CN107770787B

CN107770787B - Method and device for determining target operator network

Info

Publication number: CN107770787B
Application number: CN201610685269.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李静岚
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2016-08-17
Filing date: 2016-08-17
Publication date: 2022-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 2036-08-17
Also published as: CN114980180A; CN107770787A

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for determining a handover target operator network during a handover procedure. The method for determining the switching target operator network comprises the following steps: a switching target base station acquires operator network information supported by a Mobile Management Entity (MME); determining operator network information supported by the MME and a handover target cell; and when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the switching target cell, determining the operator network supported by the MME and the switching target cell as the switching target operator network. Correspondingly, the invention also provides a device for determining the network of the switching target operator. The method and the device provided by the invention can improve the success rate of switching.

Description

Method and device for determining target operator network

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for determining a handover target operator network during a handover procedure.

Background

In a mobile communication system, different operators share devices and resources in a network, referred to as network sharing. In a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, networks share two modes, one is a mode of only sharing wireless side equipment and resources, namely a Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) mode; one is a mode of sharing both devices and resources on the wireless side and the Core Network side, that is, a Gateway Core Network (GWCN). In any sharing method, the wireless side can be commonly used by multiple operators. When an evolved Node B (eNB) is shared by multiple operators, carrier resources under the eNB (in an LTE system, one carrier resource corresponds to one cell) may be shared by multiple operators or dedicated to one operator. When the cell resource under the eNB may be shared by multiple operators, the cell may configure multiple operator network identifier information supported by the cell to indicate which operators the cell resource may be used by, and an operator network identifier list supported by the cell may be broadcast in broadcast information to a User Equipment (User Equipment, UE for short) for the UE to select an operator network of a suitable cell for access.

When the UE is handed over, the eNB on the handover source side may select a serving operator network of the handover target cell for the UE according to the operator network condition supported by the handover target cell and the operator network list selectable by the UE itself. In the related art, the eNB at the handover source side may carry the selected serving operator network of the handover target cell to the handover target eNB through a Mobility Management Entity (MME). The scheme needs the support of the MME, and when the MME does not support or open the corresponding function, the switching target eNB cannot determine the switching target operator network, so that the switching failure is caused.

Disclosure of Invention

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for determining a target operator network.

The method for determining the target operator network provided by the invention comprises the following steps: a switching target base station acquires operator network information supported by a Mobile Management Entity (MME); determining operator network information supported by the MME and a handover target cell; and when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the switching target cell, determining the operator network supported by the MME and the switching target cell as the switching target operator network.

Preferably, the operator network information includes: the PLMN ID.

Preferably, the handover target base station acquires the operator network information supported by the MME through the S1 connection setup response message.

Preferably, before determining the operator networks supported by both the MME and the handover target cell, the handover target base station determines the handover target cell by receiving a handover request message sent by the MME.

Preferably, the handover target base station performs handover according to the determined handover target operator network.

The invention also provides a device for determining the target operator network, which comprises the following steps: the device comprises an acquisition module and a determination module. Wherein: an obtaining module, configured to obtain operator network information supported by a mobility management entity MME; a determining module, configured to determine operator network information supported by both the MME and a handover target cell; and when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the target cell, determining that the operator network supported by the MME and the target cell is a switching target operator network.

By adopting the method or the device for determining the target operator network, even if the MME does not carry the selected operator network information to the switching target eNB, the switching target eNB can judge the intersection of the MME and the operator network supported by the switching target cell according to the acquired operator network information supported by the MME, and when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the target cell, the operator network supported by both the MME and the target cell is determined as the switching target operator network; this enables the handover to be performed normally, thereby improving the success rate of the handover

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of basic steps of a method of determining a target operator network;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of an apparatus for determining a target operator network.

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 below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other without conflict.

In the related art, when devices and resources on the core network side or the wireless side are shared by multiple operators, it is generally identified by a PLMN ID which operators some devices and resources are available for use. When the cell resource under the eNB can be shared by multiple operators, the cell can configure multiple PLMN IDs supported by the cell to indicate which operators the cell resource is available for, where the first PLMN ID is a primary PLMN; when the cell resource under the eNB is dedicated to only one operator, the cell is configured with only one PLMN ID, which indicates that the cell resource is dedicated to only which operator. The PLMN ID list supported by the cell may be broadcast to the UE in broadcast information, and the UE may select a Home PLMN (Home PLMN, HPLMN) or an Equivalent PLMN (Equivalent PLMN, EPLMN) as a serving PLMN (Service PLMN, SPLMN) during access. Once selected by the UE, the serving PLMN is always in effect when the UE handles the connected state, unless handover occurs. When the UE is handed over, the eNB on the handover source side may select a handover target serving PLMN for the UE according to the PLMN supported by the handover target cell and a PLMN list (including the HPLMN and the EPLMN) to which the UE belongs. According to the protocol, in S1 HANDOVER, the HANDOVER target serving PLMN is carried by the HANDOVER source eNB to the MME through a HANDOVER REQUEST message (HANDOVER REQUEST), and the MME is carried to the HANDOVER target eNB through a HANDOVER restriction list in the HANDOVER REQUEST message (HANDOVER REQUEST). However, since the HANDOVER restriction list in the HANDOVER REQUEST message is an optional information element, when S1 HANDOVER occurs in the network sharing scenario, if the MME does not carry the HANDOVER restriction list in the HANDOVER REQUEST message, the HANDOVER target eNB will not know what the HANDOVER target service operator or PLMN is.

The embodiment of the invention improves the scenes. Fig. 1 is a flow chart of basic steps of a method of determining a target operator network. As shown in the figure, the method mainly comprises:

s101: a switching target base station acquires operator network information supported by a Mobile Management Entity (MME);

s102: determining operator network information supported by the MME and a switching target cell;

s103: when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the switching target cell, determining the operator network supported by the MME and the switching target cell as the switching target operator network.

Wherein, the operator network information can be represented by a PLMN ID; different PLMN IDs represent different operators, or different subsidiaries belonging to the same operator. The base station may acquire the PLMN ID supported by the MME through the S1 connection setup response message. In this case, the operator network supported by both the MME and the target cell is the PLMN ID supported by both the MME and the target cell. In the specific handover procedure, the handover target cell in S102 is determined by the handover target base station according to the received handover request message sent by the MME. After determining the handover target operator network in S103, the handover may be performed according to the determined handover target operator network.

Example one

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown, it includes:

s201: the base station establishes S1 connection with the MME, and acquires the PLMN supported by the MME by connecting corresponding information through S1;

s202: a base station receives a switching request message of the MME; determining a switching target cell according to the switching request message;

s203: the base station determines that only one PLMN supported by both the handover target cell and the MME is a PLMN 1;

s204: the base station determines the target serving PLMN to be PLMN1 and continues the handover procedure.

The second embodiment:

different from the first embodiment, in the present embodiment, it is introduced whether the handover request message carries a handover restriction list, so that the method for determining the target serving PLMN is more flexible. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, comprise

S301: the base station establishes S1 connection with the MME, and acquires the PLMN supported by the MME by connecting corresponding information through S1;

s302: when receiving the handover request message of the MME, the base station determines a handover target cell, and determines whether the handover request message carries a handover restriction list, and if the handover request message carries the handover restriction list, the base station jumps to S305, otherwise, the base station jumps to S303;

s303: the base station determines that only one PLMN supported by both the handover target cell and the MME is a PLMN 1;

s304: the base station determines that the target service PLMN is PLMN1, and continues the switching process;

s305: and the base station determines a target service PLMN according to the switching limit list and continues the switching process.

In a specific implementation, if the base station determines that the PLMNs supported by both the handover target cell and the MME are not unique, that is, when there are multiple PLMNs supported by both the handover target cell and the MME, the base station may not determine the handover target PLMN, and therefore, rejects the handover, and replies a handover failure message to the MME.

Similarly, if the base station determines that the PLMN supported by both the handover target cell and the MME is empty, that is, when the handover target cell and the PLMN supported by the MME do not intersect, the base station also cannot determine the handover target PLMN, and therefore rejects the handover, and replies a handover failure message to the MME.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of an apparatus for determining a target operator network. As shown, the apparatus comprises: an acquisition module 01 and a determination module 02. An obtaining module 01, configured to obtain operator network information supported by a mobility management entity MME; a determining module 02, configured to determine operator network information supported by both the MME and the handover target cell; and when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the switching target cell, determining that the operator network supported by the MME and the switching target cell is the switching target operator network.

The operator network information may be a PLMN ID, and determining that the operator network supported by both the MME and the target cell is the PLMN ID supported by both the MME and the target cell is determined.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the steps of the above methods may be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through a program, and the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as a read-only memory, a magnetic or optical disk, and the like. Alternatively, all or part of the steps of the foregoing embodiments may also be implemented by using one or more integrated circuits, and accordingly, each module/unit in the foregoing embodiments may be implemented in the form of hardware, and may also be implemented in the form of a software functional module. The present invention is not limited to any specific form of combination of hardware and software.

It should be noted that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms, and various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of determining a target operator network, comprising:

a switching target base station acquires operator network information supported by a Mobile Management Entity (MME);

receiving a switching request message sent by an MME, determining a switching target cell according to the switching request message, and judging whether the switching request message carries a switching limit list or not;

under the condition that the switching request message is judged to have no switching limitation list, determining operator network information supported by the MME and a switching target cell;

when the MME and the switching target cell support only one operator network, determining the operator network supported by the MME and the switching target cell as the switching target operator network, and switching according to the determined switching target operator network;

and when the number of operator networks supported by the MME and the switching target cell is more than one or is empty, determining that the switching target operator network fails, and refusing to switch.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operator network information comprises: the PLMN ID.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the handover target base station acquires operator network information supported by an MME through an S1 connection setup response message.

4. An apparatus for determining a target operator network, comprising: the device comprises an acquisition module and a determination module;

the acquiring module is used for acquiring operator network information supported by a mobile management entity MME;

the determining module is configured to receive a handover request message sent by an MME, determine a handover target cell according to the handover request message, determine whether the handover request message carries a handover restriction list, and determine operator network information supported by both the MME and the handover target cell when it is determined that the handover request message does not include the handover restriction list; when only one operator network is supported by the MME and the target cell, determining the operator network supported by the MME and the target cell as a switching target operator network, and switching according to the determined switching target operator network; and when the number of operator networks supported by the MME and the switching target cell is more than one or is empty, determining that the switching target operator network fails, and refusing to switch.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the operator network information comprises: the PLMN ID.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the obtaining module is configured to obtain operator network information supported by an MME through an S1 connection setup response message.