CN106465439B

CN106465439B - Multi-stream aggregation method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN106465439B
Application number: CN201580024426.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 石小丽; 张宏卓; 罗海燕
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-01-30
Filing date: 2015-01-30
Publication date: 2020-01-10
Anticipated expiration: 2035-01-30
Also published as: WO2016119249A1; CN106465439A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a multi-stream polymerization method, a device and a system, which relate to the field, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a third generation partnership project (3 GPP) access network entity sends a first request message to a non-3GPP access network entity; the 3GPP access network entity receives a first response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for a user equipment which adopts a multi-stream aggregation mode to transmit data to access; and the 3GPP access network entity sends a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

Description

Multi-stream aggregation method, device and system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for multi-stream aggregation.

Background

At present, due to rapid development of intelligent terminals and mobile applications, mobile data traffic is increased dramatically, so that it is increasingly difficult for the existing mobile network to meet the demand of data traffic increase. Therefore, mobile operators want to carry part of the current network traffic by means of non-third Generation partnership Project (non-3 GPP) networks, to realize cooperation between 3GPP networks and non-3GPP networks, and to alleviate the traffic load of the current networks. For example, the cooperation between Long Term Evolution (LTE) Networks and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) Networks is currently being researched.

Traffic offloading is a key issue in considering cooperation between 3GPP and non-3GPP networks. Traffic offloading mainly refers to under what circumstances all or part of the traffic of a user needs to be offloaded from one Radio Access Technology (RAT) to another RAT. For example, when considering cooperation between the LTE network and the WLAN network, when the LTE network is overloaded, all or part of traffic of a user partially in the coverage area of the WLAN may be shunted to the WLAN network, so that the user gets a better experience.

In a scenario of cooperation between an LTE network and a WLAN network, it is assumed that a ue supports simultaneous working in the LTE network and the WLAN network, and the WLAN network mainly refers to a basic architecture, that is, the ue needs to Access the WLAN network through a WLAN Wireless Access Point (AP), or Access the WLAN network through a WLAN virtual AP, and an LTE evolved Node B (eNB) and the WLAN AP are not in the same Node (non-collocated), where a virtual AP is a logical entity existing in a physical AP, and when one physical AP supports multiple virtual APs, each virtual AP is an independent physical AP for the ue. At this time, if the service data of the LTE network is to be offloaded to the WLAN network, the eNB needs to interact with the WLAN AP.

In the process of implementing the invention, the inventor finds that the prior art has at least the following problems:

in the prior art, a WLAN Network accesses an LTE Network through a Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN-GW) or an Evolved Packet Data Gateway (ePDG). If the eNB needs to exchange information with the WLAN AP, the passed network nodes comprise the eNB, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving GateWay (SGW), a PDN-GW and the WLAN, and the system complexity is high.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to reduce forwarded signaling and reduce system complexity in traffic offloading, embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus, and a system for multi-stream aggregation. The technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-stream polymerization method, including:

a third generation partnership project (3 GPP) access network entity sends a first request message to a non-3GPP access network entity;

the 3GPP access network entity receives a first response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for a user equipment which adopts a multi-stream aggregation mode to transmit data to access;

and the 3GPP access network entity sends a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

receiving and storing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, which is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the method further comprises the following steps:

receiving and storing the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, which is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity;

and establishing an association relation between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes:

and receiving a second response message sent by the user equipment, wherein the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the second response message includes an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, and the method further includes:

and acquiring the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network from the second response message, and establishing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes: performing multiflow aggregation data transmission with the ue via the virtual access point, where performing multiflow aggregation data transmission with the ue via the virtual access point includes:

adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs, and the priority information is used to indicate a priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer;

and sending the data of the multi-flow aggregation to the non-3GPP access network entity.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of data aggregated in multiple streams, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of data aggregated in multiple streams includes:

adding the bearer information to a protocol data unit 802.3 protocol frame of the multiflow aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of a wireless access point, or adding the priority information to a priority field of a protocol data unit 802.3 protocol frame of the multiflow aggregated data.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the performing, by the virtual access point, multiflow aggregated data transmission with the ue includes:

receiving the multi-stream aggregated data sent by the non-3GPP access network entity;

acquiring bearing information or priority information from the data of the multi-stream aggregation;

and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the 3GPP access network entity by the user equipment through the 3GPP access network.

and sending a bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship to the non-3GPP access network entity and the user equipment, wherein the bearer mapping relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs and bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer and the priority information.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the first request message includes an identifier of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity, and the first response message further includes a tunnel endpoint allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

the 3GPP access network entity sends a third request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the third request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the tunnel end point distributed by the 3GPP access network entity;

and the 3GPP access network entity receives a third response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the third response message comprises a tunnel terminal distributed by the non-3GPP access network entity.

performing multiflow aggregated data transmission with the ue via the virtual access point, where a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier, TEID, field, and the TEID field is used to map a radio bearer of the ue in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the ue in the 3GPP access network.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-stream polymerization method, where the method includes:

a non-3GPP access network entity receives a first request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity;

the non-3GPP access network entity sends a first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for a user equipment which adopts a multi-stream aggregation mode to transmit data to access.

and after the user equipment accesses the virtual access point, establishing and storing an association relation between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

sending the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network to the 3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and sending the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network to the 3GPP access network entity.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes: receiving a third request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the third request message comprises an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity; and returning a third response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the third response message comprises a tunnel terminal point distributed by the non-3GPP access network entity.

and performing multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment via the virtual access point.

receiving multi-flow aggregated data sent by the 3GPP access network entity, where a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multi-flow aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field, and the TEID field is used to map a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

receiving a bearing mapping relation or a priority mapping relation sent by the 3GPP access network entity;

according to the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship, adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs, the priority information is used to indicate a priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer, the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer and the priority information;

and sending the protocol data unit of the data of the multi-stream aggregation to the virtual access point.

adding the bearer information to an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of a wireless access point, or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-stream polymerization method, where the method includes:

the user equipment receives a second request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity, wherein the second request message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point;

accessing a virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message, where the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which a non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

and sending a second response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the second response message includes an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network.

and performing multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the 3GPP access network entity via the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the performing, by the virtual access point, multiflow aggregated data transmission with the 3GPP access network entity includes:

adding the bearer information to a media intervention control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of a media intervention control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data.

receiving the multi-stream aggregated data sent by the virtual access point;

and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the user equipment by the 3GPP access network entity through the 3GPP access network.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a 3GPP access network entity, and the apparatus includes:

a sending module, configured to send a first request message to a non-3GPP access network entity;

a receiving module, configured to receive a first response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, where the first response message includes an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner;

the sending module is further configured to send a second request message to the user equipment, where the second request message includes an identifier of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used to indicate that the user equipment accesses the virtual access point.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module is further configured to receive and store an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, where the association relationship is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the receiving module is further configured to receive and store an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, where the identifier is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity;

the device further comprises: and the association module is used for establishing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module is further configured to receive a second response message sent by the user equipment, where the second response message is used to indicate that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the second response message includes an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, and the apparatus further includes:

and the association module is used for acquiring the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network from the second response message and establishing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes:

a processing module, configured to perform data transmission of multi-stream aggregation with the user equipment via the virtual access point;

the processing module is specifically configured to:

adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs, and the priority information is used to indicate a priority of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network;

the sending module is further configured to send the data of the multi-stream aggregation to the non-3GPP access network entity.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the processing module is specifically configured to:

In another implementation of an embodiment of the present invention,

the receiving module is further configured to receive the data of the multi-stream aggregation sent by the non-3GPP access network entity;

the processing module is specifically configured to:

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the sending module is further configured to send a bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship to the non-3GPP access network entity and the user equipment, where the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs and bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the priority information.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the sending module is further configured to send a third request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, where the third request message includes an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity;

the receiving module is further configured to receive a third response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, where the third response message includes a tunnel end point allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

a processing module, configured to perform multiflow aggregated data transmission with the ue via the virtual access point, where a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field, and the TEID field is used to map a radio bearer of the ue in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the ue in the 3GPP access network.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-stream polymerization apparatus, where the apparatus includes: a processor, a memory, a transceiver, and a bus; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the 3GPP access network entity runs, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the 3GPP access network entity to perform the multi-stream aggregation method according to any one of the first aspect.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a non-3GPP access network entity, and the apparatus includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a first request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity;

a sending module, configured to send a first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the first response message includes an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes: and the association module is used for establishing and storing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network after the user equipment is accessed to the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the sending module is further configured to send an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network to the 3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module is further configured to receive a third request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, where the third request message includes an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity; the sending module is further configured to return a third response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the third response message includes a tunnel endpoint allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

a processing module, configured to perform data transmission of multi-stream aggregation with the user equipment via the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module is further configured to receive multiflow aggregated data sent by the 3GPP access network entity, where a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field, and the TEID field is used to map a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module is further configured to receive a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship sent by the 3GPP access network entity;

the processing module is specifically configured to: according to the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship, adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs, the priority information is used to indicate a priority of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the priority information;

the sending module is further configured to send a protocol data unit of the data of the multi-stream aggregation to the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the processing module is specifically configured to: adding the bearer information to an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of a wireless access point, or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-stream aggregation apparatus, where the apparatus includes: a processor, a memory, a transceiver, and a bus; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, and the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the non-3GPP access network entity operates, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the non-3GPP access network entity to perform the multiflow aggregation method according to any one of the second aspects.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a user equipment, and the apparatus includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a second request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity, where the second request message includes an identifier of a virtual AP;

and an access module, configured to access a virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message, where the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which a non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes:

a sending module, configured to send a second response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the second response message is used to indicate that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

a processing module, configured to perform data transmission of multi-stream aggregation with the 3GPP access network entity via the virtual access point.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the processing module is specifically configured to: adding the bearer information to a media intervention control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of a media intervention control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data.

In another implementation of an embodiment of the present invention,

the receiving module is further configured to receive the data of the multi-stream aggregation sent by the virtual access point;

the processing module is specifically configured to: acquiring bearing information or priority information from the data of the multi-stream aggregation; and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the user equipment by the 3GPP access network entity through the 3GPP access network.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-stream polymerization apparatus, where the apparatus includes: a processor, a memory, a transceiver, and a bus; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, and the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the user equipment runs, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the user equipment to perform the multi-stream aggregation method according to any one of the third aspects.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-stream aggregation system, where the system includes: a 3GPP access network entity, a non-3GPP access network entity and a user equipment, wherein the 3GPP access network entity includes the multiflow aggregation apparatus according to any one of the fourth aspects, the non-3GPP access network entity includes the multiflow aggregation apparatus according to any one of the sixth aspects, and the user equipment includes the multiflow aggregation apparatus according to any one of the eighth aspects.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

the 3GPP access network entity sends a first request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, the non-3GPP access network entity returns a first response message and carries the identification of the virtual access point, then the 3GPP access network entity sends the identification of the virtual access point to the user equipment through a second request message, so that the user equipment can authenticate and access the virtual access point, and finally service distribution is realized.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a first application scenario provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a second application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a third application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a fourth application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a fifth application scenario provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6a is a schematic configuration diagram of a protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6b is a schematic configuration diagram of another protocol stack provided in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a control plane protocol stack according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a flow chart of a multi-stream aggregation method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a multi-stream polymerization process as provided in example two herein;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a multi-stream polymerization process as provided in example three of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a multiple stream polymerization process as provided in example four of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a multiple stream polymerization process as provided in example five of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a multi-stream polymerization process as provided in example six of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a multiple stream polymerization process as provided by example seven of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a protocol data unit according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a protocol data unit according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 17 is a flow diagram of a multiple stream polymerization process as provided by example eight of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a multiple stream polymerization process as provided by example nine of the present invention;

fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a protocol data unit according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a protocol data unit according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 21 is a flow chart of a multi-stream aggregation method as provided by a tenth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a schematic view of the structure of a multi-stream polymerization apparatus provided in example eleven of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a schematic illustration of the structure of a multiple stream polymerization apparatus as provided in example twelve of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic view of the structure of a multi-stream polymerization apparatus provided in example thirteen of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a schematic illustration of the structure of a multiple stream polymerization apparatus as provided in example fourteen of the present invention;

fig. 26 is a schematic structural view of a multi-stream polymerization apparatus provided in example fifteen of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-stream polymerization apparatus provided as example sixteen of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of a multiple stream polymerization apparatus provided by example seventeen of the present invention;

FIG. 29 is a schematic illustration of the construction of a multiple stream polymerization apparatus as provided in example eighteen of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is a schematic illustration of the construction of a multiple stream polymerization apparatus as provided in nineteenth example of the present invention;

fig. 31 is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-stream polymerization system according to an embodiment twenty of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiment of the invention adds an interface between the 3GPP access network and the non-3GPP access network, thereby shunting the uplink data or the downlink data between the 3GPP access network and the user equipment to the non-3GPP access network for transmission through the interface, and realizing the cooperation between the 3GPP network and the non-3GPP network.

The interface may be disposed between a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity, and in the embodiment of the present invention, the interface may be referred to as an Xw interface, and the Xw interface may be a wired interface.

The 3GPP Access network described herein can be a variety of communication systems, such as current 2G, 3G communication systems and next generation communication systems, such as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), LTE, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), etc., as well as other such communication systems. The non-3GPP Access network may be a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX) network, a WLAN consisting of an AP and a Wireless network card, and the WLAN technology is also called Wireless Fidelity (WIFI).

In the embodiment of the present invention, User Equipment (UE), which may also be referred to as a Mobile Terminal (Mobile Terminal), a Mobile User Equipment, and the like, may communicate with one or more core networks through a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the User Equipment may be a Mobile Terminal, such as a Mobile phone (or a cellular phone) and a computer having the Mobile Terminal, for example, a portable, pocket, handheld, computer-embedded or vehicle-mounted Mobile device, which exchange languages and/or data with the RAN, which is not limited in the present invention.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the 3GPP access network entity may be a Base Station device, such as a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a node B (NodeB) in WCDMA, or an eNB in LTE, which is not limited in the present invention. The 3GPP access Network entity may also be a control node of various access Network nodes, such as a Radio Network interface Controller (RNC) in UMTS, or a Controller for managing multiple small base stations, etc.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the non-3GPP access network entity may be an access point in a Wimax network, may also be a WLAN AP, and may also be an AC in a WLAN or other separately deployed entities.

In the embodiment of the invention, a non-3GPP access network entity has two network architectures: an autonomic management architecture and a centralized management architecture. The autonomous management architecture is also called a fat AP architecture, and the WLAN AP is responsible for tasks such as user equipment access, user equipment disconnection, authority authentication, security policy implementation, data forwarding, data encryption, network management and the like, and autonomously controls the configuration and wireless functions of the WLAN AP. The centralized management architecture is also called as a "thin" AP architecture, and the management authority is generally centralized on a wireless controller (AC). The AC manages the IP address, authentication, encryption and the like of the user equipment, and the WLAN AP only has the functions of encryption, data forwarding and radio frequency and cannot work independently. A protocol for controlling And configuring Wireless Access point (CAPWAP) specifications is adopted between the WLAN AP And the AC. Optionally, the WLAN AP may be integrated with a base station. Since the embodiment of the present invention mainly relates to the data forwarding function of the WLAN AP, both network architectures of the WLAN AP described above can be applied.

The following describes a multi-stream convergence application scenario in the embodiment of the present invention by taking LTE RAN and WLAN as examples.

When the 3GPP access network is an LTE RAN, the 3GPP access network entity may be an eNB or a centralized node, such as a Single radio access network Control (SRC) node, where the node is a centralized node on the RAN side and may manage nodes on the RAN side, such as an eNB and an AP. And when the non-3GPP access network is a WLAN, the non-3GPP access network entity may be an AP, an AC, or a separately deployed entity.

Specifically, in the first scenario, as shown in fig. 1, the eNB and the AC are not in the same node, and an Xw interface may be provided between the eNB and the AP, and the eNB and the AP are connected through the Xw interface.

In a second scenario, as shown in fig. 2, the eNB and the AC are in the same node, an Xw interface may be disposed between the eNB and the AP, and the eNB and the AP are connected through the Xw interface.

In a third scenario, as shown in fig. 3, the eNB and the AC are not in the same node, an Xw interface may be disposed between the eNB and the AC, and the eNB and the AC are connected through the Xw interface.

In a fourth scenario, as shown in fig. 4, an Xw interface may be disposed between an eNB and a convergence function entity or a coordination function entity or an interworking function entity (e.g., IWK function) in the WLAN network, where the eNB and the convergence function entity in the WLAN network are directly connected, and the convergence function entity is a separately deployed entity in the WLAN.

In a fifth scenario, as shown in fig. 5, an Xw interface may be disposed between a centralized Node (e.g., a Central Node) on the RAN side and a convergence function entity or a coordination function entity or an interworking function entity (e.g., IWKfunc) in the WLAN network, where the eNB is connected to the convergence function entity in the WLAN network through the centralized Node.

It is easy to know that when the convergence function entity is a separately deployed entity in the WLAN, the convergence function entity connects with the AP or the AC, for example, using a WLAN protocol connection or other protocols.

The following describes a data transmission process in an application scenario provided by the embodiment of the present invention, taking an LTE network and a WLAN network as examples:

in the embodiment of the present invention, for downlink data transmitted by an eNB to a user equipment (hereinafter referred to as downlink transmission), the downlink data may include a first part of downlink data and a second part of downlink data. The eNB shunts the first part of downlink data to the WLAN AP and then sends the first part of downlink data to the user equipment through the WLAN AP; the second part of downlink data is directly sent to the user equipment by the eNB through the wireless cellular network, so that the transmission capabilities of the wireless cellular network (i.e. the aforementioned LTE network) and the WLAN network can be simultaneously utilized to realize a higher downlink peak transmission rate of the user equipment.

For uplink data transmitted by the user equipment to the eNB (hereinafter referred to as uplink transmission), the uplink data may include a first part of uplink data and a second part of uplink data. The user equipment shunts the first part of uplink data to the WLAN AP, and then sends the first part of uplink data to the eNB through the WLAN AP; the second part of uplink data is directly sent to the eNB by the user equipment through the wireless cellular network, so that the transmission capability of the wireless cellular network and the transmission capability of the WLAN network can be simultaneously utilized, and the higher uplink peak transmission rate of the user equipment is realized.

During downlink transmission, the eNB may transmit data to be offloaded to the WLAN AP and send the data to the user equipment through the WLAN AP; during uplink transmission, the ue may send data to be offloaded to the WLAN AP, and send the data to the eNB through the WLAN AP.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, a protocol stack for realizing communication between the eNB and the WLAN AP needs to be configured.

The configuration structures of the protocol stacks in the eNB, the user equipment, and the WLAN AP according to the embodiment of the present invention are described by taking a scenario in which the eNB and the WLAN AP are directly connected as an example.

First, a protocol stack configuration structure in the eNB is explained:

the eNB protocol stack may have a first eNB protocol stack for enabling data processing on the eNB side for communication with the user equipment and a second eNB protocol stack for enabling data processing on the eNB side for communication with the wlan ap.

As the first eNB protocol stack, for example, existing protocol stacks capable of realizing communication between an eNB and user equipment are all within a protection range.

As a second eNB protocol stack, the aggregation may be directly over at least one protocol layer of the first eNB protocol stack over an interface.

The first eNB protocol stack and the second eNB protocol stack may include a user plane protocol stack, and may also include a user plane protocol stack and a control plane protocol stack. For example, as shown in fig. 6a and 6b, the first eNB protocol stack may include the following protocol layers: packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and Physical layer (PHY). The second eNB Protocol stack may include a User Plane Protocol stack or a Control Plane Protocol stack, where a transport layer of the User Plane Protocol stack uses a GPRS tunneling Protocol-a User Plane GPRS tunneling Protocol (GTP-U for short) (as shown in fig. 6 b) or an 802.3 Protocol (as shown in fig. 6 a), and as shown in fig. 7, a transport layer of the Control Plane Protocol stack uses a Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) Protocol, and the Application layer uses a newly defined wlan Application Part (WLAP) Protocol. The second eNB protocol stack may be aggregated at the PDCP or RLC or MAC of the first eNB protocol stack. The first eNB protocol stack may be shunted at PDCP or RLC or MAC. In this embodiment, the example of the offloading aggregation is performed in the PDCP layer of the first base station protocol stack, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Then, the protocol stack configuration structure in the WLAN AP is explained (if the interface is between the eNB and the AC, this is the protocol stack of the AC, and the AC to the AP follows the protocol stack of the existing wireless local area network communication, and the rest is similar):

the WLAN AP protocol stack has a first WLAN AP protocol stack and a second WLAN AP protocol stack. The first WLAN AP protocol stack is used for realizing data processing of communication between the WLAN AP side and the eNB, and the second WLAN AP protocol stack is used for realizing data processing of communication between the WLAN AP side and the user equipment.

The first WLAN AP protocol stack can comprise a user plane protocol stack and a control plane protocol stack, wherein a GTP-U or 802.3 protocol is used as a transmission layer of the user plane protocol stack, an SCTP protocol is used as a transmission layer of the control plane protocol stack, and a newly defined WLAP protocol is adopted as an application layer. The second WLAN AP protocol stack may use, for example, an existing protocol stack for wireless local area network communication, e.g., a WIFI protocol stack, such as may include a MAC layer, a PHY physical layer.

Finally, the protocol stack configuration structure in the user equipment is explained:

the user equipment protocol stack may have a first user equipment protocol stack for implementing data processing for communication with the eNB on the user equipment side and a second user equipment protocol stack for implementing data processing for communication with the WLAN AP on the user equipment side.

At the eNB side, a first part of downlink protocol data units shunted for the first eNB protocol stack is referred to as a first protocol data unit, and at the user equipment side, a first part of uplink protocol data units shunted for the first user equipment protocol stack is referred to as a second protocol data unit. That is, the shunted uplink data and downlink data both become protocol data units, but the invention is not limited thereto.

It is easy to know that when the scene is eNB and AC direct connection or other scenes, the protocol stack is also configured in the above manner, and a detailed description is omitted here.

It should be noted that the types of devices and the connection manners described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example one

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation method, where the method is executed by a 3GPP access network entity described in the foregoing application scenario, and referring to fig. 8, the method includes:

step 101: the 3GPP access network entity sends a first request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, the 3GPP access network entity is directly connected with the non-3GPP access network entity, and the first request message is used for requesting the identification of the virtual access point from the non-3GPP access network entity.

Step 102: receiving a first response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point (such as a WLAN AP) in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for a user equipment which adopts a multi-stream aggregation mode to transmit data to access.

Step 103: and sending a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

The embodiment of the invention sends the first request message to the non-3GPP access network entity through the 3GPP access network entity, the non-3GPP access network entity returns the first response message and carries the identification of the virtual access point, then the 3GPP access network entity sends the identification of the virtual access point to the user equipment through the second request message, so that the user equipment can authenticate and access the virtual access point, and finally realizes service shunting.

Example two

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-stream aggregation method, where the method is executed by a 3GPP access network entity described in the foregoing application scenario, and referring to fig. 9, the method includes:

step 201: the 3GPP access network entity sends a first request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, the 3GPP access network entity is directly connected with the non-3GPP access network entity, and the first request message is used for requesting the identification of the virtual access point from the non-3GPP access network entity.

Further, the method may further include:

sending configuration information to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for indicating the user equipment to measure the non-3GPP access network in which the user equipment is located; receiving a measurement result sent by the user equipment, and determining whether to perform multiflow aggregation according to the measurement result, for example: and when the user equipment measures that the WiFi network signal corresponding to the WLAN AP in the non-3GPP access network where the user equipment is located is strong, carrying out service distribution. Alternatively, the method may further comprise:

determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the network load and the distribution of physical access points in the non-3GPP access network, where the distribution of physical access points (e.g., WLAN APs) in the non-3GPP access network is used to indicate the number of physical access points in each area. For example, when WLAN APs are distributed in an area with a heavy network load, traffic is shunted.

Step 202: receiving a first response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for a user equipment which adopts a multi-stream aggregation mode to transmit data to access.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a virtual access point is a logical entity existing in one physical access point, and a plurality of virtual access points may be configured on one physical access point. When one physical access point supports multiple virtual access points, each virtual access point is a wireless Access Point (AP) to a user device, and each virtual access point can only be associated with one user device at a time. The user equipment can access the virtual access point and also can access the physical access point, the physical access point can periodically send a Beacon (English: Beacon) frame, the user equipment can know the BSSID of the physical access point by monitoring the Beacon frame, then the physical access point is selected to sequentially carry out authentication and Association (English: Association), the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like are completed, access is achieved, and the user equipment can access the physical access point by sending a search (English: Probe) frame. The user equipment cannot know the existence of the virtual access point by monitoring the Beacon frame, only can discover the appointed virtual access point by sending a Probe frame, then sequentially performs authentication and Association, completes the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like, and realizes access.

When a physical AP supports multiple virtual APs, each virtual AP is an independent physical AP to the user device. Virtual APs can also be used to distinguish between different classes of users under one operator.

Step 203: and sending a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

Step 204: and receiving a second response message sent by the user equipment, wherein the second response message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, and the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

Specifically, the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network may be an MAC address or an Association identifier (english: Association ID, abbreviated as AID) of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

Step 205: and acquiring the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network from the second response message, and establishing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

The identifier of the ue in the 3GPP access Network may be a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identity (CRNTI), a temporary Identity (TMSI), or a Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID).

Step 206: and sending a third request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the third request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity.

Step 207: and receiving a third response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, wherein the third response message comprises a tunnel terminal distributed by the non-3GPP access network entity.

In this embodiment, step 206 and step 207 are optional steps for establishing a GTP tunnel between the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity.

In other embodiments, the GTP tunnel may be established through the first request message and the first response message, that is: the first request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity, and the first response message also comprises the tunnel end point allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

The tunnel end point is used for indicating the destination of data transmission in the upstream path, and the tunnel end point may include a TEID and a transmission Address (in english: Transport Layer Address, which may be Ipv4 and/or Ipv 6).

Under the condition of performing a GTP tunnel through the first request message and the first response message, the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network may be obtained in other manners:

receiving and storing an association relation between an identifier of user equipment in a non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, wherein the association relation is sent by a non-3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

and establishing an association relation between the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identification of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

Step 208: and performing multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment via the virtual access point.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the multiflow aggregated data refers to data that is shunted between the 3GPP access network entity and the user equipment through the non-3GPP access network, for example, the aforementioned first part of downlink data and the first part of uplink data.

When the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity use the GTP tunnel for transmission, the bearer information and the priority information may be mapped by using the TEID field in the GTP header in the protocol data unit of the data with multi-stream aggregation, specifically: a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier, TEID, field for mapping radio bearers of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and priorities of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

The radio Bearer of the ue in the 3GPP access network may be a data Bearer Identifier (DRB ID for short), a Logical channel Identifier (LC ID for short), and a radio access Bearer Identifier (ERAB ID for short). The TEID field is a TEID field, and the fields in the invention all refer to fields in a protocol data unit.

When the GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity use the 802.3 protocol for transmission, and for downlink multiflow aggregated data transmission, when at least one radio bearer exists, step 208 may include: adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of the data aggregated in the multiflow, or adding priority information in the protocol data unit of the data aggregated in the multiflow, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs, and the priority information is used to indicate a priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer.

And sending the protocol data unit of the shunting data to a non-3GPP access network entity.

More specifically, adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of data aggregated in multiple streams, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of data aggregated in multiple streams includes:

the bearer information is added to the protocol data unit 802.3 protocol frame of the forking data or the CAPWAP header, or the priority information is added to the protocol data unit 802.3 protocol frame of the forking data or the CAPWAP header.

For the uplink multi-stream aggregated data transmission, when there is at least one radio bearer, step 208 may include:

receiving multi-flow aggregated data sent by a non-3GPP access network entity;

acquiring bearing information or priority information from multi-stream aggregated data;

and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the 3GPP access network entity by the user equipment through the 3GPP access network, namely aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation to a corresponding protocol layer of the 3GPP access network entity.

Further, the method may further include:

and sending the bearing mapping relation or the priority mapping relation to a non-3GPP access network entity and user equipment, wherein the bearing mapping relation comprises the corresponding relation between the radio bearing to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearing information, and the priority mapping relation comprises the corresponding relation between the priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearing and the priority information.

Optionally, the method may further include: after the user equipment is accessed to the virtual access point and the identifier is well associated, the virtual access point can also disassociate the user equipment, then the 3GPP access network entity instructs the user equipment to access the physical access point, and then the distributed data of the user equipment is transmitted through the physical access point.

EXAMPLE III

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation method, where the method is executed by a non-3GPP access network entity described in the foregoing application scenario, and referring to fig. 10, the method includes:

step 301: the non-3GPP access network entity receives a first request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, and the non-3GPP access network entity is connected with the 3GPP access network entity.

Step 302: and sending a first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for accessing user equipment which transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation mode.

In the embodiment of the invention, the non-3GPP access network entity receives the first request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity and then sends the first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, so that the 3GPP access network entity can send the identification of the virtual access point to the user equipment, and the user equipment can authenticate and access the virtual access point to finally realize service distribution.

Example four

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation method, where the method is executed by a non-3GPP access network entity described in the foregoing application scenario, and referring to fig. 11, the method includes:

step 401: the non-3GPP access network entity receives a first request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, and the non-3GPP access network entity is connected with the 3GPP access network entity.

Step 402: and sending a first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the first response message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for accessing user equipment which transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation mode.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a virtual access point is a logical entity existing in one physical access point, and a plurality of virtual access points may be configured on one physical access point. When one physical access point supports multiple virtual access points, each virtual access point is a wireless Access Point (AP) to a user device, and each virtual access point can only be associated with one user device at a time. The user equipment can access the virtual access point and also can access the physical access point, the physical access point can periodically send Beacon frames, the user equipment can acquire BSSID of the physical access point by monitoring the Beacon frames, then the physical access point is selected to carry out authentication and association in sequence, processes such as authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like are completed, access is realized, and the user equipment can also access the physical access point by sending a search frame. The user equipment cannot know the existence of the virtual access point by monitoring the Beacon frame, only can discover the appointed virtual access point by sending a search frame, and then sequentially performs authentication and association to complete the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like, thereby realizing access.

Step 403: and receiving a third request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the third request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and the tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity.

Specifically, the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network may be a MAC address or AID of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

Step 404: and returning a third response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the third response message comprises a tunnel terminal point distributed by the non-3GPP access network entity.

Step 405: and performing multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment via the virtual access point.

The non-3GPP access network entity and the 3GPP access network entity may use a GTP tunnel for transmission, and when there is at least one radio bearer in the transmission using the GTP tunnel, step 405 may include: receiving multi-flow aggregated data sent by a 3GPP access network entity, wherein a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multi-flow aggregated data comprises a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field, and the TEID field is used for mapping a radio bearer of user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

Step 405 may also include: receiving a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship sent by a 3GPP access network entity, and adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data or adding priority information in the protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data according to the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship, wherein the bearer information is used for indicating a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs, the priority information is used for indicating a priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer, the bearer mapping relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between the priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer and the priority information; and sending the protocol data unit of the data of the multi-stream aggregation to the virtual access point.

adding the bearer information to an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of a wireless access point, or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data.

Further, in this embodiment, the method may further include: and acquiring the association relation between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network from the 3GPP access network entity, so that data can be sent and received according to the association relation.

The identity of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network may be a CRNTI identity, a TMSI or TEID, etc.

In this embodiment, steps 403 and 404 are optional steps, and are used to establish a GTP tunnel between the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity.

In other embodiments, the method may further comprise:

after the user equipment is accessed to the virtual access point, acquiring an identifier of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network;

and establishing and storing the association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

After the association relationship is established, the method may further include: and sending the association relation between the identification of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network to a 3GPP access network entity. Or, the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network is sent to the 3GPP access network entity, so that the 3GPP access network entity establishes an association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

Specifically, the manner in which the non-3GPP access network entity sends the association relationship is not limited, for example, the message may carry an identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, and after the 3GPP access network entity receives the message, it is determined that the association relationship exists between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, and then the association relationship is stored.

EXAMPLE five

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-stream aggregation method, where the method is executed by a user equipment described in the foregoing application scenario, with reference to fig. 12, and the method includes:

step 501: and the user equipment receives a second request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point.

Step 502: and accessing a virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message, wherein the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, the virtual access point is used for accessing user equipment which transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner, and the non-3GPP access network entity is directly connected with the 3GPP access network entity.

Specifically, the user equipment may access the virtual access point in the following manner: the user equipment discovers the designated virtual access point by sending a Probe frame, then sequentially performs authentication and Association, completes the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like, and realizes access.

The embodiment of the invention receives a second request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity through user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises an identifier of a virtual access point, and then the virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message is accessed to finally realize service distribution.

EXAMPLE six

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-stream aggregation method, where the method is executed by a user equipment described in the foregoing application scenario, with reference to fig. 13, and the method includes:

step 601: and the user equipment receives a second request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point.

Prior to step 601, the method may further comprise:

receiving configuration information sent by a 3GPP access network entity, and indicating user equipment to measure a non-3GPP access network in which the user equipment is located; measuring a non-3GPP access network where user equipment is located; and sending the measurement result to a 3GPP access network entity. Specifically, the signal strength of the WLAN AP in the non-3GPP access network where the user equipment is located may be measured.

Step 602: and accessing a virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message, wherein the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, the virtual access point is used for accessing user equipment which transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner, and the non-3GPP access network entity is directly connected with the 3GPP access network entity.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a virtual access point is a logical entity existing in one physical access point, and a plurality of virtual access points may be configured on one physical access point. When one physical access point supports multiple virtual access points, each virtual access point is a wireless Access Point (AP) to a user device, and each virtual access point can only be associated with one user device at a time. The user equipment can access the virtual access point and also can access the physical access point, the physical access point can periodically send Beacon frames, the user equipment can acquire BSSID of the physical access point by monitoring Beacon, then the physical access point is selected to carry out authentication and association in sequence, processes such as authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like are completed, and access is realized. The user equipment cannot know the existence of the virtual access point by monitoring Beacon, only can discover the appointed virtual access point by sending a search frame, and then sequentially performs authentication and association to complete the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like, thereby realizing access.

Step 603: and sending a second response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the second response message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, and the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

The identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network may be a MAC address or AID of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the second response message may also not include an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

Step 604: and performing multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the 3GPP access network entity through the virtual access point.

For the uplink multiflow aggregated data transmission, when there is at least one radio bearer, step 604 may include: receiving a bearing mapping relation or a priority mapping relation sent by a 3GPP access network entity; according to the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship, adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data, or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs, and the priority information is used to indicate a priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer, the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer and the priority information; and sending the protocol data unit of the data of the multi-stream aggregation to the virtual access point.

adding the bearer information to a media access control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of a media access control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data.

For downlink multiflow aggregated data transmission, when there is at least one radio bearer, step 604 may include:

receiving multi-stream aggregated data sent by a virtual access point; acquiring bearing information or priority information from multi-stream aggregated data; and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the user equipment by the 3GPP access network entity through the 3GPP access network. Specifically, after the bearer information or the priority information is obtained, the priority of the radio bearer or the protocol data unit in the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs may be obtained according to the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship; therefore, the data aggregated by the multi-streams and the data sent by the 3GPP access network entity to the user equipment through the 3GPP access network can be aggregated according to the obtained radio bearer or priority, that is, the data aggregated by the multi-streams are aggregated to the corresponding protocol layer of the 3GPP access network entity.

EXAMPLE seven

In this embodiment, a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity take eNB and WLAN AP as examples respectively for explanation, and a GTP-U protocol is used as a data plane transmission protocol between the eNB and the WLAN AP, and in this embodiment, a GTP-U tunnel is established between the eNB and the WLAN AP through a first request message and a first response message, and the WLAN AP establishes an association relationship between an identifier of a user equipment in an LTE RAN and an identifier of the user equipment in a WLAN. Referring to fig. 14, the method includes:

step 701: the eNB sends a first request message to the WLAN AP, wherein the first request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the LTERAN, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, the priority of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the tunnel endpoint allocated by the eNB, and the first request message is used for requesting the identification of a virtual access point from the WLAN AP and establishing a tunnel with the WLAN AP, and the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the WLAN to which the WLAN AP belongs.

Specifically, the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN may be a MAC address or AID of the user equipment in the WLAN.

The tunnel end point allocated by the eNB may include a TEID and a transport address (which may be Ipv4 and/or Ipv6, and may be statically designated or dynamically selected).

In this embodiment, when the eNB executes step 701, the end point of the tunnel allocated by the eNB corresponds to the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, so that the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the tunnel may be obtained.

Further, before step 701, the method may further include: sending configuration information to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for indicating the user equipment to measure the WLAN where the user equipment is located; receiving a measurement result sent by user equipment, and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the measurement result; alternatively, the method further comprises: and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the network load and the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN, wherein the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN is used for indicating the number of the physical access points in each area.

Step 702: and the WLAN AP receives the first request message and sends a first response message to the eNB, wherein the first response message comprises the identification of the virtual access point and the tunnel end point distributed by the WLAN AP.

The virtual access point is a logical entity existing in one physical access point, and when one physical access point supports a plurality of virtual access points, each virtual access point is a wireless Access Point (AP) to the user equipment, and each virtual access point can only be associated with one user equipment at the same time. The Identifier of the virtual ap may be a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) or a Service Set Identifier (SSID), which may also be written as an Extended Service Set Identifier (ESSID)). It should be understood that the Basic Service Set (BSS) is a Basic component of a WLAN network, and generally consists of an AP and a plurality of Stations (STA). An Extended Service Set (ESS) is composed of multiple BSSs. Each BSS has a unique identifier (Identity, abbreviated as ID), that is, a BSS ID or a BSS identifier. Since the BSS usually has an access point AP, the BSS identifier is usually the identifier of the access point AP, for example, the MAC address of the AP.

Step 703: and the eNB sends a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

The second request message is used for instructing the user equipment to access the designated virtual access point. Specifically, the second request message may be sent through SCell Addition or data radio bearer configuration carried by the RRC connection reconfiguration message, or may be sent through other newly defined messages.

Step 704: and the user equipment authenticates and accesses the virtual access point according to the second request message, wherein the virtual access point is the virtual access point corresponding to the identifier of the virtual access point in the second request message.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an authentication and access method that can be implemented is as follows: the user equipment discovers the virtual access point corresponding to the identification of the virtual access point by sending a search frame and accesses the virtual access point. The method for accessing the virtual access point by the user equipment may include processes of authenticating to the virtual access point, associating with the virtual access point, completing authentication, and the like.

Step 705: the WLAN AP establishes the association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN.

The identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN may be a CRNTI identity, a TMSI or TEID, etc.

After the user equipment accesses the virtual access point, the WLAN AP obtains the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN, which corresponds to the identification of the virtual access point.

In this embodiment, the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN may be obtained by the first request message, and then the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN may be established by using the identifier of the virtual access point.

Since the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN is associated with the eNB-allocated tunnel endpoint and the eNB-allocated tunnel endpoint is associated with the WLAN AP-allocated tunnel endpoint, the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN, the eNB-allocated tunnel endpoint, and the WLAN AP-allocated tunnel endpoint can be obtained as being associated with each other.

Step 706: the WLAN AP sends an association relationship (hereinafter referred to as an association relationship in this embodiment) between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN to the eNB, so that the eNB may process the data of the multi-stream aggregation according to the association relationship.

Specifically, the WLAN AP may send the association relationship to the eNB through an Xw interface, and the used message may be a newly added message type, such as an update message.

Optionally, the WLAN AP may also send only the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN to the eNB, and the eNB establishes an association relationship between the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN.

Step 707: and the user equipment sends a second response message to the eNB, wherein the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

If the user equipment does not choose to perform service distribution due to user preference, terminal configuration or ANDSF access network discovery and selection function strategies and the like, the user equipment sends a failure message to the eNB at the moment. When the ue sends a failure message, the process does not perform step 704 to step 706.

This step 707 is an optional step, and in practical applications, after the user equipment accesses the virtual access point, the second response message may not be sent.

Step 708: and the eNB performs multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment through the virtual access point.

Specifically, when the eNB transmits downlink multi-stream aggregated data (downlink data) to the user equipment, step 708 includes:

step one, an eNB sends multi-stream aggregated data to a WLAN AP; step two, the WLAN AP sends multi-flow aggregated data to the user equipment through the virtual access point; and step three, the user equipment processes the multi-stream aggregated data sent by the virtual access point.

In the first step, the eNB determines a tunnel used for sending the multiflow aggregated data according to the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the tunnel and the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, and transmits the multiflow aggregated data to the WLAN AP by using the tunnel. In step two, the WLAN AP receives the multiflow aggregated data sent by the eNB, determines a tunnel used for transmission according to the multiflow aggregated data, determines an identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN according to an association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN and the tunnel, and indicates the target user equipment by the WLAN AP through the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN, so as to send the multiflow aggregated data to the user equipment.

When the ue transmits uplink multi-stream aggregated data (uplink data) to the eNB, step 708 includes:

step one, user equipment sends multi-stream aggregated data to a virtual access point; and step two, the WLAN AP sends the multi-flow aggregated data received by the virtual access point to the eNB. And step three, the eNB processes the multi-stream aggregated data sent by the WLAN AP.

In the following, the transmission process of the present invention is described, in which the eNB shunts downlink data to the user equipment through the GTP-U tunnel via the WLAN AP:

as shown in fig. 15, the protocol data unit between the eNB and the AP includes an 802.3 protocol frame, an IP header (including an eNB IP address and an AP IP address), a GTP header, a PDCP header, and an IP packet, and the protocol data unit between the AP and the user equipment includes a PHY header, a MAC header, a PDCP header, and an IP packet. Specifically, the eNB adds a GTP header to a first protocol data unit of a PDCP layer of the first eNB protocol stack, and then adds an IP header in which a source address is an eNB IP address and a destination address is an IP address of an AP. And then the first protocol data unit added with the GTP and the IP header passes through an L2 layer and an L1 layer of a second base station protocol stack, namely, an 802.3 protocol frame is added, the source address in the 802.3 protocol frame is the MAC address of the eNB, the destination address is the MAC address of the AP, the first protocol data unit is transmitted to an L1 layer of the first WLAN AP protocol stack of the WLAN AP, and the first protocol data unit is processed by the L1 layer and the L2 layer of the first WLAN AP protocol stack, and then the MAC address of the user equipment in the WLAN is mapped out through the TEID in the GTP header, so that the first protocol data unit is restored and is handed to the second WLAN AP protocol stack for processing.

The second WLAN AP protocol stack adds the MAC header to the acquired first protocol Data Unit to realize functions of scheduling addressing, Quality of Service (QoS) and the like, generates an MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU), and transmits the MAC protocol Data Unit to a PHY layer of a second user equipment protocol stack of the user equipment through the PHY layer of the second WLAN AP protocol stack.

And after a PHY layer of a second user equipment protocol stack of the user equipment receives the MPDU, deleting the MAC header and the PHY header in sequence through the MAC layer and the PHY layer of the second user equipment protocol stack to obtain a first protocol data unit. And meanwhile, according to the bearing information corresponding to the first protocol data unit in the MAC header, indicating a PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearing information in a PDCP layer of the first user equipment protocol stack to process the first protocol data unit.

In the following, the transmission process of the eNB shunting uplink data to the user equipment through the GTP-U tunnel via the WLAN AP will be described:

the user equipment adds the MAC header to a second protocol data unit of a PDCP layer of the first user equipment protocol stack, generates an MPDU, and transmits the MPDU to a PHY layer of a second WLAN AP protocol stack of the WLAN AP through the PHY layer of the second user equipment protocol stack.

After receiving the MPDU, the PHY layer of the second WLAN AP protocol stack of the WLAN AP deletes the PHY header and the MAC header in sequence through the MAC layer of the second WLAN AP protocol stack to obtain a second protocol data unit, and then the WLAN AP adds the IP header, the GTP header, and the 802.3 protocol frame to the second protocol data unit through the L2 layer and the L1 layer of the first WLAN AP protocol stack, and transmits the second protocol data unit to the L1 layer and the L2 layer of the second eNB protocol stack of the eNB. And then the eNB acquires the bearer information corresponding to the second protocol data unit according to the TEID in the GTP header and instructs a PDCP layer in the first eNB protocol stack and a PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearer information to process the second protocol data unit.

In the foregoing multiflow aggregated data transmission process, when the user equipment has at least one radio bearer, the radio bearer and the priority of the user equipment in the LTE RAN need to be mapped to a multiflow aggregated data protocol data unit, so that the user equipment or the eNB may aggregate and process the received multiflow aggregated data.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the 3GPP access network entity and the 3GPP access network entity are eNB and wlan ap, respectively, as shown in fig. 15:

between the eNB and the AP, the bearer information and the priority information may be directly identified by TEID, i.e. a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field for mapping radio bearers of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and priorities of the user equipment in the LTE RAN.

Between the AP and the ue, the bearer information may be added to a MAC header (e.g., a Type reserved field in a Frame control field in the MAC header, a data shape Identifier (TID) field, etc.), or added to a PDCP header; the priority information may be added in a priority field (e.g., TID field) of the MAC header.

In another scenario and other embodiments of the embodiment of the present invention, the 3GPP access network entity and the 3GPP access network entity may also be an eNB and an AC, respectively, as shown in fig. 16:

the protocol data unit between the eNB and the AC includes an 802.3 protocol frame, an IP header (including eNB IP and AC IP), a GTP header, a PDCP header, and an IP packet, and between the eNB and the AC, the bearer information may correspond to a TEID field of the GTP header, that is, the assigned TEID corresponds to a bearer; the priority information may also correspond to the TEID field of the GTP header, i.e. the assigned TEID corresponds to the priority. The protocol data unit between the AC and the AP includes an 802.3 protocol frame (including AC MAC and AP MAC), an IP header, a CAPWAP header, an 802.3 protocol frame (including UE MAC and eNB MAC), and an IP packet, and between the AC and the AP, bearer Information may be directly added to the CAPWAP header (e.g., Reserved, HLEN, RID, WBID, Wireless Specific Information, payload field, etc. in the CAPWAP header) or the 802.3 protocol frame (e.g., TCI field); the priority information may also be added directly to the priority field (e.g., TCI field) of the 802.3 protocol frame. The protocol data unit between the AP and the user equipment includes a PHY header, a MAC header, a PDCP header, and an IP packet, and between the AP and the user equipment, bearer information may be added in the MAC header, such as a Type reserved field, a TID field, etc. in a Frame control field in the MAC header), or in an extension field of the PDCP header; the priority information may be added to a priority field (e.g., TID field) in the MAC header.

Further, the method may further include: the eNB sends a bearer mapping relation or a priority mapping relation to the WLAN AP and the user equipment, wherein the bearer mapping relation comprises a corresponding relation between a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and bearer information, and the priority mapping relation comprises a corresponding relation between priority of the protocol data unit in the radio bearer and the priority information. And when the WLAN AP and the user equipment perform multi-stream aggregated data transmission, receiving the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship, and then processing the multi-stream aggregated data according to the bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship.

In the embodiment of the invention, the eNB sends the first request message to the WLAN AP, the WLAN AP returns the first response message and carries the identifier of the virtual access point, and then the eNB sends the identifier of the virtual access point to the user equipment through the second request message, so that the user equipment can authenticate and access the virtual access point, and finally multi-stream aggregated data transmission is realized.

Example eight

In this embodiment, a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity take eNB and WLAN AP as examples respectively for explanation, a GTP-U protocol is used as a data plane transmission protocol between the eNB and the WLAN AP, and in this embodiment, a GTP-U tunnel is established between the eNB and the WLAN AP through a third request message and a third response message. Referring to fig. 17, the method includes:

step 801: the eNB sends a first request message to the WLAN AP, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the WLAN AP for the identification of a virtual access point, and the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the WLAN to which the WLAN AP belongs.

Further, before step 801, the method may further include: sending configuration information to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for indicating the user equipment to measure the WLAN where the user equipment is located; receiving a measurement result sent by user equipment, and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the measurement result; alternatively, the method further comprises: and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the network load and the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN, wherein the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN is used for indicating the number of the physical access points in each area.

Step 802: the WLAN AP receives the first request message and sends a first response message to the eNB, the first response message including an identification of the virtual access point.

The virtual access point is a logical entity existing in one physical access point, and when one physical access point supports a plurality of virtual access points, each virtual access point is a wireless Access Point (AP) to the user equipment, and each virtual access point can only be associated with one user equipment at the same time. The identification of the virtual access point may be BSSID or SSID, or may be written ESSID. It should be understood that the BSS is a basic component of a WLAN network, and is generally composed of an access point AP and a plurality of STAs. The ESS is composed of a plurality of BSSs. Wherein each BSS has a unique ID, i.e. BSS ID or BSS identification. Since the BSS usually has an access point AP, the BSS identifier is usually the identifier of the access point AP, for example, the MAC address of the AP.

Step 803: and the eNB sends a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

Specifically, the second request message may be sent through SCell Addition or data radio bearer configuration carried by the RRC connection reconfiguration message, or may be sent through other newly defined messages.

Step 804: and the user equipment authenticates and accesses the virtual access point according to the second request message, wherein the virtual access point is the virtual access point corresponding to the identifier of the virtual access point in the second request message.

Step 805: and the user equipment sends a second response message to the eNB, wherein the second response message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN, and the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

If the user equipment does not choose to perform service distribution due to user preference, terminal configuration or ANDSF access network discovery and selection function strategies and the like, the user equipment sends a failure message to the eNB at the moment. When the ue sends a failure message, the process does not perform steps 804 to 805.

Step 806: the eNB establishes an association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN, and obtains the association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN and the identification of the user equipment in the LTE RAN.

Since, in the subsequent steps, the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN is associated with the tunnel endpoint allocated by the eNB, and the tunnel endpoint allocated by the eNB is associated with the tunnel endpoint allocated by the WLAN AP, the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN, the tunnel endpoint allocated by the eNB, and the tunnel endpoint allocated by the WLAN AP can be obtained.

In other embodiments, the eNB further receives the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN sent by the WLAN AP, and then the eNB establishes an association relationship between the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN.

Step 807: the eNB sends a third request message to the WLAN AP, wherein the third request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, the priority of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the tunnel endpoint allocated by the eNB, and the first request message is used for establishing a tunnel with the WLAN AP.

The eNB may assign a tunnel end point, which may include a TEID and a transport address (which may be Ipv4 and/or Ipv 6).

Step 808: the WLAN AP receives the third request message and transmits a third response message to the eNB, the third response message including the tunnel end point allocated by the WLAN AP.

In this embodiment, the tunnel end point allocated by the WLAN AP corresponds to the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN in the third request message.

Step 809: and the eNB performs multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment through the virtual access point.

The specific implementation manner of step 809 is the same as that of step 708 in the seventh embodiment, and is not described here again.

Example nine

In this embodiment, a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity take eNB and WLAN AP as examples respectively for explanation, and an 802.3 protocol is adopted between the eNB and the WLAN AP as a data plane transmission protocol, and in this embodiment, the WLAN AP establishes an association relationship between an identifier of a user equipment in an LTE RAN and an identifier of the user equipment in a WLAN. Referring to fig. 18, the method includes:

step 901: the eNB sends a first request message to the WLAN AP, wherein the first request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the LTERAN, the first request message is used for requesting the identification of a virtual access point from the WLAN AP, and the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the WLAN to which the WLAN AP belongs.

Further, before step 901, the method may further include: sending configuration information to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for indicating the user equipment to measure the WLAN where the user equipment is located; receiving a measurement result sent by user equipment, and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the measurement result; alternatively, the method further comprises: and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the network load and the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN, wherein the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN is used for indicating the number of the physical access points in each area.

Optionally, the first request message may further include a bearer identity and a priority of the user equipment in the LTE RAN.

Step 902: the WLAN AP receives the first request message and sends a first response message to the eNB, the first response message including an identification of the virtual access point.

Step 903: and the eNB sends a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

Step 904: and the user equipment authenticates and accesses the virtual access point according to the second request message, wherein the virtual access point is the virtual access point corresponding to the identifier of the virtual access point in the second request message.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an authentication and access method that can be implemented is as follows: first, the user equipment discovers a virtual access point corresponding to an identifier of the virtual access point by sending a search frame, and accesses the virtual access point. The method for accessing the virtual access point by the user equipment may include processes of authenticating to the virtual access point, associating with the virtual access point, completing authentication, and the like.

Step 905: the WLAN AP establishes the association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN.

After the user equipment accesses the virtual access point, the WLAN AP acquires the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN, where the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN may be a MAC address or AID of the user equipment in the WLAN.

The identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN may be acquired by the first request message, and then the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN may be established by using the identifier of the virtual access point.

Step 906: the WLAN AP sends an association relationship (hereinafter referred to as an association relationship in this embodiment) between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN to the eNB, so that the eNB may process the data of the multi-stream aggregation according to the association relationship.

Step 907: and the user equipment sends a second response message to the eNB, wherein the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

If the user equipment does not choose to perform service distribution due to user preference, terminal configuration or ANDSF access network discovery and selection function strategies and the like, the user equipment sends a failure message to the eNB at the moment. When the ue sends the failure message, the process does not perform the

aforementioned step

904 and 907. In addition, in this embodiment, step 907 is an optional step.

Step 908: and the eNB performs multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment through the virtual access point.

Specifically, when the eNB transmits downlink multi-stream aggregated data (downlink data) to the user equipment, step 908 includes:

In the first step, the eNB determines the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN according to the association relationship and the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN, and indicates the target user equipment by using the identifier of the WLAN.

When the ue transmits uplink multi-stream aggregated data (uplink data) to the eNB, step 908 includes:

In the following, the transmission process of the eNB offloading downlink data to the user equipment via the WLAN AP through the 802.3 protocol is described:

as shown in fig. 19, the protocol data unit between the eNB and the AP includes an 802.3 protocol frame (including eNB MAC and APMAC), an IP header, a CAPWAP header, an 802.3 protocol frame (including eNB MAC and UE MAC), a PDCP header, and an IP packet, and the protocol data unit between the AP and the user equipment includes a PHY header, a MAC header, a PDCP header, and an IP packet. Specifically, the eNB adds an 802.3 protocol frame to a first protocol data unit of a PDCP layer of a first eNB protocol stack, wherein a source address in the 802.3 protocol frame is an eNB MAC address, a destination address is a MAC address of the user equipment, adds a CAPWAP header and an IP header, then adding 802.3 protocol frame, the source address in the 802.3 protocol frame is the MAC address of eNB, the destination address is the MAC address of AP, the first protocol data unit to which the 802.3 and IP headers are added is then passed through the L2 layer and the L1 layer of the second base station protocol stack, that is, an 802.3 protocol frame is added, the source address in the 802.3 protocol frame is the MAC address of the eNB, the destination address is the MAC address of the AP, the packet is transmitted to the L1 layer of the first WLAN AP protocol stack of the WLAN AP, and after being processed by the L1 layer and the L2 layer of the first WLAN AP protocol stack, the packet passes through the MAC address of the user equipment in the 802.3 protocol frame in the WLAN, and the first protocol data unit is restored and handed to the second WLAN AP protocol stack for processing.

The second WLAN AP Protocol stack adds an MAC header to the acquired first Protocol Data Unit to implement functions such as scheduling addressing, QoS, etc., generates an MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU for short), and transmits the MAC Protocol Data Unit to a PHY layer of a second user equipment Protocol stack of the user equipment through the PHY layer of the second WLAN AP Protocol stack.

In the following, the transmission process of the eNB offloading uplink data to the user equipment via the WLAN AP through the 802.3 protocol is described:

After receiving the MPDU, the PHY layer of the second WLAN AP protocol stack of the WLAN AP deletes the PHY header and the MAC header in sequence through the MAC layer of the second WLAN AP protocol stack to obtain a second protocol data unit, and then the WLAN AP adds an 802.3 protocol frame, a CAPWAP header, an IP header, and an 802.3 protocol frame to the second protocol data unit through the L2 layer and the L1 layer of the first WLAN AP protocol stack, and transmits the second protocol data unit to the L1 layer and the L2 layer of the second eNB protocol stack of the eNB. And then the eNB instructs a PDCP layer in the first eNB protocol stack and a PDCP entity corresponding to the radio bearer information to process the second protocol data unit according to the bearer information corresponding to the second protocol data unit in the 802.3 protocol frame or the CAPWAP header.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, the 3GPP access network entity and the 3GPP access network entity are eNB and WLAN AP, respectively, as shown in fig. 19:

between the eNB and the AP, the bearer information may be directly added in the 802.3 protocol frame or in the CAPWAP header (e.g. Reserved field of CAPWAP header, etc.) or in the PDCP header; the priority information may be added directly in the priority field of the 802.3 protocol frame (e.g., TCI field) or in the CAPWAP header (e.g., Reserved field of CAPWAP header, etc.) or in the PDCP header.

In other embodiments, the 3GPP access network entity and the 3GPP access network entity may also be an eNB and an AC, respectively, as shown in fig. 20:

the protocol data unit between the eNB and the AC includes 802.3 protocol frames (eNB MAC and AC MAC), an IP header, a CAPWAP header, an 802.3 protocol frame (including eNB MAC and user equipment MAC), a PDCP header, and an IP packet, and bearer information may be directly added to the CAPWAP header between the eNB and the AC; the priority information may also be added directly to the priority field (e.g., TCI field) of the 802.3 protocol frame. The protocol data unit between the AC and the AP includes 802.3 protocol frame (AC MAC and AP MAC), IP header, CAPWAP header, 802.3 protocol frame (including eNB MAC and UE MAC), PDCP header and IP packet, and between the AC and the AP, bearer Information may be directly added to the CAPWAP header (e.g. Reserved in CAPWAP header, HLEN, RID, WBID, Wireless Specific Information, payload field, etc.) or 802.3 protocol frame (e.g. TCI field) or extension field in PDCP header; the priority information may be added directly to the 802.3 protocol frame in a priority field (e.g., TCI field). The protocol data unit between the AP and the user equipment includes a PHY header, a MAC header, a PDCP header, and an IP packet, and between the AP and the user equipment, bearer information may be added in the MAC header (e.g., a Type reserved field, a TID field, etc. in a Frame controlled field in the MAC header) or in an extension field of the PDCP header; the priority information may be added to a priority field (e.g., TID field) in the MAC header.

Example ten

In this embodiment, a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity take eNB and WLAN AP as examples respectively for explanation, and an 802.3 protocol is adopted between the eNB and the WLAN AP as a data plane transmission protocol, and in this embodiment, the eNB establishes an association relationship between an identifier of a user equipment in an LTE RAN and an identifier of the user equipment in a WLAN.

Referring to fig. 21, the method includes:

step 1001: the eNB sends a first request message to the WLAN AP, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the WLAN AP for the identification of a virtual access point, and the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the WLAN to which the WLAN AP belongs.

Further, before step 1001, the method may further include: sending configuration information to the user equipment, wherein the configuration information is used for indicating the user equipment to measure the WLAN where the user equipment is located; receiving a measurement result sent by user equipment, and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the measurement result; alternatively, the method further comprises: and determining whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the network load and the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN, wherein the distribution situation of the physical access points in the WLAN is used for indicating the number of the physical access points in each area.

Step 1002: the WLAN AP receives the first request message and sends a first response message to the eNB, the first response message including an identification of the virtual access point.

Step 1003: and the eNB sends a second request message to the user equipment, wherein the second request message comprises the identification of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used for indicating the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

Step 1004: and the user equipment authenticates and accesses the virtual access point according to the second request message, wherein the virtual access point is the virtual access point corresponding to the identifier of the virtual access point in the second request message.

Step 1005: and the user equipment sends a second response message to the eNB, wherein the second corresponding message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN, and the second response message is used for indicating that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

The identification of the user equipment in the WLAN may be a MAC address or AID of the user equipment in the WLAN.

aforementioned step

1004 and 1005.

Step 1006: the eNB establishes an association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN, and obtains the association relationship between the identification of the user equipment in the WLAN and the identification of the user equipment in the LTE RAN.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the eNB may acquire the identity of the user equipment in the WLAN from the second response message, and associate the identity with the identity of the user equipment in the LTE RAN.

In other embodiments, the eNB further receives an identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN, which is sent by the WLAN AP, and the identifier of the virtual access point may also be carried during the sending, so that the eNB may establish an association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the LTE RAN and the identifier of the user equipment in the WLAN.

Step 1007: and the eNB performs multi-stream aggregated data transmission with the user equipment through the virtual access point.

The specific implementation of step 1007 is the same as step 908 in the ninth embodiment, and is not described here again.

EXAMPLE eleven

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a 3GPP access network entity, and is configured to execute the multiflow aggregation method in the first embodiment, with reference to fig. 22, where the apparatus includes:

a sending module 1101, configured to send a first request message to a non-3GPP access network entity, where the 3GPP access network entity is directly connected to the non-3GPP access network entity, and the first request message is used to request an identifier of a virtual access point from the non-3GPP access network entity;

a receiving module 1102, configured to receive a first response message returned by a non-3GPP access network entity, where the first response message includes an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point (e.g., a WLAN AP) in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner;

the sending module 1101 is further configured to send a second request message to the user equipment, where the second request message includes an identifier of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used to instruct the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

Example twelve

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a 3GPP access network entity, and is configured to execute the multiflow aggregation method in the second embodiment, with reference to fig. 23, where the apparatus includes:

a sending module 1201, configured to send a first request message to a non-3GPP access network entity, where the 3GPP access network entity is directly connected to the non-3GPP access network entity, and the first request message is used to request an identifier of a virtual access point from the non-3GPP access network entity;

a receiving module 1202, configured to receive a first response message returned by a non-3GPP access network entity, where the first response message includes an identifier of a virtual access point, and the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point (such as a WLAN AP) in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner;

the sending module 1201 is further configured to send a second request message to the user equipment, where the second request message includes an identifier of the virtual access point, and the second request message is used to instruct the user equipment to access the virtual access point.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a virtual access point is a logical entity existing in one physical access point, and a plurality of virtual access points may be configured on one physical access point. When one physical access point supports multiple virtual access points, each virtual access point is a wireless Access Point (AP) to a user device, and each virtual access point can only be associated with one user device at a time. The user equipment can be accessed into the virtual access point and also can be accessed into the physical access point, the physical access point can periodically send a Beacon frame, the user equipment can acquire BSSID of the physical access point by monitoring the Beacon frame, then the physical access point is selected to carry out authentication and Association in sequence, processes such as authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like are completed, access is realized, and the user equipment can be accessed into the physical access point by sending a Probe frame. The user equipment cannot know the existence of the virtual access point by monitoring the Beacon frame, only can discover the appointed virtual access point by sending a Probe frame, then sequentially performs authentication and Association, completes the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like, and realizes access.

Further, the receiving module 1202 is further configured to receive a second response message sent by the user equipment, where the second response message is used to indicate that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

Further, the multiflow aggregation apparatus needs to obtain an association relationship between an identifier of the ue in the non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the ue in the 3GPP access network, so as to process the received multiflow aggregated data according to the association relationship, or send the multiflow aggregated data to the non-3GPP access network entity according to the association relationship.

Specifically, the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network may be a MAC address or AID of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network may be a CRNTI identifier, a TMSI, or a TEID.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the receiving module 1202 is further configured to receive and store an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, where the association relationship is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity. Alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

a receiving module 1202, further configured to receive and store an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, where the identifier is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity;

the device also includes: an association module 1203, configured to establish an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the second response message may include an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

An association module 1203, configured to obtain, from the second response message, an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, and establish an association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

Further, the apparatus further comprises:

a processing module 1204, configured to perform data transmission with multi-stream aggregation with a user equipment via a virtual access point. In this embodiment of the present invention, the multiflow aggregated data refers to data that is shunted between the 3GPP access network entity and the user equipment through the non-3GPP access network, for example, the aforementioned first part of downlink data and the first part of uplink data.

When a GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity use an 802.3 protocol for transmission, and for downlink multiflow aggregated data transmission, when at least one radio bearer exists, the processing module 1204 is configured to add bearer information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, or add priority information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs, and the priority information is used to indicate a priority of a user equipment in the 3GPP access network;

then, the sending module 1201 is further configured to send the data of the multi-stream aggregation to a non-3GPP access network entity.

More specifically, the processing module 1204 may add bearer information in the following manner: adding the bearer information to a protocol data unit 802.3 protocol frame of the multi-stream aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of the wireless access point, or adding the priority information to a priority field of the protocol data unit 802.3 protocol frame of the multi-stream aggregated data.

For uplink multiflow aggregated data transmission, when at least one radio bearer exists, the receiving module 1202 is further configured to receive multiflow aggregated data sent by a non-3GPP access network entity;

a processing module 1204, configured to obtain bearer information or priority information from data aggregated in multiple streams; and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the 3GPP access network entity by the user equipment through the 3GPP access network.

Further, the sending module 1201 is further configured to send a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship to the non-3GPP access network entity and the user equipment, where the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the priority information.

When a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity use a GTP tunnel for transmission, a GTP tunnel needs to be established between the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity, specifically:

in an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, a GTP tunnel may be established between a 3GPP access network entity and a non-3GPP access network entity by using a first request message and a first response message: the first request message comprises the identification of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, the priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity, and the first response message also comprises the tunnel end point allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, a GTP tunnel may be established between the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity by using the third request message and the third response message: a sending module 1201, configured to send a third request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, where the third request message includes an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity; a receiving module 1202, configured to receive a third response message returned by the non-3GPP access network entity, where the third response message includes a tunnel endpoint allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

When the GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity use a GTP tunnel for transmission, the processing module 1204 is configured to perform multiflow aggregated data transmission with the user equipment via the virtual access point, where a GTP header in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field, and the TEID field is used to map a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network may be DRB ID, LCID, ERAB ID. The TEID field is a TEID field, and the fields in the invention all refer to fields in a protocol data unit.

Further, the sending module 1201 is further configured to send configuration information to the user equipment, where the configuration information is used to instruct the user equipment to measure the non-3GPP access network in which the user equipment is located; a receiving module 1202, further configured to receive a measurement result sent by the user equipment; the processing module 1204 is further configured to determine whether to perform multi-stream aggregation according to the measurement result, for example: and when the user equipment measures that the WiFi network signal corresponding to the WLAN AP in the non-3GPP access network where the user equipment is located is strong, carrying out service distribution. Or, the processing module 1204 is configured to determine whether to perform multiflow aggregation according to a network load and a distribution situation of physical access points in the non-3GPP access network, where the distribution situation of the physical access points (e.g., WLAN APs) in the non-3GPP access network is used to indicate the number of physical access points in each area. For example, when WLAN APs are distributed in an area with a heavy network load, traffic is shunted.

Optionally, after the user equipment accesses the virtual access point and the identifier is associated well, the virtual access point may also disassociate the user equipment, and then the multi-stream aggregation apparatus instructs the user equipment to access the physical access point, and then transmits the offload data of the user equipment through the physical access point.

EXAMPLE thirteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a 3GPP access network entity, and referring to fig. 24, the apparatus includes: a processor 1301, memory 1302, transceiver 1303, and bus 1304; the memory 1302 is configured to store computer executable instructions, the processor 1301 is connected to the memory 1302 through the bus 1304, and when the 3GPP access network entity operates, the processor 1301 executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory 1302, so as to enable the 3GPP access network entity to perform the multiflow aggregation method according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment.

It can be understood that the multiflow aggregation apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention may be an independent module in a 3GPP access network entity or an apparatus composed of multiple functional modules, or may be the 3GPP access network entity itself. For example, it may be an eNB or one of the enbs. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this.

Example fourteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a non-3GPP access network entity, and is configured to execute the multiflow aggregation method in the third embodiment, with reference to fig. 25, where the apparatus includes:

a receiving module 1401, configured to receive a first request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity, where a non-3GPP access network entity is connected to the 3GPP access network entity;

a sending module 1402, configured to send a first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the first response message includes an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

Example fifteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, where the multiflow aggregation apparatus is applied to a non-3GPP access network entity, and the multiflow aggregation apparatus is configured to execute the multiflow aggregation method in the fourth embodiment, with reference to fig. 26, where the apparatus includes:

a receiving module 1501, configured to receive a first request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity;

a sending module 1502, configured to send a first response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the first response message includes an identifier of a virtual access point, the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

Further, the multiflow aggregation apparatus needs to obtain an association relationship between an identifier of the ue in the non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the ue in the 3GPP access network, so as to process the received multiflow aggregated data according to the association relationship.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes: the associating module 1503 is configured to establish and store an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network after the user equipment accesses the virtual access point.

Further, the sending module 1502 is further configured to send an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network to the 3GPP access network entity; or, the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network is sent to the 3GPP access network entity, so that the 3GPP access network entity establishes an association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

In another implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, a GTP tunnel may be established between the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity by using the third request message and the third response message: the receiving module 1501 is further configured to receive a third request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, where the third request message includes an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity; the sending module 1502 is further configured to return a third response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the third response message includes a tunnel endpoint allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

Further, the apparatus further comprises:

a processing module 1504, configured to perform multiflow aggregated data transmission with a user equipment via a virtual access point.

Specifically, for downlink multi-stream aggregated data transmission, there is at least one radio bearer:

when the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity use a GTP tunnel for transmission, the receiving module 1501 is configured to receive multiflow aggregated data sent by the 3GPP access network entity, where a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data includes a tunnel endpoint identifier TEID field, and the TEID field is used to map a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network. The processing module 1504 may obtain the radio bearer and the priority according to the TEID field in the protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data.

When the 3GPP access network entity and the non-3GPP access network entity adopt the 802.3 protocol for transmission, the receiving module 1501 is further configured to receive a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship sent by the 3GPP access network entity;

a processing module 1504, configured to add bearer information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data according to a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship, or add priority information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs, the priority information is used to indicate a priority of a user equipment in a 3GPP access network, the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the priority information;

the sending module 1502 is further configured to send a protocol data unit of the data aggregated by the multiple streams to the virtual access point.

Specifically, the processing module 1504 is configured to add bearer information to an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of a wireless access point, or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or add priority information to a priority field of an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data.

Example sixteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a non-3GPP access network entity, and referring to fig. 27, the apparatus includes: a processor 1601, a memory 1602, a transceiver 1603, and a bus 1604; the memory 1602 is used for storing computer executable instructions, and the processor 1601 is connected to the memory 1602 through the bus 1604, and when the non-3GPP access network entity operates, the processor 1601 executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory 1602, so as to enable the non-3GPP access network entity to perform the multi-stream aggregation method according to the third or fourth embodiment.

It can be understood that the multiflow aggregation apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention may be an independent module in a non-3GPP access network entity or an apparatus composed of multiple functional modules, or may be a non-3GPP access network entity itself. For example, it may be a WLAN AP or one of the WLAN APs. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this.

Example seventeen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to user equipment, and is configured to execute the multiflow aggregation method in the fifth embodiment, with reference to fig. 28, where the apparatus includes:

a receiving module 1701, configured to receive a second request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity, where the second request message includes an identifier of a virtual AP;

an access module 1702, configured to access the virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message, where the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in the non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

Specifically, the multiflow aggregation apparatus may access the virtual access point in the following manner: the user equipment discovers the designated virtual access point by sending a Probe frame, then sequentially performs authentication and Association, completes the processes of authentication, capability negotiation, key derivation and the like, and realizes access.

EXAMPLE eighteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multiflow aggregation apparatus, which is applied to user equipment, and is configured to execute the multiflow aggregation method in the sixth embodiment, with reference to fig. 29, where the apparatus includes:

a receiving module 1801, configured to receive a second request message sent by a 3GPP access network entity, where the second request message includes an identifier of a virtual AP;

an access module 1802, configured to access a virtual access point corresponding to the identifier in the second request message, where the virtual access point is configured on a physical access point in a non-3GPP access network to which the non-3GPP access network entity belongs, and the virtual access point is used for providing access for a user equipment that transmits data in a multi-stream aggregation manner.

Further, the apparatus further comprises:

a sending module 1803, configured to send a second response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the second response message is used to indicate that the user equipment has accessed the virtual access point.

In an implementation manner of the embodiment of the present invention, the second response message includes an identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network.

Further, the apparatus further comprises:

a processing module 1804, configured to perform multiflow aggregated data transmission with a 3GPP access network entity via the virtual access point.

Specifically, for data transmission of uplink and downlink multiflow aggregation, at least one radio bearer exists:

a receiving module 1801, configured to receive a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship sent by a 3GPP access network entity;

a processing module 1804, configured to add, according to a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship, bearer information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, or add priority information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data, where the bearer information is used to indicate a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs, the priority information is used to indicate a priority of a user equipment in a 3GPP access network, the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between the radio bearer to which the protocol data unit belongs and the bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the priority information;

the sending module 1803 is further configured to send a protocol data unit of the data aggregated by the multiple streams to the virtual access point.

Specifically, the processing module 1804 is configured to add the bearer information to a media access control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or add the priority information to a priority field of a media access control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data.

a receiving module 1801, configured to receive multiflow aggregated data sent by a virtual access point;

a processing module 1804, configured to obtain bearer information or priority information from the data aggregated by the multiple streams; and according to the bearing information or the priority information, aggregating the data of the multi-stream aggregation and the data sent to the user equipment by the 3GPP access network entity through the 3GPP access network.

Example nineteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-stream aggregation apparatus, which is applied to a user equipment, and referring to fig. 30, the apparatus includes: a processor 1901, memory 1902, transceiver 1903, and bus 1904; the memory 1902 is used for storing computer-executable instructions, and the processor 1901 is connected to the memory 1902 through the bus 1904, and when the user equipment runs, the processor 1901 executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 1902 to enable the user equipment to execute the multi-stream aggregation method according to the fifth or sixth embodiment.

It can be understood that the multi-stream aggregation apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention may be an independent module in the user equipment or an apparatus composed of multiple functional modules, or may be the user equipment itself. For example, it may be a mobile terminal or one of the devices in the mobile terminal. The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this.

Example twenty

An embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-stream aggregation system, referring to fig. 31, where the system includes: a 3GPP access network entity 2001, a non-3GPP access network entity 2002 and a user equipment 2003, where the 3GPP access network entity includes the multiflow aggregation apparatus according to embodiment eleven or twelve, the non-3GPP access network entity includes the multiflow aggregation apparatus according to embodiment fourteen or fifteen, and the user equipment includes the multiflow aggregation apparatus according to embodiment seventeen or eighteen.

It should be noted that: in the multi-stream aggregation apparatus provided in the foregoing embodiment, when performing data transmission of multi-stream aggregation, only the division of each function module is illustrated, and in practical application, the function distribution may be completed by different function modules according to needs, that is, an internal structure of a device is divided into different function modules, so as to complete all or part of the functions described above. In addition, the embodiments of the multiflow aggregation apparatus and the multiflow aggregation method provided in the foregoing embodiments belong to the same concept, and specific implementation processes thereof are described in the method embodiments and are not described herein again.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps for implementing the above embodiments may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware, where the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium may be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents, improvements and the like that fall within the spirit and principle of the present invention are intended to be included therein.

Claims

1. A multiple stream polymerization process, characterized in that the process comprises:

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the method further comprises the following steps:

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second response message includes an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, and wherein the method further comprises:

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising: performing multiflow aggregation data transmission with the ue via the virtual access point, where performing multiflow aggregation data transmission with the ue via the virtual access point includes:

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of data aggregated in multiple streams or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of data aggregated in multiple streams includes:

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the data transmission with the UE via the virtual access point for multiflow aggregation comprises:

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

9. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises:

10. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first request message includes an identification of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity, and the first response message further includes a tunnel end point allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

11. The method according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

14. A multiple stream polymerization process, characterized in that the process comprises:

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

17. The method according to any of claims 14-16, wherein the first request message comprises an identification of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel end point assigned by the 3GPP access network entity, and wherein the first response message further comprises a tunnel end point assigned by the non-3GPP access network entity.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14-16, further comprising: receiving a third request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the third request message comprises an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel endpoint allocated by the 3GPP access network entity; and returning a third response message to the 3GPP access network entity, wherein the third response message comprises a tunnel terminal point distributed by the non-3GPP access network entity.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14-16, further comprising:

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the data transmission with the ue via multiflow aggregation via the virtual access point comprises:

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the data transmission with the ue via multiflow aggregation via the virtual access point comprises:

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multiflow aggregated data includes:

23. A multiple stream polymerization process, characterized in that the process comprises:

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the second response message comprises an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network.

26. The method according to any one of claims 23-25, further comprising:

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the data transmission with the 3GPP access network entity via multiflow aggregation via the virtual access point comprises:

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the adding bearer information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data or adding priority information in a protocol data unit of multi-stream aggregated data includes:

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the data transmission with the 3GPP access network entity via multiflow aggregation via the virtual access point comprises:

receiving the multi-stream aggregated data sent by the virtual access point;

30. A multi-stream aggregation apparatus applied in a 3GPP access network entity, the apparatus comprising:

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive and store an association relationship between an identifier of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network and an identifier of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, where the association relationship is sent by the non-3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive a second response message sent by the ue, and the second response message is used to indicate that the ue has accessed the virtual access point.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the second response message includes an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, and wherein the apparatus further comprises:

34. The apparatus of any one of claims 30-33, further comprising:

the processing module is specifically configured to:

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the processing module is specifically configured to:

36. The apparatus of claim 34,

the processing module is specifically configured to:

37. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the sending module is further configured to send a bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship to the non-3GPP access network entity and the user equipment, where the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs and bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a priority of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network and the priority information.

38. The apparatus of claim 35 or 36, wherein the sending module is further configured to send a bearer mapping relationship or the priority mapping relationship to the non-3GPP access network entity and the user equipment, where the bearer mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a radio bearer to which a protocol data unit belongs and bearer information, and the priority mapping relationship includes a correspondence between a priority of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network and the priority information.

39. The apparatus according to claim 30 or 31, wherein the first request message includes an identification of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity, and the first response message further includes a tunnel end point allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

40. The apparatus of claim 30 or 32, wherein the sending module is further configured to send a third request message to the non-3GPP access network entity, where the third request message includes an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity;

41. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising:

42. The apparatus of claim 40, further comprising:

43. A multiple stream polymerization apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a processor, a memory, a transceiver, and a bus; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, and the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the 3GPP access network entity runs, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the 3GPP access network entity to perform the multiflow aggregation method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

44. A multi-stream aggregation apparatus applied in a non-3GPP access network entity, the apparatus comprising:

45. The apparatus of claim 44, further comprising: and the association module is used for establishing and storing the association relationship between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network after the user equipment is accessed to the virtual access point.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the sending module is further configured to send an association between the identifier of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and the identifier of the user equipment in the non-3GPP access network to the 3GPP access network entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

47. The apparatus of any of claims 44-46, wherein the first request message comprises an identification of the user equipment in a 3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel end point assigned by the 3GPP access network entity, and wherein the first response message further comprises a tunnel end point assigned by the non-3GPP access network entity.

48. The apparatus of any of claims 44-46, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive a third request message sent by the 3GPP access network entity, where the third request message includes an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network, a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network, and a tunnel end point allocated by the 3GPP access network entity; the sending module is further configured to return a third response message to the 3GPP access network entity, where the third response message includes a tunnel endpoint allocated by the non-3GPP access network entity.

49. The apparatus of any one of claims 44-46, further comprising:

50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive multiflow aggregated data sent by the 3GPP access network entity, and a GTP header in a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data includes a Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) field, and the TEID field is used for mapping a radio bearer of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network and a priority of the user equipment in the 3GPP access network.

51. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship sent by the 3GPP access network entity;

52. The apparatus according to claim 51, wherein the processing module is specifically configured to: adding the bearer information to an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data, or a control and configuration protocol header of a wireless access point, or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of an 802.3 protocol frame of a protocol data unit of the multiflow aggregated data.

53. A multiple stream polymerization apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a processor, a memory, a transceiver, and a bus; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, and the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the non-3GPP access network entity operates, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the non-3GPP access network entity to perform the multi-stream aggregation method according to any one of claims 14 to 22.

54. A multi-stream aggregation apparatus applied in a user equipment, the apparatus comprising:

55. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising:

56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the second response message comprises an identification of the user equipment in a non-3GPP access network.

57. The apparatus of any one of claims 54-56, further comprising:

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the receiving module is further configured to receive a bearer mapping relationship or a priority mapping relationship sent by the 3GPP access network entity;

59. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the processing module is specifically configured to: adding the bearer information to a media intervention control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data or an extension field of a packet data convergence protocol header, or adding the priority information to a priority field of a media intervention control layer header of a protocol data unit of the multi-stream aggregated data.

60. The apparatus of claim 57,

61. A multiple stream polymerization apparatus, the apparatus comprising: a processor, a memory, a transceiver, and a bus; the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions, and the processor is connected to the memory through the bus, and when the user equipment runs, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the user equipment to perform the multi-stream aggregation method according to any one of claims 23 to 29.

62. A multiple stream aggregation system, the system comprising: a 3GPP access network entity, a non-3GPP access network entity and a user equipment, the 3GPP access network entity comprising the multi-stream aggregation apparatus according to any of claims 30 to 42, the non-3GPP access network entity comprising the multi-stream aggregation apparatus according to any of claims 44 to 52, and the user equipment comprising the multi-stream aggregation apparatus according to any of claims 54 to 60.