CN102056128A

CN102056128A - Information acquisition method and system of machinery communication terminals

Info

Publication number: CN102056128A
Application number: CN2009102096224A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李志军; 王志海; 施晓峰; 谢宝国
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2009-10-30
Filing date: 2009-10-30
Publication date: 2011-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 2029-10-30
Also published as: WO2011050688A1; CN102056128B

Abstract

The invention discloses an information acquisition method and system of machinery communication terminals. The method is applied to a system consisting of a mobility management network element and an MTC (Machine Type Communication), wherein the mobility management network element is connected with the MTC. The method comprises the step that the MTC acquires information of an MTC terminal which currently requires to be attached to a network and is attached to the network currently through the mobility management network element. Through the method and the system, the MTC can acquire the information of the MTC terminal, furthermore, the behavior of MTC terminal equipment can be effectively judged and controlled.

Description

Method and system for acquiring information of machine type communication terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and a system for acquiring Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal information.

Background

In conventional mobile network services, Human-To-Human (Human To Human, abbreviated as H2H) communication occupies a major position. In H2H communication, since both parties participating in the communication are persons having behavior control capability, the conversation is actually controlled by the behavior of the persons. With the development of mobile network services and automation control technologies, a new mobile communication method, that is, Machine To Machine (M2M) communication, in which two parties of communication are Machine devices, has appeared.

M2M in the narrow sense is defined as machine-to-machine communication, but M2M in its broad sense includes networked applications and services with machine terminal intelligence interaction as the core. The M2M is based on the intelligent machine terminal, takes a plurality of communication modes as access means, can provide an informatization solution for the customer, and is used for meeting the informatization requirements of the customer on the aspects of monitoring, commanding and scheduling, data acquisition, measurement and the like. M2M may be applied to industrial applications (e.g., traffic monitoring, alarm systems, rescue at sea, vending machines, pay-per-view, etc.), home applications (e.g., automatic meter reading, temperature control, etc.), and personal applications (e.g., life detection, remote diagnostics, etc.), among others.

The most fundamental difference from human-to-human communication is that the communication object of M2M is a machine, and the communication behavior is automatically controlled, that is, the initiation of communication, the termination of communication, and the control of some access and restriction in the communication process are all automated behaviors. This behavior depends on the restriction and control of the behavior of the machine (i.e., the terminal in M2M communication) in M2M communication, the behavior of the terminal in M2M communication is restricted by the service subscription data, and the network manages the terminal in M2M communication according to the service subscription data.

M2M Communication, also called Machine Type Communication (MTC) for short, is most typically Communication between a terminal called MTC terminal (MTC User Equipment for short) and an application Server called MTC Server (MTC Server).

Under 2G/3G/LTE access, M2M communication mainly uses a Packet Service (PS) network as a bottom bearer network to implement Service layer communication between an MTC terminal and an MTC server. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of an Evolved Packet System (EPS) accessed by an M2M communication entity.

In fig. 1, the underlying bearer network includes: an Evolved Universal mobile telecommunications system Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN for short), a mobile Management unit (MME for short), a Serving Gateway (S-GW, or SGW for short), a Packet Data Network Gateway (PDN GW, or P-GW, or PGW for short), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS for short), and a Policy and Charging Rules Function (Policy and Charging Rules Function, PCRF for short). Wherein, the main network element of the E-UTRAN is eNodeB (Evolved NodeB base station).

In fig. 1, an MME is responsible for operations related to a control plane, such as mobility management, processing of non-access stratum signaling, and management of context in user mobility management; the S-GW is an access gateway device connected with the E-UTRAN, forwards data between the E-UTRAN and the P-GW, and is responsible for caching paging waiting data; the P-GW is a border gateway between the EPS and a Packet Data Network (PDN for short), and is responsible for accessing the PDN and forwarding Data between the EPS and the PDN; the PCRF is a policy and charging rule function entity, and is connected to an operator network Protocol (Internet Protocol, abbreviated as IP) Service network through a receiving interface Rx to obtain Service information, and in addition, it may be connected to a gateway device in the network through a Gx interface to be responsible for initiating establishment of an IP bearer, ensuring Quality of Service (QoS) of Service data, and performing charging control. The HSS provides management of subscription data for the user and management of important context information for the user's access to the network.

In fig. 1, the MTC UE accesses to the EPS network through E-utran (enodeb), and after being assigned with an IP address, an IP channel may be established between the MTC UE and the MTC Server, thereby implementing upper layer service communication with the MTC Server. The IP channel established between the MTC UE and the MTC Server is a logical IP channel, and the physical path of the IP channel passes through: eNodeB, S-GW, P-GW.

At present, one way to implement M2M communication is to establish a service layer interface protocol on an IP channel between the MTC UE and the MTC Server, where the MTC UE and the MTC Server interact with each other for service data through the service layer interface protocol, and the MTC Server also implements control over the MTC UE through the service layer protocol.

Fig. 2 illustrates a flow of implementing M2M communication in this manner, as shown in fig. 2, in this manner, the implementation of the MTC UE accessing through the PS network and establishing a communication connection with the MTC Server mainly includes the following steps:

s201, MTC UE initiates an attachment request to MME;

s202, MME receives the attachment request and sends a location update request to HSS, in the step, HSS downloads subscription data of MTC UE to MME, wherein the subscription data comprises a subscription data part used for M2M access control;

s203, the MME sends a bearer creation request to the SGW/PGW, and requests the SGW/PGW to create a proper bearer for the MTC UE;

s204, if the PGW needs to obtain the policy data from the PCC to establish a proper bearer, the PGW interacts with the PCC to obtain the PCC policy;

s205, the PGW creates a bearer for the MTC UE and returns a bearer creation response;

s206, the MME sends an attachment response to the MTC UE;

after step S026, the MTC UE has attached to the PS network, is assigned an IP address, and establishes a proper bearer, so that it can initiate registration of a service layer to the MTC Server.

S207, the MTC UE initiates registration of a service layer to the MTC Server;

s208, the MTC Server receives the registration of the MTC UE and returns a registration response;

s209, data are interacted between the subsequent MTC UE and the MTC Server through a service layer protocol.

Through the process shown in fig. 2, the MTC UE accesses the PS network and establishes an IP connection with the MTC Server, thereby implementing subsequent service layer communication with the MTC Server. In this process, since there is no connection between the MTC Server and the bottom access stratum (referred to as MME/SGW/PGW network elements), the MTC Server cannot obtain events occurring in the bottom access stratum, and thus cannot determine whether the behavior of the MTC UE is normal according to the events, and for some M2M services (such as high-availability M2M communication, M2M communication with intelligent management capability) that require a service layer to have a higher control right, the access method cannot be implemented.

For example, in some high availability M2M communications, the MTC server needs to frequently check the access of the MTC terminal device to the network for the purpose of intelligent management and real-time monitoring of the MTC terminal device, so as to confirm that the MTC terminal device is operating normally. On the other hand, if the behavior of the MTC terminal device accessing the network is abnormal, the MTC server needs to know the abnormal situation in time and timely notify the M2M to the operation maintenance staff for field maintenance. Alternatively, in the case of a possible theft of a device, the MTC server needs to be able to timely detect possible device theft and system theft in order to react timely.

Especially in M2M communication with high requirements for intelligent management and real-time monitoring, for the MTC server, in order to meet high management requirements, the MTC server may need to know the situation of the MTC terminal device accessing the network in time, and typically, the MTC server may need to obtain the following information with the MTC terminal:

(A) and (3) timing access monitoring: for some services, the time for accessing the MTC terminal device to the network needs to be limited, and if the network is accessed within a non-allowed time, the MTC server needs to obtain the situation in time;

(B) and area access limitation: for some services, the access of the MTC terminal device to the network from a location area needs to be limited, and if the access to the network from a location area not allowed occurs, the MTC server needs to obtain the situation in time;

(C) mobility restriction: for some services, only allowing the MTC interrupting device to move in a preset area, or not allowing the MTC terminal device to move frequently, if the above-mentioned unallowed mobility actions occur, the MTC server needs to obtain the situation in time;

(D) SIM theft check: since the cost of the M2M communication may be lower than the cost of the normal mobile communication, if the SIM card of the MTC terminal device is stolen, the loss will be brought to the service operator. In order to prevent such situations, service operators may require that an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) in the SIM card is bound to an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of the MTC terminal device, that is, one IMSI can only be used by one MTC terminal device with a specific IMEI. In this case, the MTC server needs to verify the IMSI and IMEI binding of the MTC terminal.

For the above service requirements, the relevant information of the MTC terminal is only available to the access layer/bearer layer of the bottom layer, and only the MME can obtain and determine the necessary information under the E-UTRAN access. From the existing architecture that M2M communication (here, communication between MTC UE and MTC Server) is accessed to EPS, the MTC Server cannot acquire these information, which affects the implementation of intelligent management and real-time monitoring services.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is proposed to solve the problem in the prior art that an MTC terminal cannot be effectively controlled due to the fact that an MTC server cannot acquire information of an access layer/a bearer layer of the MTC terminal, and the like.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for acquiring MTC terminal information, the method being applied to a system including a mobility management network element and an MTC server, wherein the mobility management network element is connected to the MTC server.

The method for acquiring the MTC terminal information comprises the following steps: the MTC server acquires the information of the MTC terminal which is currently requested to be attached to the network or is currently attached to the network through the mobility management network element.

In order to achieve the above object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for acquiring MTC terminal information.

The system for acquiring the MTC terminal information comprises the following steps: the system comprises a user subscription data memory, a mobility management network element and an MTC server. The user subscription data memory is used for storing subscription data of the MTC terminal in the system; the mobile management network element is connected with the user subscription data memory and is used for receiving subscription data which is sent by the user subscription data memory and requests to be attached to the network or the MTC terminal attached to the network and providing the information of the MTC terminal for the MTC server; and the MTC server is connected with the mobility management network element and is used for acquiring the information of the MTC terminal from the mobility management network element.

Further, the MTC server is further connected to a user subscription data storage, and is configured to acquire, from the user subscription data storage, an address of a mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal.

According to the invention, the MTC server is connected with the mobility management network element, and the information of the MTC terminal equipment related to the access layer/bearing layer is acquired from the mobility management network element, so that the problem that the MTC terminal equipment cannot be effectively controlled due to the fact that the MTC server cannot acquire the information of the access layer/bearing layer of the MTC terminal equipment in the prior art is solved, and the MTC server can effectively judge and control the behavior of the MTC terminal equipment.

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 diagram illustrating an architecture for accessing an EPS by an M2M communication entity in the related art;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an MTC UE accessing through a PS network and establishing a communication connection with an MTC server in the related art;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for acquiring MTC UE information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is an architecture diagram of an MTC UE implementing M2M communication through EPS system access according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is an architecture diagram of an MTC UE implementing M2M communication through GPRS system access according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of an MTC terminal information acquisition method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method for an MME to actively report MTC UE information to an MTC Server;

fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another MME actively reporting MTC UE information to an MTC Server in this embodiment;

fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating that the MTC Server acquires an address of an MME allocated to the MTC UE through a GUTI of the MTC UE in this embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an MME actively notifying an MTC Server of an address of the MME in the embodiment;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the MTC Server acquiring, through the HSS, an address of an MME allocated to the MTC UE in this embodiment;

fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating that the MTC Server acquires information of the MTC UE by sending an inquiry request to the MME in this embodiment;

fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating that the MTC Server subscribes to an event related to the MTC UE from the MME to acquire information of the MTC UE in this embodiment.

Detailed Description

Overview of the function

In the prior art, no matter the MTC UE implements M2M communication through EPS network access or implements M2M communication through GPRS network access, the MTC server cannot acquire relevant information of an access layer/a bearer layer of the MTC UE, so that intelligent management or real-time monitoring on the MTC UE cannot be implemented. In the embodiment of the present invention, the MTC server is connected to a mobility management Network element (MME when the MTC UE is accessed to an E-UTRAN Network, and Serving General packet Radio service support node (SGSN) when the MTC UE is accessed to a GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network, abbreviated as GERAN)/UTRAN Network), and the MTC server obtains relevant information such as an Access layer/a bearer layer of the MTC UE through the mobility management Network element, and controls the MTC UE according to the obtained information.

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

System embodiment

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a control system of an MTC terminal is provided.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a control system of an MTC terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 3, the control system of the MTC terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention mainly includes: the system comprises a user subscription data memory 1, a mobility management network element 3 and an MTC server 5. The above network elements are described separately below.

The system comprises a user subscription data memory 1, a system management module and a data processing module, wherein the user subscription data memory 1 is used for storing subscription data of an MTC terminal in the system;

the mobile management network element 3 is connected with the user subscription data memory 1 and is used for receiving subscription data of an MTC terminal which is requested to be attached to a network or already attached to the network and issued by the user subscription data memory 1 and providing information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server 5;

in a specific application, when the MTC UE requests to attach to a network, the MTC UE sends an attach request to the mobility management element 3, the mobility management element 3 sends a location update request to the user subscription data storage 1 after receiving the attach request of the MTC UE, the user subscription data storage 1 issues subscription data of the MTC UE to the mobility management element 3 after receiving the location update request, and the mobility management element 3 receives and stores the subscription data. After the MTC UE attaches to the network, if the subscription data of the MTC UE changes, the user subscription data storage 1 will issue the updated subscription data of the MTC UE to the mobility management network element 3.

And the MTC server 5 is connected to the mobility management network element 3, and is configured to acquire the information of the MTC terminal from the mobility management network element 3.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an interface between the MTC server 5 and the mobility management network element 3 is added to an existing architecture, so that communication can be performed between the MTC server 5 and the mobility management network element 3.

Further, as shown in fig. 3, the MTC server 5 may also be directly connected to the user subscription data storage 1, that is, there is an interface for mutual connection between the MTC server 5 and the user subscription data storage 1, so that the MTC server 5 may obtain, from the user subscription data storage 1, an address of the mobility management network element 3 allocated to the MTC UE.

In a specific application, after the MTC UE attaches to a network, the MTC UE initiates registration to the MTC server 5 through the network, after receiving a registration request, the MTC server 5 may obtain an address of the mobility management network element 3 allocated to the MTC UE through an interface with the user subscription data storage 1, and then may obtain information of the MTC UE from the mobility management network element 3 corresponding to the address through the obtained address of the mobility management network element 3.

Preferably, when the MTC UE accesses the E-UTRAN network, the user subscription data storage 1 is an HSS, and the mobility management network element 3 is an MME; when the MTC UE is accessed to a GERAN/UTRAN network, the user subscription data memory 1 is an HLR, and the mobility management network element 3 is an SGSN.

The above system provided by the embodiment of the present invention is explained by the following specific embodiment.

Embodiment of the System

The present embodiment takes the example that the MTC UE utilizes the EPS system to implement access (i.e. the MTC UE accesses to the E-UTRAN network).

Fig. 4 is an architecture diagram of the MTC UE accessing through the EPS system to implement M2M communication in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, in this embodiment, a connection is implemented between the MTC server and the MME, so that the MTC server obtains information of a bottom access layer/bearer of the MTC UE from the MME to determine a behavior of the MTC UE.

As shown in fig. 4, in this embodiment, an interface is established between the MTC Server and the MME, and for convenience of description, the interface is referred to as M2M-MME in this embodiment. Through the interface, the MTC Server may query or subscribe to the MME for events of the underlying access stratum related to a certain MTC UE, such as: MTC UEs attaching to a PS network, MTC UEs detaching from a PS network, location movement of MTC UEs in a PS network, etc. Or, through the interface, the MME may actively notify the MTC Server of an event of the underlying access stratum related to a certain MTC UE. Therefore, the MTC Server can obtain the bottom access stratum information of the MTC UE, and judge the behavior of the MTC UE according to the access stratum information, so that proper control is executed.

Optionally, in the architecture, an interface may be established between the MTC Server and the HSS, and for convenience of description, the interface is referred to as M2M-HSS in this embodiment. Through the interface, the MTC Server can inquire subscription data of the MTC UE from the HSS, and according to the subscription data, the MTC Server can judge whether the MTC UE has a behavior of violating the service subscription, so that further control can be executed. Alternatively, through the interface, the MTC Server may query the HSS for the address of the MME allocated for the MTC UE.

In specific application, if an M2M-HSS interface is not established between the MTC Server and the HSS, the MTC Server can obtain the subscription data of the MTC UE stored in the MME through the M2M-MME interface between the MTC Server and the MME. In addition, the MTC Server can actively inquire the subscription data of the MTC UE to the MME; alternatively, the MME may actively send the subscription data of the MTC UE to the MTC Server.

Second embodiment of the System

The present embodiment takes the example of the MTC UE accessing to the GERAN/UTRAN network as an example.

Fig. 5 is an architecture diagram of an MTC UE accessing through a GERAN/UTRAN network to implement M2M communication in this embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, this embodiment is basically similar to the above system embodiment, except that an SGSN in the GERAN/UTRAN network is equivalent to an MME in the E-UTRAN network and is used for access control and mobility management functions of a PS domain, a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) in the GERAN/UTRAN network is equivalent to an SGW and a PGW in the E-UTRAN network, and an HLR in the GERAN/UTRAN network is equivalent to an HSS in the E-UTRAN network. The specific connections and the functions of the network elements are similar to those of the system embodiment described above, and are not described herein again.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the invention also provides a method for acquiring the MTC UE information, and the method can be realized by the system provided by the embodiment of the invention.

The method for acquiring the MTC UE information comprises the following steps: the MTC server acquires information of the MTC terminal which requests to be attached to the network or is attached to the network through an interface between the MTC server and the mobility management network element.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 6, the obtaining, by the MTC Server, information of the MTC UE currently requesting to attach to the network or having attached to the network mainly includes the following steps (step S601-step S603):

step S601: the method comprises the steps that a mobility management network element reports information of an MTC terminal to an MTC server;

step S603: and the MTC server acquires the information of the MTC terminal reported by the mobility management network element.

In the specific implementation process, the reporting of the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server by the mobility management network element includes, but is not limited to, the following three methods:

mobility management network element actively reports to MTC Server

Specifically, the mobility management network element may actively notify the MTC Server when an access layer/bearer layer event of a certain MTC UE occurs, or the mobility management network element actively reports information of a certain MTC UE to the MTC Server.

(II) MTC Server inquires mobility management network element

The MTC Server inquires the information of the MTC UE to the mobility management network element, and the mobility management network element reports the information of the corresponding MTC UE to the MTC Server after receiving the inquiry request of the MTC Server.

(III) MTC Server subscribes MTC UE related event notification to mobility management network element

The MTC Server subscribes an access layer/bearer layer event related to a certain MTC UE to the mobility management network element, and the mobility management network element actively notifies the MTC Server when the subscribed access layer/bearer layer event occurs, wherein the notification contains information corresponding to the MTC UE.

The three methods for acquiring the MTC UE information are described below. It should be noted that the three methods can be used separately, or two or three methods can be used in combination.

Mobility management network element actively reports to MTC Server

Specifically, when the mobility management network element actively reports the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server, the mobility management network element actively reports the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server according to the indication carried in the MTC UE, which is obtained from the user subscription data storage. Specifically, the acquiring, by the mobility management network element, subscription data of the MTC UE from the user subscription data storage includes: and instructing the mobility management network element to report the indication information (specifically, the indication may include information such as reporting timing and reporting parameters) of the MTC UE to the MTC Server, and the information of the MTC Server serving the MTC UE. The mobility management network element can analyze the acquired information of the MTC Server to obtain the address of the MTC Server serving the MTC UE, so that the information of the MTC UE is reported to the MTC Server.

In a specific implementation process, the mobility management network element may actively report information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server when the MTC UE initiates an attach request, or may actively report an event notification to the MTC Server when an access layer/bearer layer event related to the MTC UE occurs after the MTC UE attaches to a network, where the event notification carries current information of the MTC UE.

The following describes a process in which a mobility management network element is taken as an MME for reporting to an MTC Server at the two reporting occasions by the MME.

(1) When the MTC UE initiates an attachment request, the MME actively reports the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of actively reporting, by the MME, the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server under such a condition, as shown in fig. 7, when the MTC UE initiates an attach request, the actively reporting, by the MME, the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server mainly includes the following steps:

s701, the MTC UE initiates an attachment request to the MME;

s702, MME sends a position updating request to HSS;

s703, the HSS returns a location update response to the MME, the location update response carries subscription data of the MTC UE, and the subscription data comprises: indicating the MME to report, to the MTC Server, indication information of the MTC UE and information of the MTC Server serving the MTC UE (specifically, the information may be an address of the MTC Server, or information such as an identifier of the MTC Server);

s704, the MME analyzes the address of the MTC Server according to the information of the MTC Server serving the MTC UE;

s705, the MME reports the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server according to the address of the MTC Server obtained by analysis.

(2) After the MTC UE is attached to the network, the MME actively reports the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of actively reporting, by the MME, the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server under such a condition, as shown in fig. 8, after the MTC UE is attached to the network, the actively reporting, by the MME, the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server mainly includes the following steps:

s801, attaching the MTC UE to a PS network;

during the attaching process of the MTC UE to the PS network, the MME obtains subscription data of the MTC UE from the HSS, wherein the subscription data comprises subscription data used for an M2M service part. The M2M service subscription data includes an address of an MTC Server serving the MTC UE, and an indication requesting the MME to actively report a predetermined event related to the MTC UE to the MTC Server, that is, the MME is requested to send an event notification to the MTC Server when the MTC UE has the predetermined event;

the predetermined event is an access stratum/bearer stratum event related to the MTC UE, and specifically, the predetermined event includes but is not limited to one of the following events or any combination thereof:

(1) subscription data of the MTC UE changes; after HSS changes the subscription data of MTC UE, HSS needs to issue new subscription data to MME again, after MME receives new subscription data, it can inform MTC Server that the subscription data changes, or directly send the new subscription data to MTC Server;

(2) a status change of the MTC UE; for example, the MTC UE attaches to the network, the MTC UE detaches from the network, the MTC UE changes from the connected state to the idle state, and the MTC UE changes from the idle state to the connected state;

(3) a change in location area of the MTC UE; for example, when the MTC UE moves, the MTC UE sends a location update message to the MME, so that the MME can capture that the MTC UE moves;

(4) network change of MTC UE; for example, the MTC UE performs handover between a base station and a network, and in this case, the MTC UE sends a handover message to the MME, so that the MME can capture a network change event occurring in MTC.

S802, the predetermined event, namely an access layer/bearer layer event related to the MTC UE occurs;

s803, the MME actively notifies the MTC Server of the occurrence of the predetermined event, specifically, the event notification sent by the MME to the MTC Server includes the current information of the MTC UE.

It should be noted that in the flow shown in fig. 8, an access stratum/bearer stratum event of S802 may occur in step S801, for example, the event is an attach event, and the MME should send an event notification to the MTC Server when the MTC UE attaches to the network.

Specifically, in the flows of fig. 7 and fig. 8, the information of the MTC UE reported by the MME to the MTC Server includes, but is not limited to, one of the following or any combination thereof:

A) the MME obtains MTC UE current service subscription data from the HSS;

B) IMSI, IMEI used by MTC UE; the IMSI used by the MTC is carried in an attach message sent by the MTC UE when the MTC UE attaches to the network, and the IMEI may be provided to the network by the MTC UE when the MTC UE attaches to the network, or may be obtained by the network by querying the MTC UE as needed;

C) context information of the MTC UE on the MME, for example, a current location area of the MTC UE, a current state of the MTC UE;

wherein, the current location area of the MTC UE may be: a Tracking Area (TA) of the MTC UE, and a current Cell of the MTC UE, where the current state of the MTC UE may be one of an attach state, a detach state, a connection state, an idle state, and the like.

D) The mobility event currently occurring in the MTC UE, for example, the MTC UE attaches to a network, the MTC UE detaches from the network, the location of the MTC UE is updated, the MTC UE performs base station switching, the MTC UE performs network switching, and the like.

(II) MTC Server inquires mobility management network element

Specifically, after the MTC UE attaches to the network, the MTC Server sends an inquiry request to the mobility management network element to request to inquire information of the MTC UE, and after receiving the inquiry request, the mobility management network element reports the information of the MTC UE to the MTC Server.

In a specific implementation process, before the MTC Server sends an inquiry request to a mobility management network element, the MTC Server first needs to acquire an address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC UE, and then sends the inquiry request to the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC UE according to the address.

In the specific implementation process, the MTC Server obtains the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC UE includes, but is not limited to, the following three methods:

(1) the MTC Server acquires the identification information of the mobility management network element distributed for the MTC UE, which is carried in the registration message sent by the MTC UE;

for example, in an EPS network, an MTC UE may carry, in a registration message sent to an MTC Server, a Global Unique Temporary Identity (GUTI) for the MTC UE by a network, where the GUTI includes ID information of an MME allocated to the MTC UE, and the MTC Server may obtain an address of a mobility management network element allocated to the MTC UE by analyzing the GUTI;

(2) the mobility management network element distributed for the MTC UE actively informs the MTC Server of the address of the mobility management network element;

(3) and the MTC Server acquires the address of the mobility management network element distributed for the MTC UE from the user signed data storage through an interface between the MTC Server and the user signed data storage.

The following describes three methods for acquiring the addresses of the mobility management network elements by taking an E-UTRAN network as an example.

(1) Obtained by analyzing the registration message sent by the MTC UE

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating that in a specific application, an MTC Server obtains an address of an MME allocated to an MTC UE by analyzing a GUTI of the MTC UE, and as shown in fig. 9, the obtaining, by the MTC Server, the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE by analyzing the GUTI of the MTC UE mainly includes the following steps:

s901, the MTC UE is attached to a PS network, the network allocates a GUTI for the MTC UE in the attachment process, and the GUTI is carried in the attachment response and sent to the MTC UE;

by analyzing the structure of the GUTI, the GUTI includes ID information of an MME allocated to the MTC UE, and the MTC Server can address the MME allocated to the MTC UE according to the MME ID.

S902, after the MTC UE is accessed to the PS network, a registration message of application layer registration is initiated to the MTC Server, wherein the registration message carries the GUTI information;

s903, the MTC Server analyzes the address of the MME allocated for the MTC UE according to the GUTI information carried in the registration message, and the MTC Server can send a query request to the MME to query the information of the MTC UE as required according to the analyzed address of the MME;

s904, if there is an interface between the MTC Server and the HSS, the MTC Server queries the HSS for the subscription data of the MTC UE.

S905, if the MTC Server judges that the MTC UE is allowed to register according to the service data, the MTC Server returns a registration response. In the registration response, several service layer parameters may be carried to the MTC UE.

(2) MME allocated for MTC UE actively notifies MTC Server of address thereof

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of an MME actively notifying an MTC Server of an address of the MME, and as shown in fig. 10, in a specific application, the MME actively notifying the address of the MME mainly includes the following steps:

s101, the MTC UE sends an attachment request to a network, and specifically the MTC UE sends the attachment request to an MME;

s102, MME sends a position updating request to HSS;

s103, the HSS sends a location update response to the MME;

in the process, the HSS issues subscription data of the MTC UE to the MME, where the subscription data includes M2M subscription data, and the M2M subscription data includes identification information of an MTC Server serving the MTC UE, where the identification information may be a domain name of the MTC Server or an IP address of the MTC Server, and the MME may resolve the address of the corresponding MTC Server according to the identification information.

S104, the MME indicates the SGW/PGW to create a proper bearer for the MTC UE;

s105, the MME sends an attachment response to the MTC UE;

s106, the MME sends a notification message to the MTC Server to inform the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE;

specifically, the notification message may be an independent notification message, or may exist in other messages sent by the MME to the MTC Server (for example, when the MTC UE attaches, the MME sends an attach event report to the MTC Server, where the event report carries the notification message).

The notification message includes, but is not limited to, the following information: an identity of the MTC UE and/or an IP address of the MTC UE, and an identity of the MME and/or an IP address of the MME. And the MTC Server can acquire the address information of the MME allocated to the MTC UE according to the corresponding relation between the information of the MTC UE and the information of the MME.

Through the steps, the MTC Server can acquire the address information of the MME allocated to the MTC UE, so that the MTC Server can send an inquiry request to the MME when the information of the access layer/bearer layer of the MTC UE needs to be acquired.

S107, the MTC UE sends a registration request of a service layer to the MTC Server, and the registration is successful.

In the flow shown in fig. 10, it should be noted that the step S106 may be executed after the step S105, or may be executed after the step S103.

(3) MTC Server acquires address of MME allocated for MTC UE through HSS

In this case, there is an interface for interconnection between the MTC Server and the HSS, and the MTC Server can directly communicate with the HSS through the interface. Fig. 11 is a flowchart of the MTC Server acquiring the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE through the HSS, and as shown in fig. 11, the MTC Server acquiring the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE through the HSS mainly includes the following steps:

s111, attaching the MTC UE to the PS network;

in the process of attaching the MTC UE to the network, the HSS stores the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE.

S112, the MTC UE initiates service layer registration to the MTC Server;

s113, the MTC Server inquires an address of an MME allocated to the MTC UE from the HSS;

s114, the HSS returns the address of the MME allocated for the MTC UE to the MTC Server;

and the MTC Server acquires the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE by the network.

S115, the MTC Server sends a registration response to the MTC UE.

In the flow shown in fig. 11, it should be noted that the query by the MTC Server to the HSS about the address of the MME allocated for the MTC UE may be: the MTC Server inquires subscription data of the MTC UE from the HSS, and the HSS returns the subscription data of the MTC UE and the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE; it can also be: the MTC Server inquires the HSS about the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE, and the HSS only returns the address of the MME allocated to the MTC UE.

After the MTC Server acquires the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC UE, the MTC Server may send the query request to the mobility management network element when needed, and specifically, the case that the MTC Server determines that the query request needs to be sent to the mobility management network element includes but is not limited to one of the following cases:

(A) the MTC Server needs to acquire IMSI and IMEI used by the MTC UE to detect whether an SIM card equipped for the MTC UE is stolen or not, namely, whether the binding relationship between the IMSI and the IMEI is normal or not is judged;

(B) the MTC Server needs to acquire current location information (e.g., TA area, Cell, etc.) of the MTC UE to determine whether the MTC UE is accessed in an unallowed location area;

(C) the MTC Server needs to acquire the current position information of the MTC UE so as to judge whether the MTC UE moves to an unallowed position area;

(D) the MTC Server needs to judge whether the MTC UE is accessed in the time which is not allowed;

(E) the MTC Server needs to judge whether the time for the MTC UE to access the network exceeds a preset time.

Specifically, taking an E-UTARN network as an example, fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating that the MTC Server sends an inquiry request to the MME to acquire information of an access layer/a bearer layer of the MTC UE, as shown in fig. 12, the sending of the inquiry request to the MME by the MTC Server mainly includes the following steps:

s211, attaching the MTC UE to the PS network;

s212, the MTC UE initiates service layer registration to the MTC Server;

s213, after the MTC UE is registered to the MTC Server, if the MTC Server is used for service control, the MTC UE determines that the current information (mainly referred to as access stratum information) of the MTC UE needs to be inquired;

in this step, the MTC Server may need to obtain information of the MTC UE for various possible purposes, such as:

the MTC Server hopes to know the IMSI and IMEI conditions used by the MTC UE so as to check whether an SIM card equipped for the MTC UE is stolen or not, namely whether the binding relationship between the IMSI and the IMEI is normal or not; or,

the MTC Server wants to know current location information (such as TA area, Cell, etc.) of the MTC UE to determine whether the MTC UE accesses in an unallowed location area or moves to an unallowed location area;

s214, the MTC Server sends an inquiry request to the MME to inquire the information of the MTC UE;

s215, the MME returns the current information of the MTC UE according to the current context of the MTC UE.

Through steps S213 to S215, the MTC Server obtains the current information of the MTC UE from the MME, so that the current behavior of the MTC UE can be determined according to the current information of the MTC UE, and further the behavior of the MTC UE can be controlled.

Specifically, in the above step S213, the information of the MTC UE requested by the MTC Server to the MME includes, but is not limited to, one of the following or any combination thereof:

A) and the MME obtains the MTC UE current service subscription data from the HSS.

B) IMSI, IMEI used by MTC UE; specifically, the IMSI used by the MTC UE is carried in an attach message when the MTC UE attaches to the network, the MME may obtain the IMSI used by the MTC UE from the attach message, and the IMEI may be provided to the network by the MTC UE when the MTC UE attaches to the network, or may be obtained by the network by querying the MTC UE as needed.

C) Context information of MTC UEs on the MME, e.g., the MTC UE's current location area (these location areas may be: TA area, Cell), MTC UE current state (e.g.: MTC UE is currently attached state, connected state, idle state, etc.).

Due to the need of service management, the MTC Server needs to know events (such as attach, detach, and position change of MTC UE from the network) sent by the underlying access layer/bearer layer in time, and make corresponding decisions according to the events to control the behavior of the MTC UE, so the MTC Server can subscribe the access layer/bearer layer events to the mobility management network element, and the mobility management network element reports an event notification to the MTC Server in time when the corresponding access layer/bearer layer event occurs, where the event notification carries current information of the MTC UE.

In this case, the processing of the MTC Server is basically the same as the processing of the above (two), and before the MTC Server sends the query request for subscribing to the relevant event of the MTC UE to the mobility management network element, the MTC Server also needs to acquire the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC UE.

The difference from the above (two) is that the query request sent by the MTC Server to the mobility management network element is used to subscribe to the relevant event of the MTC UE, that is, the mobility management network element is requested to report the event notification to the MTC Server when the access layer/bearer layer event related to the MTC UE occurs.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an E-UTRAN network, in which an MTC Server subscribes to an MME about an event of an MTC UE to obtain information of the MTC UE, and as shown in fig. 13, the subscription of the MTC Server to the MME about the event of the MTC UE to obtain the information of the MTC UE mainly includes the following steps:

s311, attaching the MTC UE to the PS network;

s312, the MTC UE initiates service layer registration to the MTC Server;

s313, after the MTC UE is registered in the MTC Server, the MTC Server needs to timely acquire events related to the MTC UE, which occur in a bottom access layer/bearer layer, according to the service management requirement, so that the MTC Server decides to subscribe the events to the MME;

s314, the MTC Server subscribes an access layer/bearer layer event related to the MTC UE to the MME;

it should be clear that the MTC Server may subscribe to only one or one type of access stratum/bearer stratum event at a time, or may subscribe to multiple or multiple types of access stratum/bearer stratum events at a time.

S315, the access layer/bearer layer event corresponding to the MTC Server subscription occurs;

s316, after the access layer/bearer layer event occurs, the MME actively reports the conditions of the access layer/bearer layer event to the MTC Server.

In the flow shown in fig. 13, an access stratum/bearer stratum event subscribed by the MTC Server to the MME and related to the MTC UE may occur as one or several of the following events:

A) a change in subscription data for the MTC UE; after HSS changes the subscription data of MTC UE, HSS needs to issue new subscription data to MME again, after MME receives new subscription data, it can inform MTC Server that the subscription data changes, or directly send the new subscription data to MTC Server;

B) a status change of the MTC UE; for example, an MTC UE attaches to a network, detaches from a network, changes from a connected state to an idle state, changes from an idle state to a connected state, etc.;

C) a change in location area of the MTC UE; for example, the MTC UE has moved to a location, etc., and sends a location update message to the MME, etc.;

D) network change of MTC UE; for example, the MTC UE performs handover of a base station and a network, sends a handover message to the MME, and the like.

In a specific implementation process, the methods for acquiring MTC UEs described in (two) and (three) above may be used alone or in combination. Specifically, in the flow illustrated in fig. 12, in step S213, the information of the MTC UE requested by the MTC Server to the MME may further include:

D) mobility events occurring in the MTC UE, for example, the MTC UE attaches to a network, the MTC UE detaches from the network, the MTC UE location is updated, the MTC UE performs base station switching, the MTC UE performs network switching, and the like.

When the event occurs, the MME sends an event notification to the MTC Server, so that the MTC Server can acquire the current event of the MTC UE and the current information of the MTC UE.

The MTC Server may further perform step S313 and subsequent steps in fig. 13 after acquiring the current information of the MTC UE after step S215 in fig. 12, or simultaneously perform step S213 and step S313 after step S212 to subscribe to the relevant events of the MTC UE, so that when the events occur, the MTC Server learns the occurrence of the events through the event notification reported by the MME, and further acquires the current information of the MTC UE.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the MTC Server may obtain information of the MTC UE from the mobility management network element, specifically, subscription data of the MTC UE, a current state of the MTC UE, location area information of the MTC UE, and the like. The method for obtaining the MTC UE information may be that the MTC Server actively queries the mobility management network element, or that the mobility management network element notifies the MTC Server when an event occurs after the MTC Server subscribes to a relevant event from the mobility management network element, or that the mobility management network element actively notifies the MTC Server of an access layer/bearer layer event according to an indication in subscription data of the MTC UE.

In a specific application, the MTC Server may obtain information of the MTC UE from the bottom access layer/bearer layer, so that the MTC Server may determine the behavior of the MTC UE according to the information and further make a service layer decision, for example, when the MTC UE is accessed within a non-allowed time, the MTC Server may request to attach the MTC UE; or, when the MTC UE moves to a non-allowed area, the MTC Server may request to detach the MTC UE, and so on.

Although the example of E-UTRAN (EPS) network is described in the above embodiment, in fact, for GPRS access of GERAN/UTRAN network, SGSN in GERAN/UTRAN network is equivalent to MME in E-UTRAN network and acts as access control and mobility management function of PS domain, GGSN in GERAN/UTRAN network is equivalent to SGW + PGW in E-UTRAN network, and HLR in GERAN/UTRAN network is equivalent to HSS in E-UTRAN network. Therefore, according to the above description of the embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art can directly apply the above technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention to the PS domain in the GERAN/UTRAN network.

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.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the MTC Server may obtain the information of the MTC UE in the receiving layer/bearer layer through the mobility management network element, and then may effectively control the MTC UE according to the obtained information of the MTC UE, so as to implement services such as intelligent management and real-time monitoring of the MTC UE by the MTC Server.

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

1. A method for acquiring Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal information is applied to a system comprising a mobility management network element and an MTC server, and is characterized in that the mobility management network element is connected with the MTC server, and the method comprises the following steps:

the MTC server acquires the information of the MTC terminal which is currently requested to be attached to the network or is currently attached to the network through the mobility management network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining, by the MTC server, the information of the MTC terminal through the mobility management network element comprises:

the mobility management network element reports the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server;

and the MTC server acquires the information of the MTC terminal reported by the mobility management network element.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the reporting, by the mobility management network element, the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server comprises:

and the mobility management network element reports the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server according to the indication of the subscription data of the MTC terminal, which is acquired from a user subscription data memory, wherein the subscription data comprises the information of the MTC server serving the MTC terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the obtaining, by the mobility management network element, subscription data of the MTC terminal from the user subscription data storage comprises:

when the MTC terminal initiates an attachment request, the mobility management network element sends a position updating request to the user subscription data memory after receiving the attachment request;

and the mobility management network element receives a location update response returned by the user subscription data memory, wherein the location update response carries subscription data of the MTC terminal.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the subscription data further comprises: the mobility management network element is instructed to report the information of the MTC terminal to first instruction information of the MTC server;

the reporting, by the mobility management network element, the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server includes:

and after receiving the location update response, the mobility management network element reports the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server according to the indication of the first indication information contained in the subscription data.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the subscription data further comprises: the mobility management network element is instructed to send second indication information of an event notification to the MTC server when a predetermined event occurs in the MTC terminal;

and when the mobility management network element learns that the MTC terminal has a predetermined event, sending an event notification to the MTC server according to the indication of the second indication information, wherein the event notification carries the information of the current MTC terminal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined event comprises one or any combination of the following:

the subscription data of the MTC terminal changes;

the state of the MTC terminal changes;

the network of the MTC terminal changes.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein before the mobility management network element reports the information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server, the method further comprises:

after the MTC terminal is attached to a network, the MTC server sends a query request to the mobility management network element;

the mobility management unit receives the query request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein sending, by the MTC server, the query request to the mobility management network element comprises:

when the MTC server determines that the information of the MTC terminal needs to be acquired, the MTC server acquires the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal;

and the MTC server sends the query request to the mobility management network element according to the acquired address of the mobility management network element.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the MTC server determines that information of the MTC terminal needs to be acquired in one of the following cases:

the MTC server needs to detect whether an SIM card equipped for the MTC terminal is stolen;

the MTC server needs to judge whether the MTC terminal is accessed in an unallowed position area;

the MTC server needs to judge whether the MTC terminal moves to an unallowed location area;

the MTC server needs to judge whether the MTC terminal is accessed in the unallowed time;

the MTC server needs to judge whether the time that the MTC terminal accesses the network exceeds a preset time.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the obtaining, by the MTC server, the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal comprises:

the MTC server receives a registration message sent by the MTC terminal after the MTC terminal is attached to a network, wherein the registration message carries identification information of a mobility management network element distributed for the MTC terminal;

and the MTC server analyzes the address of the mobility management network element distributed to the MTC terminal according to the identification information.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the obtaining, by the MTC server, the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal comprises:

in the process of initiating attachment by the MTC terminal, the mobility management network element acquires subscription data of the MTC terminal from a user subscription data memory, wherein the subscription data comprises information of the MTC server serving the MTC terminal;

the mobility management network element analyzes the information of the MTC server to obtain the address of the MTC server;

the mobility management network element sends a notification message to the MTC server, wherein the notification message carries attribute information of the MTC terminal and attribute information of the mobility management network element;

and the MTC server acquires the address of the mobility management network element distributed for the MTC terminal according to the attribute information of the MTC terminal and the attribute information of the mobility management network element.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the attribute information of the MTC terminal comprises: the identification of the MTC terminal and/or the IP address of the MTC terminal; the attribute information of the mobility management network element includes: an identity of the mobility management network element and/or an IP address of the mobility management network element.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the MTC server is connected to a user subscription data store;

the obtaining, by the MTC server, the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal includes:

when the MTC terminal is attached to a network and initiates registration to the MTC server, the MTC server acquires an address of a mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal by inquiring the user subscription data storage.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the obtaining, by the MTC server, the address of the mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal by querying the subscriber subscription data storage comprises:

the MTC server inquires the address of a mobility management network element distributed for the MTC terminal from the user subscription data storage;

and the user subscription data memory acquires the stored address of the mobility management network element distributed for the MTC terminal and returns the address of the mobility management network element distributed for the MTC terminal to the MTC server.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the obtaining, by the MTC server, the address of the mobility management network element allocated by the MTC terminal by querying the user subscription data storage comprises:

the MTC server inquires subscription data of the MTC terminal from the user subscription data memory;

and the user subscription data memory returns the subscription data of the MTC terminal and the stored address of the mobility management network element distributed to the MTC terminal to the MTC server.

17. The method according to claim 8, wherein the query request is used for querying the MTC terminal for information;

after the mobility management network element receives the query request, the mobility management network element acquires the information of the MTC terminal at present and reports the acquired information of the MTC terminal to the MTC server.

18. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 17, wherein the query request is used to request the mobility management network element to send an event notification to the MTC server when a predetermined event occurs in the MTC terminal;

and the mobility management network element sends an event notification to the MTC server when knowing that the MTC terminal has a predetermined event, wherein the event notification carries information of the current MTC terminal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the predetermined event comprises one or any combination of the following:

the subscription data of the MTC terminal changes;

the state of the MTC terminal changes;

the network of the MTC terminal changes.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and 8 to 17, wherein the information of the MTC terminal comprises one of the following or any combination thereof:

the MTC terminal receives the current service subscription data;

an international subscriber identity (IMSI) and an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) used by the MTC terminal;

context information of the MTC terminal on the mobility management network element.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the context information of the MTC terminal on the mobility management network element comprises: the current position area information of the MTC terminal and the current state information of the MTC terminal.

22. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5 and 8 to 17, wherein the mobility management network element comprises: serving general packet radio service support node SGSN or mobility management unit MME.

23. The method according to any of claims 3 to 5, 12 to 16, wherein the user subscription data store comprises: a home location register HLR or a home subscriber server HSS.

24. An MTC terminal information acquisition system is characterized by comprising: a user subscription data storage, a mobility management network element, and an MTC server, wherein,

the user subscription data memory is used for storing subscription data of the MTC terminal in the system;

the mobility management network element is connected with the user subscription data memory and is used for receiving subscription data of an MTC terminal which is requested to be attached to a network or already attached to the network and issued by the user subscription data memory and providing information of the MTC terminal for the MTC server;

the MTC server is connected with the mobility management network element and used for acquiring the information of the MTC terminal from the mobility management network element.

25. The system according to claim 24, wherein the MTC server is further connected to the subscriber data storage, and configured to obtain, from the subscriber data storage, an address of a mobility management network element allocated to the MTC terminal.