threshold and a second terminal quantity threshold, the first terminal quantity threshold corresponding to the same sub-region is greater than or equal to the second terminal quantity threshold;
and if the group communication service area corresponds to a first terminal quantity threshold value, each sub-area corresponds to a second terminal quantity threshold value, and the first terminal quantity threshold value corresponding to the group communication service area is larger than or equal to the second terminal quantity threshold value.
If each sub-area corresponds to a first terminal quantity threshold and a second terminal quantity threshold, based on the corresponding group communication server embodiment, preferably, the group communication server further includes a multicast area update request module, which, when the mbms bearer for the communication group is established and not released:
when the terminal number counting module determines that the number of terminals interested in the communication group in a sub-region is reduced to a second terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-region and indicating bearer release, the multicast region update request module is configured to send a first request for updating a multicast region to the core network node, where the first request for updating the multicast region carries the sub-region identifier and indication information for removing the sub-region from the multicast region;
when the terminal number counting module determines that the number of terminals interested in the communication group in a sub-region is increased to a first terminal number threshold established by an indication bearer corresponding to the sub-region or is smaller than the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-region, the terminal number counting module increases the number of terminals to the first terminal number threshold corresponding to the sub-region again, the multicast region update request module is configured to send a second request for updating the multicast region to the core network node, and the second request for updating the multicast region carries the sub-region identifier and indication information for adding the sub-region to the multicast region.
Based on any of the above-mentioned set of communication server embodiments, preferably, the set of communication server further includes:
the group call request receiving module is used for receiving a group call request aiming at the communication group;
and the air interface resource scheduling request module is used for requesting an access network node corresponding to each sub-area in a multicast area of the communication group to schedule air interface resources for the communication group through a core network node after determining that the multimedia broadcast multicast service bearer for the communication group is established.
Based on any group of the above embodiments of the communication server, preferably, the group of communication servers further includes a terminal status updating module, configured to set, according to the identifier information of the communication group of interest carried in the registration message by the terminal sending the registration message, the status identifier of the terminal sending the registration message in the communication group of interest as being interested in the communication group; after the message receiving module receives a registration message sent by a terminal, setting the state identifier of the terminal sending the registration message in the original interested communication group as uninteresting to the communication group;
the terminal quantity counting module is specifically used for counting the quantity of the terminals interested in the communication group according to the state identification of each terminal.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.
The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.