CN102045895A - Management method and device of members in closed subscriber group (CSG) - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses management method and device of members in a closed subscriber group (CSG), wherein the method comprises the following steps of: receiving a management request for managing CSG members of a home base station by using a data server of the home base station, wherein the management request carries the subscriber identification of a terminal subscriber; updating the CSG member information of the local home base station by using the data server of the home base station according to the management request; and sending the updated CSG member information of the home base station to the home base station by using the data server of the home base station so as to update the local CSG member information by using the home base station. The invention can be convenient for subscribers to manage the CSG members by using the home base station.

Description

Method and device for managing closed user group members

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for managing members of a closed subscriber group.

Background

In order to provide higher traffic rates to mobile users and reduce the cost of using high rate services, and to make up for the lack of coverage of existing distributed cellular radio communication systems, home base stations are typically located in homes, office areas, and the like. The home base station is a small-sized and low-power base station, and has the advantages of practicability, convenience, low power output and the like.

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a model of a communication network including a home base station that is accessible to a home base station network service provider network through a security gateway, as shown in fig. 1. The femtocell network service provider network generally includes an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) server of the femtocell and a femtocell management system.

In the application scenario of separation (machine-card separation) between the terminal device and the user card, such as a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module), the Subscriber Identity data and information are registered, and the Subscriber subscription information may further include binding information between the terminal user and a terminal used by the terminal user. For example, some attributes of the terminal that can be used by the user, such as MSID (Mobile terminal Identity) of the terminal, MAC Address (MAC Address) of the terminal, etc., are recorded in the user profile.

At this time, depending on the service mode of the operator, the operator may strictly bind the user and the device, that is, one user can only access to the core network using a specific device or devices; the user can not use the device network except the appointed device, namely, the user card is inserted into other terminal devices and tries to access to the core network; meanwhile, the device of the user cannot be used by other users, namely, the user cards of other users are inserted into the terminal device of the user and try to access the core network. If the user tries the above illegal operation, the AAA server of the core network rejects the user to access the network during the authentication and authorization process of the terminal user.

The concept of Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) exists in a home base station system, allowing a Subscriber to access one or more CSGCell (base stations) with restricted access. The operation mode of the home base station can be divided into a closed mode, a mixed mode and an open mode.

When the working mode of the home base station is the closed mode, only the user of the CSG to which the home base station belongs can access the home base station and enjoy the service provided by the home base station; when the working mode of the home base station is an open mode, any user can access the home base station, and the home base station is equal to a macro base station; when the working mode of the home base station is the mixed mode, the CSG user is allowed to access, and other users are allowed to access and use at the same time, but different user types can be distinguished according to whether the user belongs to the CSG list, so that differentiated service quality processing is realized, that is, the CSG user has higher service priority and better service quality and service class when using the mixed mode home base station.

The management of the CSG member information of the home base station (CSG member management for short) generally includes adding or deleting a CSG member to or from the home base station, and generally, modifying (adding or deleting) the CSG member information of the home base station requires obtaining an agreement between the home base station owner and the operator (i.e., the user data server). The CSG member information of the home base station is generally stored in a user data server (e.g., an AAA server of the home base station, a management system of the home base station, etc.) at the home base station local location and at the network side, and the two stored data are synchronized, that is, no matter the CSG member information of the home base station is modified at the home base station local location or at the user data server, a synchronization operation needs to be performed between the two.

When the terminal user accesses the network, the home base station in the closed mode can utilize the CSG member information to carry out access control on the terminal user, and if the terminal user is not the CSG member user, the home base station in the closed mode can refuse the terminal user to access the network; the home base station in the hybrid mode distinguishes the user types (such as CSG users and non-CSG users) according to the CSG member information, so that operations such as differentiated charging, service quality authorization and the like can be conveniently implemented, and if the terminal user is not the CSG member user, the home base station only provides low-priority service for the terminal user.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of network element connection based on the model shown in fig. 1, wherein a user data server refers to the home base station AAA server and/or the management system of the home base station shown in fig. 1, and the home base station can perform information interaction with the user data server through the R3-F interface shown in fig. 1.

In the prior art, when an end user performs network access, a home base station determines whether the end user belongs to a CSG member of the home base station according to an attribute, specifically, MSID or MAC address, of a terminal used by the end user, that is, access control related to CSG is performed depending on an identifier of the terminal. The CSG member management corresponding to the CSG member management is also performed based on the terminal identifier, and fig. 3 is a CSG member management method of a home base station in the prior art, which specifically includes the following steps:

step 301: the home base station receives a CSG member management request for adding a terminal user as a CSG member of a closed user group, wherein the request comprises a terminal identifier used by the terminal user to be added (an owner of the home base station inputs related information through a local management interface on the home base station);

the home base station sends a request for adding a CSG member to a user data server (located in a home base station network service provider network) to request the user data server to approve the terminal user to be added as the CSG member. The message carries the identifier of the home base station and the identifier of the terminal to be added.

The terminal identifier specifically refers to an MSID (Mobile Station ID) of the terminal or an MAC address of the terminal; the identification of the femtocell refers to a globally unique identification of the femtocell, a bsid (base Station identity) of the femtocell, and the like.

Step 302: and after receiving the request, the user data server authenticates and authorizes the request. After the authentication authorization is passed, the subscriber data server stores the identifier of the terminal locally, for example, in the subscription information of the home base station.

Step 303: and the user data server returns a response of successfully adding the CSG member to the home base station so as to authorize the home base station to add the terminal user as the CSG member.

Step 304: the home base station saves the identity (MAC address, or MSID) of the terminal used by the terminal user in a locally stored CSG list.

As can be seen from the above description, the prior art relies on the owner of the home base station manually entering the identity (MSID, MAC address) of the terminal into the home base station and synchronizing the identity of the terminal between the home base station and the user data server in the course of requesting a subsequent server authentication.

The MAC address is a 48-bit binary code and is an identifier which uniquely represents a network adapter, and for a common user, it is difficult to understand what is the MAC address of the terminal, and the MAC address is difficult to memorize due to the long length (48-bit code, the value range is 0-281474976710656). Therefore, the MAC address is a user-unfriendly identifier, and the use of the MAC address to implement CSG membership management easily causes user difficulty.

Meanwhile, the object of the CSG member is a terminal user, and the object of the MAC address is a terminal itself, and in an application scenario where the cards are separated, one terminal user can have multiple terminals at the same time. At this time, when the owner of the home base station tries to add one terminal user as a CSG member of its home base station, the MAC addresses of a plurality of terminals of the user pair are often only added to the CSG member list of the home base station one by one; when the owner of the home base station tries to delete an end user from the CSG member list of the home base station, the owner needs to find the MAC addresses of all terminals associated with the user one by one. Particularly, when the home base station contains more CSG members, the management of the CSG members becomes very complicated, and even falls into a place where management cannot be performed.

Therefore, the existing CSG member management technology cannot provide a simple and feasible CSG member management method for the owner of the home base station, which easily causes the reduction of user satisfaction, and finally causes the difficulty in service development.

Aiming at the problem that the management of CSG members in the related art is complex, no effective solution is provided at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is proposed to solve the problem of relatively complex management of CSG members in the related art, and therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for managing closed subscriber group members to solve the above problem.

To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing members of a closed subscriber group.

The method for managing the closed user group members comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a home base station data server receives a management request for managing a closed user group member of a home base station, wherein the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the management request; and the home base station data server sends the updated closed user group member information of the home base station to the home base station so that the home base station updates the local closed user group member information.

Preferably, before the hnb data server receives a management request for managing the hnb closed user group members, the method further includes: the home base station receives a management request; and the home base station sends a management request to the home base station data server, wherein the management request is used for requesting the home base station data server to authorize the home base station to execute the management request.

Preferably, before the femto data server updates closed subscriber group member information of the local femto according to the management request, the method further includes: the home base station data server authenticates and authorizes the management request; and under the condition that the authentication authorization passes, the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the management request.

Preferably, before the hnb data server sends the updated closed subscriber group member information of the hnb to the hnb, the method further includes: the home base station data server sends a request message to the user data server, wherein the request message carries updated closed user group member information; and the user data server updates the local closed user group member information according to the request message.

Preferably, the updating, by the user data server, the local closed subscriber group member information according to the request message includes: under the condition that the request message is a request for adding a terminal user as a member of a closed user group of the home base station, the user data server adds the identifier of the home base station to a user profile of the terminal user; and under the condition that the request message is a request for canceling the terminal user as a member of the closed user group of the home base station, the user data server deletes the identification of the home base station from the user profile of the terminal user.

Preferably, the updating, by the hnb data server, the closed subscriber group member information of the local hnb according to the management request includes: and the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the user identification of the terminal user.

Preferably, the updating, by the hnb data server, the closed subscriber group member information of the local hnb according to the user identifier of the end user includes: the home base station data server acquires a terminal identification associated with the terminal user according to the user identification of the terminal user; and the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the terminal identification.

Preferably, the acquiring, by the hnb data server, the terminal identifier associated with the terminal user according to the user identifier of the terminal user includes: the home base station data server sends a terminal identification request to the user data server, wherein the terminal identification request is used for requesting a terminal identification associated with the user identification; the user data server inquires the terminal identification and sends the terminal identification to the home base station data server; or the home base station data server inquires the terminal identification locally according to the user identification of the terminal user.

Preferably, the updating, by the hnb data server, the closed subscriber group member information of the local hnb according to the terminal identifier includes: under the condition that the management request is a request for adding a closed user group member of which the terminal user is the home base station, adding the identifier of the terminal associated with the terminal user into the file of the home base station by the home base station data server; in case the management request is a request to cancel the end user as a member of a closed subscriber group of the home base station, the home base station data server deletes the identity of the terminal associated with the end user from the archive of the home base station.

Preferably, the closed subscriber group member information of the home base station includes at least one of: a user identification of the end user; a terminal identity associated with the terminal user.

Preferably, the home base station updates local closed subscriber group member information including; under the condition that the management request is a request for increasing a closed user group member of which the terminal user is the home base station, the home base station stores a terminal identifier associated with the terminal user to the local; in case the management request is a request to cancel the end user as a member of a closed subscriber group of the home base station, the home base station locally deletes the terminal identity associated with the end user.

In order to achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management apparatus for closing a group member of a user.

The management device for the closed subscriber group member according to the present invention may include a home base station data server, a home base station, and a subscriber data server.

The home base station data server according to the present invention includes: the system comprises a receiving module, a judging module and a sending module, wherein the receiving module is used for receiving a management request for managing the closed user group members of the home base station, and the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the updating module is used for updating the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the management request; and the sending module is used for sending the updated closed user group member information of the home base station.

Preferably, the femto-bs data server further comprises: and the authentication module is used for performing authentication and authorization on the management request.

Preferably, the femto-bs data server further comprises: and the acquisition module is used for acquiring the terminal identification associated with the terminal user according to the user identification of the terminal user.

The home base station according to the present invention includes: and a sending module. The system comprises a management server and a control server, wherein the management server is used for sending a management request for managing the members of a closed user group of a home base station, and the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the receiving module is used for receiving the closed user group member information of the home base station; and the updating module is used for updating the local closed user group member information according to the closed user group member information of the home base station.

The user data server according to the present invention comprises: the receiving module is used for receiving a request message, wherein the request message carries updated closed user group member information, and the closed user group member information comprises a user identifier of a terminal user; and the searching module is used for searching the terminal identification corresponding to the terminal user according to the user identification of the terminal user.

According to the invention, a home base station data server is adopted to receive a management request for managing the members of a home base station CSG, wherein the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the home base station data server updates CSG member information of a local home base station according to the management request; the home base station data server sends the updated CSG member information of the home base station to the home base station so that the home base station can update the local CSG member information, the problem that the management of CSG members in the related technology is complex is solved, and the effect of facilitating the user to use the home base station to manage the CSG members is achieved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention without limiting the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic view of a communication network model including a home base station according to the related art;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of a communication network connection including a home base station according to the related art;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to the related art;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a storage format of a CSG member list according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a storage format of a CSG member list according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of a fifth embodiment of a CSG member management method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a preferred home base station data server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a preferred home base station according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a preferred user data server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Overview of the function

In view of the complexity of management of CSG members in the related art, embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for managing members of a closed subscriber group. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a home base station data server receives a management request for managing a home base station CSG member, wherein the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the home base station data server updates CSG member information of a local home base station according to the management request; and the home base station data server sends the updated CSG member information of the home base station to the home base station so that the home base station updates the local CSG member information.

According to the embodiment of the invention, when executing CSG member management, a user (for example, an owner of a home base station) inputs a user identifier of a terminal user (called a target user) to be added as a CSG member of the home base station, requests an AAA server of the target user to search the identifier (MAC address, MSID and the like) of a terminal associated with the target user by a home base station data server, and completes the CSG member management.

Since the User identifier of the end User contains information (for example, in the form of User-Name @ Domian-Name) capable of identifying the User identity, the User identifier is a good identifier for the User, and can be easily memorized and understood by the User. The user identifier may be Real-NAI (Real Network Access Identity), USI ID (Universal Services Interface Identity), or the like.

Meanwhile, if the terminal user has a plurality of terminals, but the AAA server of the terminal user stores the attribute information (MAC address, MSID) of the terminal used by the terminal user, the user identifier of the terminal user can be used to find out the MAC address, MSID, and other terminal identifiers of the terminal used by the user identifier of the terminal user conveniently.

Therefore, the CSG member management method provided by the invention can improve the satisfaction degree of the user and is beneficial to the development of related services.

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict. The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

Method embodiment

Before describing the embodiments of the present invention in detail, the following description is made:

AAA servers are important facilities in communication networks, are used to implement control and management of network operators on data and users, provide authentication authorization and account services, and generally work in cooperation with network access control, gateway servers, databases, and user information directories.

The AAA server of the femto is mainly responsible for providing the services such as the authentication authorization and the account service to the femto. The home base station management system is mainly responsible for managing the operation and maintenance of the home base station to which the home base station management system belongs and storing a part of signed contracts of the home base station.

The security gateway can be combined with the access gateway or separated from the access gateway. The security gateway mainly has the functions of verifying the security of the home base station, ensuring the authentication, authorization and charging of the home base station and the access gateway, and the link security between home base station management systems.

The main functions of the access gateway include: the method comprises the steps of processing registration of the home base station, performing operation maintenance management on the home base station, and performing data exchange between a core network (network service provider network) and the home base station.

The mobile terminal can be accessed to a core network (network service provider network) through a home base station, and the core network mainly comprises an authentication authorization accounting server (AAA server). The AAA server is an authentication and authorization accounting server of the terminal user, and the AAA server stores user subscription information of the terminal user and provides services such as authentication, authorization, account service and the like for the terminal user. The user subscription information includes attributes such as a service type enjoyed by the user, a service priority of the user, and the like.

According to the embodiment of the invention, a method and a device for managing closed user group members are provided.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 4, the method includes steps S402 to S406 as follows:

step S402, the home base station data server receives a management request for managing a home base station CSG member, wherein the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user;

step S404, the home base station data server updates the CSG member information of the local home base station according to the management request;

step S406, the hnb data server sends the updated CSG member information of the hnb to the hnb so that the hnb updates the local CSG member information.

The following describes in detail the implementation of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to examples.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a storage format of a CSG member list according to an embodiment of the present invention

As shown in fig. 5, in this storage format, the CSG member list of the home base station holds only a series of identifications (MAC addresses, MSIDs, etc.) of terminals.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a storage format of a CSG member list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 6, in this storage format, the CSG member list of the home base station not only stores the identities (MAC address, MSID, etc.) of a series of terminals, but also stores the identities of the terminal users corresponding to these terminal identities. For example, taking the MAC ID as the terminal identifier for example, MAC ID1 and MAC ID2 correspond to USER ID 1; and MAC ID3 corresponds to USER ID2, etc.

The home base station and the home base station data server may store the CSG member information of the home base station in a storage format of the CSG member list shown in fig. 4 or 5. The home base station data server may store the CSG member list in profile data of the corresponding home base station, which may be indexed using an identification of the home base station.

If the storage format shown in fig. 5 is adopted, when a target user is added as a CSG member of the home base station, the terminal identifier (MAC address, MSID, etc.) associated with the target user may be directly inserted into the CSG member list as a new CSG member; when the target user is cancelled as the CSG member of the home base station, the terminal identifier associated with the target user may be directly deleted from the CSG member list.

If the storage format shown in fig. 6 is adopted, when a target user is added as a CSG member of the home base station, a user identifier of the target user may be inserted into the CSG member list of the home base station as a new CSG member, and a terminal identifier associated with the target user is used as an attribute of the CSG member; when the target user is cancelled as the CSG member of the home base station, the identifier of the target user may be directly deleted from the CSG member list together with the terminal identifier associated therewith.

It should be noted that the hnb and the hnb data server may store the CSG member list in the same format, or may store them in different formats.

Example one

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a first embodiment of the present invention, which is a method for CSG member management, specifically, a method for adding a target user as a CSG member of a home base station, and specifically includes the following steps:

step S701: the home base station receives a request for adding a target user as a member of a closed subscriber group CSG of the home base station, wherein the request comprises a user identifier (Real-NAI, USI ID and the like) of the target user, and an owner of the home base station can input a related request and parameters by using a local management interface on the home base station in a manual input mode;

and the home base station sends a CSG member adding request to the home base station data server to request that the target user is added as the CSG member of the home base station. The home base station sends the user identification (Real-NAI, USI and the like) of the target user and the identification (NAI, BSID and the like) of the home base station to a home base station data server through the message;

here, the hnb may use the shared key with the hnb data server to encrypt and protect the parameters such as the user identifier of the terminal user, the hnb identifier, etc; so that only the femto and femto data server can decrypt and read these parameters.

Step S702: the home base station data server processes the request for adding the CSG member.

The femto data server parses the user identifier of the target user carried in the request, and through the user identifier, the femto data server can know the home operator of the target user (for example, by looking up the domain name part of the user identifier), and determine the address of the femto data server.

The hnb data server may also authenticate and authorize the request, for example, check whether the CSG member owned by the hnb reaches the upper limit, and if the CSG member reaches the upper limit, disallow the hnb to add a new CSG member; and whether a subscription relationship exists between the home operator (network service provider) of the target user and the home base station operator (home base station network service provider) to which the home base station belongs, if not, the home base station is not allowed to increase the target user to be a CSG member of the target user.

Step S703: and the home base station data server sends a terminal identification request to the user data server.

The home base station data server sends a terminal identification request message to the user data server, and the terminal identification request message is used for requesting the identification of the terminal equipment associated with the target user from the user data server and simultaneously can be used for informing the user data server that the target user is added as a CSG member of the home base station. The message carries parameters such as terminal user identification, home base station identification and the like.

Step S704: and the user data server searches the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user and stores the identifier of the home base station.

The user data server may first authenticate and authorize the terminal identification request message, for example, the user data server may check the profile of the target user to determine whether the terminal user has the right to access the network through the hnb, etc.

The user data server also needs to look up the identity of the terminal associated with the target user. For example, the subscriber data server may find out the subscription information (subscriber profile) of the target subscriber according to the subscriber identity of the target subscriber, where the subscription information stores the binding information between the target subscriber and the terminal used by the target subscriber, and includes the above-mentioned identity (e.g., MAC address, MSID, etc.) of the terminal associated with the target subscriber. If the target user has multiple terminals associated with it at the same time, the user data server can find the identifications of the multiple terminals associated with it.

The user data server also stores the home base station identifier carried in the terminal identifier request message, and associates the home base station identifier with the target user identifier to indicate that the target user is a CSG member of the home base station. For example, the femto id is stored in the subscription information of the target subscriber.

Step S705: and the user data server sends a terminal identification response to the home base station data server.

And after the terminal identification request is processed, the user data server returns the identification of the terminal associated with the target user, which is obtained by the query, to the home base station data server through a terminal identification response message.

If there are multiple terminals associated with the target user, the user data server preferably sends the identities of these terminals to the home base station data server in the form of a list.

Step S706: the home base station data server stores the identification of the terminal associated with the target user.

Depending on the storage format in which the home base station data server locally stores the CSG member list, if the storage format shown in fig. 5 is adopted (i.e., only the identifiers of a group of terminals are stored), the identifiers of the terminals can be directly stored in the CSG member list according to the method described above; if the storage format shown in fig. 6 is adopted (i.e. not only the identifier of the terminal but also the correspondence between the identifier of the terminal and the target user needs to be stored), the hnb data server also stores the user identifier of the target user, and stores the user identifier and the identifier of the terminal into the CSG member list according to the method described above.

Step S707: and the home base station data server sends a CSG member adding response to the home base station.

And the home base station data server sends the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user to the home base station by adding the CSG member response message, and authorizes the home base station to add the target user as the CSG member.

In addition, the interaction between the user data server and the home base station can be performed through the security gateway, so that the parameters and information of the interaction between the two parties cannot be known by a third party.

Step S708: and the home base station saves the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user, updates the information of the CSG member of the terminal, and completes the process of adding the target user as the CSG member of the terminal.

Depending on the format of the CSG member list locally stored by the home base station, if the storage format shown in fig. 5 is adopted, the identifier of the terminal may be directly stored in the CSG member list according to the method described above; if the storage format shown in fig. 6 is adopted, the hnb data server also stores the user identifier of the target user, and stores the user identifier and the identifier of the terminal together in the CSG member list according to the method described above.

Example two

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a second embodiment of the present invention, which is a method for CSG member management, specifically, a method for adding a target user as a CSG member of a home base station. Unlike the first embodiment, in the method described in this embodiment, a procedure of managing CSG members of a home base station is initiated by a home base station data server (for example, an owner of the home base station requests to add a target user as a CSG member of the home base station owned by the owner of the home base station by calling an operator), which specifically includes the following steps:

step S801: and the home base station data server receives a CSG member management request for adding the target user as a CSG member of a closed user group of the home base station. The request carries the user identification (Real-NAI, USI, etc.) of the target user and the identification (NAI, BSID, etc.) of the home base station itself.

Step S802 to step S806: the same as step S702 to step S706.

Step S807: and the home base station executes an initial network access process and accesses to the mobile communication network.

If the hnb has already accessed the mobile communication network (i.e. the hnb has already performed the initial network entry process), this step is not required to be performed, and step S808 is directly performed.

Otherwise, at any time after the step (step S806) is completed, the hnb performs an initial network access procedure to access to the mobile communication network.

Step S808: and the home base station data server sends the updated CSG member information to the home base station.

The home base station data server sends the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user (the newly added CSG member) to the home base station through messages such as a CSG member updating message, and informs the home base station to add the target user as the CSG member.

It should be noted that the femto-bs data server may send the updated CSG member information to the femto-bs by various methods:

if the femto data server finds that the femto has accessed to the mobile communication network after step S806 is completed, the femto data server may directly send a CSG member update message to the femto, and send related information to the femto;

otherwise, if the femto data server finds that the femto has not accessed the mobile communication network after step S806 is completed, the femto data server cannot immediately send the updated CSG member information to the femto. At this time, the hnb data server may set a flag for the hnb to indicate that the CSG member information of the hnb has changed.

In this case, the data server of the home base station can wait for the home base station to finish the network access and then send the relevant information to the home base station through the information of updating the CSG member; the information can also be updated to the home base station in the process that the home base station can perform initial network access.

The data server of the home base station may send the updated CSG member information to the home base station in a process that the home base station may perform initial network entry by:

in the first method, the home base station data server sends the information to the home base station in the access authentication process in the home base station network access process. The home base station data server can firstly send the information to the security gateway, and then the security gateway sends the information to the home base station. At this time, the data server of the home base station is an authentication, authorization and accounting server of the home base station.

And secondly, the data server of the home base station updates the information to the home base station in the process of acquiring the configuration information in the network access flow of the home base station. At this time, the femto data server is a femto management system.

In addition, in the process of performing initial network access by the home base station, the home base station data server may send an identifier indicating that the CSG member information of the home base station has been changed to the home base station instead of directly sending the information to the home base station. In this case, after the home base station completes the network access, the home base station may actively initiate a request to the home base station data server to request the updated CSG information.

Step S809: synchronization step S708.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the femto data server may be a femto AAA server, a femto management system, or a network management server in a femto network service provider network; the user data server may be an AAA server in a network service provider network, a management system (e.g., a dedicated CSG management system), or the like.

The above two embodiments describe solutions that implement a CSG member management function for adding an end user (target user) as a CSG member of a home base station. The solution enables a user (owner of the home base station) to implement CSG membership management (specifically, adding the terminal user as a CSG member of the home base station) using a user-friendly identity (specifically, referring to a user identity of a target user). After the above-described CSG member management procedure is performed, the identifier (MAC address, MSID, etc.) of the terminal associated with the target subscriber is added to the CSG member list of the home base station. Thereafter, when the target user uses its terminal to attempt to access the mobile network through the home base station, since the identification of its terminal already exists in the CSG member list with the home base station, the home base station will allow the terminal user to access the mobile communication network through the home base station, or/and assign a higher priority to the terminal user so that the terminal user can enjoy a better service.

EXAMPLE III

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a third embodiment of the present invention, which is a method of CSG member management, and in particular, a method of disqualifying a target user as a CSG member of a home base station. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the hnb data server stores the CSG member list using the storage format shown in fig. 6, which specifically includes the following steps:

step S901: the home base station receives a CSG member management request for canceling the CSG membership of the target user as its closed subscriber group, where the request includes a user identifier (Real-NAI, USI, etc.) of the target user, and the home base station obtains the parameters by using the method described in step S701;

and the home base station sends a request for deleting the CSG member to a home base station data server so as to request to cancel the qualification of the target user as the CSG member of the home base station. And the home base station sends the user identification of the target user and the identification of the home base station to a home base station data server through the message.

Also, the user id, the hnb id, and other parameters of the target user may be protected by encryption using the method described in step S701.

Step S902: and the home base station data server processes the request for deleting the CSG member and obtains the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user.

Since the hnb data server stores the CSG member list in the storage format shown in fig. 6, the hnb data server may query locally to obtain the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user, for example, first take out the archive data of the hnb, and take out the CSG member list of the hnb from the archive data, and finally search in the list through the user identifier.

Meanwhile, according to the method described in step S702, the hnb data server determines the address of the user data server according to the user identifier of the target user.

In addition, the home base station data server may also authenticate and authorize the request, e.g., ensure that the request is a legitimate request from the home base station, etc.

Step S903: and the home base station data server sends a message for updating the CSG member information to the user data server, and the CSG related information of the target user stored in the user data server is updated.

And the home base station data server sends a message for updating the CSG member information to the user data server so as to inform the user data server that the target user is not a CSG member of the home base station. The message carries a target user identifier, a home base station identifier and the like.

Step S904: and the user data server updates the CSG member information which is locally stored and is related to the target user.

The user data server takes out the target user identification and the home base station identification from the message, and releases the association between the home base station identification and the target user identification, which indicates that the target user is no longer a CSG member of the home base station. For example, the home base station identifier is deleted from the subscription information of the target subscriber related to the CSG member.

Step S905: and the user data server returns a response for updating the CSG member information to the home base station data server.

Step S906: and the data server of the home base station updates the CSG member information of the home base station stored locally and deletes the terminal identification associated with the target user.

The home base station data server deletes the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user acquired in step S902 from the CSG member list of the home base station.

Step S907: and the home base station data server sends a CSG member deleting response message to the home base station to inform the home base station to cancel the qualification of the target user as the CSG member of the target user.

The message may carry the identification of the terminal associated with the target user acquired in step S902.

Step S908: and the home base station updates the CSG member information stored locally, deletes the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user and completes the process of deleting the target user from the CSG member list.

Depending on the format of the CSG member list locally stored by the home base station, if the storage format shown in fig. 5 is adopted, the home base station determines which terminal identifiers in the CSG member list need to be deleted according to the terminal identifiers carried in the CSG member deletion response message, and deletes the terminal identifiers; if the storage format shown in fig. 6 is adopted, according to the method described in step S902 and step S906, the corresponding data is found locally in the home base station directly according to the user identifier of the target user and is deleted. At this time, the CSG member deletion response message may not carry the terminal identifier.

Example four

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is a method of CSG member management, and in particular, a method of disqualifying a target user as a CSG member of a home base station. Similar to the second embodiment, the present embodiment describes a procedure of initiating CSG membership management for a home base station by a home base station data server. In the third embodiment, it is assumed that the hnb data server stores the CSG member list in the storage format shown in fig. 6, which specifically includes the following steps:

step S1001: and the home base station data server receives a CSG member management request for canceling the closed user group CSG membership of the target user as the home base station. The request carries the user identification (Real-NAI, USI, etc.) of the target user and the identification (NAI, BSID, etc.) of the home base station itself.

Step S1002 to step S1006: the same as step S902 to step S906.

Step S1007: in step S807, the hnb performs an initial network access procedure to access to the mobile communication network.

If the home base station has accessed to the mobile communication network, directly skipping to execute the step S1008; otherwise, at any time after the step S1006 is completed, the hnb performs the initial network access procedure.

Step S1008: the home base station data server transmits the updated CSG member information to the home base station, in synchronization step S808.

In this step, the femto data server sends the identifier of the terminal associated with the target subscriber (the deleted CSG member) to the femto by updating a message such as a CSG member message, and notifies the femto to cancel the qualification of the target subscriber as a CSG member.

Wherein the identity of the terminal associated with the target user is obtained in step S1002 (synchronization step S902).

Step S1009: in step S908, the home base station updates the CSG member information stored locally, deletes the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user, and completes the process of deleting the target user from the CSG member list.

If the storage format shown in fig. 6 is adopted, the femto may directly find and delete the corresponding data locally in the femto according to the user identifier of the target user. At this time, the home base station data server may not transmit the identity of the terminal associated with the target user to the home base station but transmit the user identity of the target user to the home base station in step S1008.

EXAMPLE five

Fig. 11 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a fifth embodiment of the present invention, which is a method of CSG member management, and in particular, a method of disqualifying a target user as a CSG member of a home base station. Unlike the third embodiment, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the hnb data server stores the CSG member list in the storage format shown in fig. 5, and specifically includes the following steps:

step S1101: synchronization step S901.

Step S1102: and the home base station data server processes the request for deleting the CSG member.

Since the hnb data server stores the CSG member list in the storage format shown in fig. 5, the hnb data server cannot query locally to obtain the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user at this time. Except for this, the processing method in this step is the same as step S902.

Step S1103: in step S703, the hnb data server sends a terminal id request to the user data server.

What is different, in this step, the terminal identifier request may also be used to notify the user data server that the target user is no longer a CSG member of the home base station.

Step S1104: the synchronization step S704, the user data server looks up the identity of the terminal associated with the target user. In this step, the user data server disassociates the femto cell identity from the target user identity, indicating that the target user is no longer a CSG member of the femto cell, using the method described in step S904.

Step S1105: synchronization step S705.

Step S1106: and the data server of the home base station updates the CSG member information of the home base station stored locally and deletes the terminal identification associated with the target user.

And the home base station data server takes out the terminal identification associated with the target user from the terminal identification response message, judges which terminal identifications in the CSG member list of the home base station need to be deleted by using the terminal identifications and deletes the terminal identifications. For example, the archive data of the home base station is first extracted, the CSG member list of the home base station is extracted from the archive data, and finally the terminal identifier to be deleted in the CSG member list is deleted according to the extracted terminal identifier.

Step S1107 to step S1108: the same steps as step 907 to step 908.

The above embodiment describes a scheme that also implements the function of canceling the CSG membership of the end user in the home base station.

EXAMPLE six

Fig. 12 is a flowchart of a CSG member management method according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a sixth embodiment of the present invention, which is a method of CSG member management, and in particular, a method of disqualifying a target user as a CSG member of a home base station. Similar to the second embodiment, the present embodiment describes a procedure of initiating CSG membership management for a home base station by a home base station data server. In the fifth embodiment, assuming that the hnb data server uses the storage format shown in fig. 5 to store the CSG member list, the method specifically includes the following steps:

step S1201: synchronization step S1001.

Step S1202 to step S1206: the same as step S1102 to step S1106.

Step S1207: in step S1007, the hnb performs an initial network access procedure to access to the mobile communication network.

If the home base station has accessed to the mobile communication network, directly skipping to execute the step S1208; otherwise, at any time after the step S1206 is finished, the hnb performs the initial network entry procedure.

Step S1208: in synchronization step S1008, the home base station data server transmits the updated CSG member information to the home base station.

In contrast, the identifier of the terminal associated with the target user, which is included in the updated CSG member information thereof, is obtained in the message of the terminal identifier response returned from the user data server in step S1205.

Step S1209: synchronization step S1009.

In the third to sixth embodiments described above, the femto data server may be a femto AAA server, a femto management system, or a network management server in the femto network service provider network; the user data server may be an AAA server in a network service provider network, a management system (e.g., a dedicated CSG management system), or the like.

The schemes described in the third to sixth embodiments described above implement a function of canceling CSG membership of an end user (target user) in a home base station. By using this scheme, it is possible to enable a user (owner of the home base station) to implement CSG membership management (specifically, to delete an end user from the CSG membership column of the home base station) using a user-friendly identity (specifically, to refer to a user identity of a target user). After the above-described CSG member management procedure is performed, the identifier (MAC address, MSID, etc.) of the terminal associated with the target subscriber is deleted from the CSG member list of the home base station. Thereafter, when the target user attempts to access the mobile network through the home base station using its terminal, the home base station will reject the terminal user from accessing the mobile communication network through the home base station because the identification of its terminal is not already present in the CSG member list with the home base station, or, although the terminal user is allowed to access, assign a lower priority to it, so that it enjoys a poor quality service.

Further, in the third (fourth) embodiment of the present invention, steps S903 to S905 (steps S1003 to S1005) may be executed in parallel with step S906 (step S1006) without being in a sequential order.

From the above description, it can be seen that the present invention can facilitate the user to use the home base station to perform the member management of the CSG.

Device embodiment

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a management apparatus for closing a group member of a user. The device may be a home base station data server or a home base station.

The management device for the closed user group member according to the embodiment of the invention can realize the management method for the closed user group member according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a preferred home base station data server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

as shown in fig. 13, the apparatus includes: a receiving module 131, an updating module 133 and a sending module 135. Preferably, the system further comprises an authentication module 137 and an acquisition module 139.

Specifically, the receiving module 131 is configured to receive a management request for managing a closed user group member of the hnb, where the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the updating module 133 is configured to update the closed user group member information of the local hnb according to the management request; the sending module 135 is configured to send the updated closed subscriber group member information of the hnb. The authentication module 137 is used for performing authentication authorization on the management request. The obtaining module 139 is configured to obtain a terminal identifier associated with the end user according to the user identifier of the end user.

Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a preferred home base station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 14, the home base station includes: a sending module 141, a receiving module 143, and an updating module 145.

The sending module 141 is configured to send a management request for managing a closed user group member of the hnb, where the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user; the receiving module 143 is configured to receive closed subscriber group member information of the hnb; the updating module 145 is configured to update local closed subscriber group member information according to the closed subscriber group member information of the femto.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a preferred user data server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 15, the user data server includes: a receiving module 151 and a searching module 153.

The receiving module 151 is configured to receive a request message, where the request message carries updated closed user group member information, and the closed user group member information includes a user identifier corresponding to an end user; the searching module 153 is configured to search the terminal identifier corresponding to the end user according to the user identifier corresponding to the end user.

It should be noted that the steps illustrated in the flowcharts of the figures may be performed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions and that, although a logical order is illustrated in the flowcharts, in some cases, the steps illustrated or described may be performed in an order different than presented herein.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modules or steps of the present invention described above may be implemented by a general purpose computing device, they may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices, and they may alternatively be implemented by program code executable by a computing device, such that they may be stored in a storage device and executed by a computing device, or fabricated separately as individual integrated circuit modules, or fabricated as a single integrated circuit module from multiple modules or steps. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (16)

1. A method for managing members of a closed subscriber group, comprising:

a home base station data server receives a management request for managing a closed user group member of a home base station, wherein the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user;

the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the management request;

and the data server of the home base station sends the updated closed user group member information of the home base station to the home base station so that the home base station can update the local closed user group member information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein before the femto cell data server receives a management request for managing femto cell closed subscriber group members, the method further comprises:

the home base station receives the management request;

the home base station sends the management request to the home base station data server, wherein the management request is used for requesting the home base station data server to authorize the home base station to execute the management request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein before the hnb data server updates the closed subscriber group member information of the local hnb according to the management request, the method further comprises:

the home base station data server authenticates and authorizes the management request;

and under the condition that the authentication and authorization pass, the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the management request.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein before the hnb data server sends the updated hnb closed subscriber group member information to the hnb, the method further comprises:

the home base station data server sends a request message to a user data server, wherein the request message carries updated closed user group member information;

and the user data server updates local closed user group member information according to the request message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the updating, by the subscriber data server, local closed subscriber group member information according to the request message comprises:

under the condition that the request message is a request for adding the terminal user as a closed user group member of the home base station, the user data server adds the identifier of the home base station to a user profile of the terminal user;

and under the condition that the request message is a request for canceling the terminal user as a closed user group member of the home base station, the user data server deletes the identifier of the home base station from the user profile of the terminal user.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of the hnb data server updating the closed subscriber group member information of the local hnb according to the management request comprises:

and the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the user identification of the terminal user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of the hnb data server updating the closed subscriber group member information of the local hnb according to the user identifier of the end user comprises:

the home base station data server acquires a terminal identification associated with the terminal user according to the user identification of the terminal user;

and the home base station data server updates the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the terminal identification.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the acquiring, by the hnb data server, the terminal id associated with the end user according to the user id of the end user comprises:

the home base station data server sends a terminal identification request to a user data server, wherein the terminal identification request is used for requesting a terminal identification associated with the user identification;

the user data server inquires the terminal identification and sends the terminal identification to the home base station data server; or,

and the home base station data server locally inquires the terminal identification according to the user identification of the terminal user.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of the data server of the home base station updating the closed subscriber group member information of the local home base station according to the terminal identifier comprises the steps of:

in the case that the management request is a request for adding a terminal user as a member of a closed subscriber group of the home base station, the home base station data server adding an identifier of a terminal associated with the terminal user to a profile of the home base station;

in the case that the management request is the request to cancel the terminal user as a member of the closed subscriber group of the home base station, the home base station data server deletes the identity of the terminal associated with the terminal user from the profile of the home base station.

10. The method according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the closed subscriber group member information of the home base station comprises at least one of:

a user identity of the end user;

a terminal identity associated with the end user.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the home base station updating local closed subscriber group member information comprises;

under the condition that the management request is a request for increasing a terminal user as a closed user group member of the home base station, the home base station stores a terminal identifier associated with the terminal user to the local;

and under the condition that the management request is a request for canceling the terminal user as a closed user group member of the home base station, the home base station locally deletes the terminal identification associated with the terminal user.

12. A home base station data server, comprising:

the system comprises a receiving module, a judging module and a sending module, wherein the receiving module is used for receiving a management request for managing the closed user group members of the home base station, and the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user;

the updating module is used for updating the closed user group member information of the local home base station according to the management request;

and the sending module is used for sending the updated closed user group member information of the home base station.

13. The femto cell data server of claim 12, wherein said femto cell data server further comprises:

and the authentication module is used for performing authentication and authorization on the management request.

14. The femto data server as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein said femto data server further comprises:

and the acquisition module is used for acquiring the terminal identification associated with the terminal user according to the user identification of the terminal user.

15. A home base station, comprising:

and a sending module. The system comprises a management server and a management server, wherein the management server is used for sending a management request for managing the members of a closed user group of a home base station, and the management request carries a user identifier of a terminal user;

the receiving module is used for receiving the closed user group member information of the home base station;

and the updating module is used for updating the local closed user group member information according to the closed user group member information of the home base station.

16. A user data server, comprising:

the receiving module is used for receiving a request message, wherein the request message carries updated closed user group member information, and the closed user group member information comprises a user identifier of a terminal user;

and the searching module is used for searching the terminal identification corresponding to the terminal user according to the user identification of the terminal user.

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