CN112312380B

CN112312380B - Position context management method and network side equipment

Info

Publication number: CN112312380B
Application number: CN201910689587.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 侯云静; 艾明
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-29
Filing date: 2019-07-29
Publication date: 2022-04-01
Anticipated expiration: 2039-07-29
Also published as: CN112312380A

Abstract

The invention provides a management method of a position context and network side equipment, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a first mobility management entity interacts with a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity (UDM) to acquire the position context of a first terminal; and the first mobility management entity sends the position context of the first terminal to a first position management functional entity. Therefore, the scheme of the invention solves the problem that the prior art cannot transfer the context of the deferred location request between the EPC and the 5 GC.

Description

Position context management method and network side equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method for managing a location context and a network side device.

Background

With the development of technology, an operator may deploy EPC (4G Core Network) and 5GC (5G Core Network) simultaneously in PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network), and then UE (User Equipment) needs to switch between EPC and 5 GC.

As shown in fig. 1, it is a positioning architecture when 5GC and EPC interwork. The system comprises a GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location center) for receiving a Location request of an external LCS (Location Services) client, checking privacy settings of a UE, forwarding the Location request to an AMF (Access and Mobile Management Function) entity or a VGMLC (Visited GMLC) entity, and receiving a Location report sent by the LMF (Location Management Function) entity or the VGMLC entity; the LMF is used for receiving the position request, and acquiring and returning the UE position information; an Evolved Serving Mobile Location center (E-SMLC) entity, which is located in the 4G network and has a function similar to that of the LMF, receives the Location request, and acquires and returns the Location information of the UE. It should be noted that, in fig. 1, E-UTRAN is AN evolved global terrestrial radio access network, HSS is a home subscriber server, UDM is a unified data management entity, AF is AN application function entity, NEF is a network open function, (R) AN is a radio access network entity, and S1-MME, SLg, SLs, SLh, Lr, Le, S6a, NL6, NL5, NL2, NL1, N8, N52, N33, N51, N1, and N2 respectively represent interfaces.

In addition, the LCS client or AF may acquire periodic location information or receive specific event reports through deferred location requests. The event types are as follows:

the UE can reach: when the UE is temporarily unreachable (for example, the UE temporarily loses the wireless connection), it needs to report to the LCS client/AF;

the UE enters, leaves or stays in a preset area range;

periodic position: the UE periodically reports a position report;

moving: the straight distance that the UE moves from the last position exceeds a predefined length.

Specifically, the above process is briefly introduced as follows:

the LCS client or AF sends the deferred location request to the GMLC, which sends this information to the UE through the AMF. When the UE detects the event, the UE sends an event report to the LMF through the AMF, the LMF initiates the positioning process of the UE to acquire the position information of the UE, and then sends the event report and the position information of the UE to the GMLC.

However, the existing technology cannot transfer the context of deferred location requests between the EPC and the 5 GC.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a management method of a location context and network side equipment, which solve the problem that the prior art cannot transfer the deferred location request context between an EPC and a 5 GC.

The embodiment of the invention provides a management method of a location context, which is applied to a first mobility management entity, and the management method of the location context comprises the following steps:

interacting with a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity (UDM) to acquire the position context of the first terminal;

sending the position context of the first terminal to a first position management functional entity;

the first mobility management entity and the second mobility management entity belong to different core networks, and the first location management function entity and the first mobility management function entity belong to the same core network.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for managing a location context, which is applied to a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity UDM, and the method for managing a location context includes:

interacting with a first mobility management entity, and sending the position context of a first terminal to the first mobility management entity;

wherein the first mobility management entity and the second mobility management entity belong to different core networks.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a first mobility management entity, and the network side device includes: a transceiver, a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the following steps when executing the computer program:

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity UDM, and the network side device includes: a transceiver, a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the following steps when executing the computer program:

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a first mobility management entity, and the network side device includes:

the first interaction module is used for interacting with a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity (UDM) to acquire the position context of the first terminal;

a sending module, configured to send the location context of the first terminal to a first location management function entity;

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity UDM, and the network side device includes:

the second interaction module is used for interacting with the first mobility management entity and sending the position context of the first terminal to the first mobility management entity;

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, performs the steps of the above-mentioned method for managing a location context.

The embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

in the embodiment of the invention, the location context of the first terminal is acquired by the interaction between the first mobility management entity and the second mobility management entity or the interaction between the first mobility management entity and the UDM and is sent to the first location management function entity, so that the transmission of the location context of the first terminal between different network entities is realized, and the problem that the deferred location request context cannot be transferred between the EPC and the 5GC in the prior art can be solved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art positioning architecture when 5GC and EPC are interworked;

fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a method for managing a location context according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for managing location context in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the AMF obtaining UE location context from MME according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention for assigning a deferred routing identifier to a UE;

fig. 6 shows a flow chart of a method for managing a location context according to a second embodiment of the invention;

fig. 7 is a block diagram of a network device according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a block diagram of a network device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a block diagram showing a network side device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a network device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. In the following description, specific details such as specific configurations and components are provided only to help the full understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. Thus, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the following processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

In addition, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

In the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the access network may be an access network including a Macro Base Station (Macro Base Station), a micro Base Station (Pico Base Station), a Node B (3G mobile Station), an enhanced Base Station (eNB), a gNB (5G mobile Station), a Home enhanced Base Station (Femto eNB or Home eNode B or Home eNB or HeNB), a relay Station, an access point, a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), an RRH (Remote Radio Head ), and the like. The user terminal may be a mobile phone (or handset), or other device capable of sending or receiving wireless signals, including user Equipment, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communicator, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) or a mobile smart hotspot capable of converting mobile signals into WiFi signals, a smart appliance, or other devices capable of autonomously communicating with a mobile communication network without human operation, and so on.

First embodiment

The embodiment of the invention provides a management method of a location context, which solves the problem that the prior art cannot transfer the context of a deferred location request between an EPC and a 5 GC.

The method for managing the location context according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a first mobility management entity, and specifically includes the following steps, as shown in fig. 2:

step 201: and interacting with a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity (UDM) to acquire the position context of the first terminal.

The first terminal is any UE.

Step 202: and sending the position context of the first terminal to a first position management functional entity.

The first mobility management entity and the second mobility management entity belong to different core networks, and the first location management function entity and the first mobility management function entity belong to the same core network. In addition, the core network to which the first mobility management entity belongs is a core network to which the first terminal is currently registered. The core network to which the second mobility management entity belongs is a core network which is registered when the first terminal receives the position postponing request.

As can be seen from the above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first mobility management entity interacts with the second mobility management entity belonging to a different core network from the first mobility management entity, or interacts with the UDM through the first mobility management entity, so as to obtain the location context of the first terminal, send the location context to the first location management function entity belonging to the same core network as the first mobility management entity, and transfer the location context of the first terminal from one core network to another core network, thereby implementing transfer of the location context of the UE between different core networks.

Specifically, if the first mobility management entity and the first location management function entity belong to a first core network, the second mobility management entity belongs to a second core network, the first core network is one of a 4G core network and a 5G core network, and the second core network is the other of the 4G core network and the 5G core network, the embodiment of the present invention may implement transmission of the location context of the UE between the 4G core network and the 5G core network.

Optionally, when the first mobility management entity is a mobility management entity MME of a 4G core network, the first location management functional entity is an evolved serving mobile location center E-SMLC of the 4G core network, and the second mobility management entity is a mobility management entity AMF of a 5G core network;

when the first mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the first location management functional entity is an LMF of the 5G core network, and the second mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network.

Optionally, the interacting with the second mobility management entity or the unified data management entity UDM to obtain the location context of the first terminal includes:

the first mobility management entity sends a first request message to the second mobility management entity or the UDM, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal;

and the first mobility management entity receives a first reply message returned by the second mobility management entity or the UDM, wherein the first reply message carries the location context of the first terminal.

Specifically, when the first mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network and the second mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the MME may send the first request message to the AMF, and the AMF carries the location context of the first terminal in the first reply message and sends the first reply message to the MME; or, the MME sends the first request message to the UDM, and the UDM carries the location context of the first terminal in the first reply message and sends the location context to the MME.

When the first mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network and the second mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network, the AMF needs to send a first request message to the MME, and the MME carries the position context of the first terminal in a first reply message and sends the first reply message to the AMF; or, the AMF sends the first request message to the UDM, and the UDM carries the location context of the first terminal in the first reply message and sends the location context to the AMF.

When the first mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network and the second mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the MME may further send a request message to the EPC-GMLC to request a location context of the first terminal, the EPC-GMLC sends the location context of the first terminal to the H-GMLC, and the H-GMLC returns the location context of the first terminal to the MME through the EPC-GMLC.

Optionally, the interacting with the second mobility management entity or the UDM to obtain the location context of the first terminal includes:

the first mobility management entity determines that the first terminal is in the execution process of a position postponing request according to the context of the first terminal acquired in a preset process, and interacts with the second mobility management entity or the UDM to acquire the position context of the first terminal;

the preset process is a registration process or a handover process, where the registration process is a process in which the first terminal registers to a core network to which the first mobility management entity belongs, and the handover process is a process in which the first terminal switches between different core networks.

That is, the location context of the first terminal may be obtained from the second mobility management entity or the UDM only when the first mobility management entity determines that the first terminal is executing the request for deferring the location according to the context of the first terminal obtained in the process that the first mobility management entity registers in the core network to which the first mobility management entity belongs or the process that the first terminal switches between different core networks.

Optionally, the determining, by the first mobility management entity, an execution process of the request for deferring the location of the first terminal according to the context of the first terminal acquired in a preset process includes:

the first mobility management entity determines that the first terminal is in an execution process of a position postponing request under the condition that the context of the first terminal acquired in a preset process comprises at least one of the following information:

a route identifier corresponding to the deferred location request;

LDR (Location delayed Request) index number;

notifying the association ID;

indication information indicating that the first terminal is in a process of deferring execution of a location request.

That is, when the first mobility management entity is in a process that the first terminal is registered in a core network to which the first mobility management entity belongs, or the first terminal is in a handover process between different core networks, the obtained context of the first terminal includes: at least one of a route identifier, an LDR index number, and a notification association ID corresponding to the deferred location request may determine that the first terminal is executing the deferred location request.

Optionally, the sending the location context of the first terminal to the first location management function entity includes:

the first mobility management entity selects a first location management functional entity;

and the first mobility management entity sends the position context of the first terminal to the selected first position management functional entity.

Optionally, the sending, by the first mobility management entity, the location context of the first terminal to the selected first location management function entity includes:

and the first mobility management entity sends the position request and the position context of the first terminal to the selected first position management functional entity under the condition of receiving the position request sent by the first terminal.

That is, the first mobility management entity may send the location request sent by the first terminal to the selected first location management function entity together with the location request and the location context of the first terminal, upon receiving the location request.

and the first mobility management entity sends the position context of the first terminal, the identification of the first terminal, the LDR index number or the notification association ID to the selected first position management functional entity.

That is, whether the first mobility management entity receives the location request sent by the first terminal or not, the first mobility management entity may send the location context of the first terminal to the selected first location management function entity together with the identifier of the first terminal, the LDR index number, or the notification association ID.

Optionally, after the first mobility management entity sends the location context of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal, the LDR index number, or the notification association ID to the selected first location management functional entity, the method further includes:

the first mobility management entity receives a second reply message sent by the selected first location management functional entity, wherein the second reply message carries a first routing identifier, and the first routing identifier is allocated to the first terminal by the selected first location management functional entity;

the first mobility management entity sends the first routing identifier to the first terminal.

That is, after the first location management functional entity receives the location context of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal, the LDR index number, or the notification association ID sent by the first mobility management entity, the first location management functional entity may further allocate the first routing identifier to the first terminal according to these information, and return the first routing identifier to the first mobility management entity, so that it is retransmitted to the first terminal. Thereafter, when the first terminal sends the event report, the first routing identifier is sent to the first mobility management entity, so that the first mobility management entity can send the event report to the appropriate first location management function entity according to the routing identifier.

In summary, the management method of the location context according to the embodiment of the present invention can be actually divided into the following two scenarios:

scene one: when the first terminal is registered at the 5GC, the LCS client or AF issues a deferred location request. After the first terminal moves to the EPC, the first terminal sends location information to the network when the indicated event of deferring the location request occurs (i.e., the condition for reporting location information of the deferral location request is met).

The MME may obtain the location context of the first terminal by using the following three methods:

the method comprises the following steps: the MME sends a request message to the EPC-GMLC to request to acquire the location context of the first terminal, the EPC-GMLC sends the request message to the H-GMLC, and the H-GMLC returns the location context of the first terminal to the MME through the EPC-GMLC.

The second method comprises the following steps: the MME selects an AMF to send a request message to it, carrying the deferred route identifier. And the AMF selects the LMF according to the routing identifier, sends a request message to the LMF, and returns a reply message to the AMF, wherein the reply message carries the location context of the first terminal. And the AMF returns a reply message to the MME, wherein the reply message carries the position context of the first terminal.

The third method comprises the following steps: the MME requests the location context of the first terminal from the UDM. The UDM may obtain this information from the H-GMLC or AMF, among other things.

Specifically, when the MME acquires the first terminal location context by using the first method, a specific implementation flow may be as shown in fig. 3:

step 301: the first terminal sends an LCS MO-LR call to the MME indicating that an event report is sent for the deferred periodic and triggered location requests, i.e. the first terminal indicates that this call is for sending an event report related to the deferred periodic and triggered location requests.

Step 302: the MME sends a location request to the E-SMLC.

Step 303: and the E-SMLC initiates a positioning process to acquire the position of the first terminal.

Step 304: the E-SMLC sends a location reply to the MME.

Step 305: and the MME returns an LCS MO-LR return result message to the first terminal and confirms that the first terminal sends the event report.

Step 306: and the MME selects the EPC-GMLC and sends a signed user position report message to the EPC-GMLC, wherein the signed user position report message carries the H-GMLC address, the LDR index number and the indication information for requesting the position context of the first terminal.

Step 307: and the EPC-GMLC transmits the information to the H-GMLC according to the H-GMLC address.

Step 308: the H-GMLC sends the event report and location information to the Client.

Step 309: the H-GMLC returns the location context of the first terminal to the EPC-GMLC. Such as event type (periodic, area event, motion event, etc.), and if periodic, the time interval for location reporting, the number of reports, etc. may also be provided. If the area event report is the area event report, target area information can be further provided, the time interval of the event report, and the event needing to be reported is that the first terminal is located in the target area, the first terminal enters the target area or the first terminal leaves the target area. In the case of a motion event, a linear distance threshold, interval time of event reporting, etc. may also be provided.

Step 310: the EPC-GMLC returns the location context of the first terminal to the MME.

It should be noted that the above step 305 may also be performed after the step 310.

Specifically, when the MME acquires the context of the location of the first terminal by using the second method, a specific implementation flow may be as shown in fig. 4:

step 401: the AMF sends a location context request message to the LMF, which may include a route identifier (i.e., deferred route identifier) or LDR index number or notification association ID or first terminal identification corresponding to the deferred location request.

The triggering condition for the AMF to send the message may be any one of the following conditions:

the first condition is as follows: and the AMF receives a switching request message from the NG-RAN, wherein the switching request message carries an across-system switching instruction. The AMF determines that the first terminal is currently performing the deferred location request procedure according to the context of the first terminal (e.g., storing a deferred route identifier or LDR index number or notification association ID in the context or storing a location request indicating that the first terminal is performing deferral).

And a second condition: the AMF receives a request message from the MME carrying a deferred route identifier or LDR index number or notification association ID. Wherein, the MME acquires information of 'deferred routing identifier, LDR index number and notification association ID' from the first terminal.

Step 402: the LMF returns the location context of the first terminal to the AMF.

Step 403: and the AMF sends a reply message to the MME, wherein the reply message carries the position context of the first terminal. The message may be a relocation request message or a newly defined message.

The MME obtains and stores the location context of the first terminal, and when the first terminal sends the LCS MO-LR invoke message, the process shown in fig. 3 may be executed, except that steps 306 and 307 do not need to carry indication information requesting the location context of the first terminal, and steps 309 and 310 do not need to carry the location context of the first terminal.

Specifically, when the MME acquires the location context of the first terminal by using the third method, that is, when the MME acquires the location context of the first terminal from the UDM, after the H-GMLC sends the deferred location request to the AMF, the H-GMLC may send a request message to the UDM, where the message carries the location context of the first terminal. Or after receiving the location request, the AMF sends a request message (e.g., a registration message) to the UDM, where the message carries the location context of the first terminal.

In addition, referring to fig. 3, the MME acquires the location context of the first terminal from the UDM after step 1, and then performs steps 302 and thereafter. The difference is that steps 306 and 307 do not need to carry the indication information requesting the location context of the first terminal and steps 309 and 310 do not need to carry the location context of the first terminal.

In addition, after the MME acquires the location context of the first terminal, the MME identifies the received location reporting request sent by the first terminal according to the location context of the first terminal, and determines validity of the location reporting request sent by the first terminal according to the location context of the first terminal (for example, if the network side configures location information for 5 times reported by the first terminal, but the number of times reported by the first terminal satisfies 5 times, the location reporting request sent by the subsequent first terminal is invalid, otherwise, the location reporting request is valid), and if the number of times reported by the first terminal satisfies 5 times, the MME interacts with the E-SMLC to acquire the location information of the first terminal, and the MME selects the EPC-GMLC and sends the location information, the H-GMLC address, and the LDR index number thereto. The EPC-GMLC sends the location information and the LDR index number to the H-GMLC.

Or

After the MME acquires the location context of the first terminal, the MME identifies a received location reporting request sent by the first terminal according to the location context of the first terminal, updates the location context of the first terminal (for example, the number of times of reporting the location is added by 1), interacts with the E-SMLC to acquire the location information of the first terminal, and selects the EPC-GMLC and sends the location information, the H-GMLC address and the LDR index number to the EPC-GMLC. The EPC-GMLC sends the location information and the LDR index number to the H-GMLC.

Or

After the MME acquires the position context of the first terminal, the MME identifies the received position reporting request sent by the first terminal according to the position context of the first terminal, then interacts with the E-SMLC to acquire the position information of the first terminal, and selects the EPC-GMLC and sends the position information, the H-GMLC address and the LDR index number to the MME. The EPC-GMLC sends the location information and the LDR index number to the H-GMLC.

Further, the following optimization can be made: the MME may also send the MME address to the EPC-GMLC, which sends the address to the H-GMLC. When the H-GMLC updates information of the event report of the first terminal (e.g., changes the period of not yet located), the H-GMLC may directly transmit the information to the MME.

Scene two: when the first terminal is registered with the EPC, the LCS client issues a deferred location request, after which the first terminal moves to 5 GC. When the indicated event of deferring the location request occurs (i.e., the condition for deferring reporting of location information by the location request) is satisfied, the first terminal sends the location information to the network.

The AMF can acquire the location context of the first terminal from the MME or the UDM, then select the LMF, send the event report and the location context of the first terminal to the LMF, enable the LMF to initiate a positioning process, and send the location information of the first terminal and the LDR index number to the H-GMLC.

In addition, if the LMF selected by the AMF is not appropriate in the above procedure, the LMF may trigger the LMF relocation procedure. To reduce the latency of the location report, a suitable LMF may be selected before the first terminal initiates the location report, as follows: the AMF can know that the first terminal is executing deferred location service according to a first terminal context (including a location context) provided by the MME, the AMF selects an LMF and sends the location context of the first terminal to the LMF, the LMF allocates a deferred routing identifier (deferred routing identifier) to the first terminal and stores the location context of the first terminal, and a message returned by the LMF to the AMF contains the deferred routing identifier. The AMF transmits the identifier to the first terminal.

When the first terminal sends the event report, the first terminal sends the referred routing identifier to the AMF, and the AMF sends the event report to the LMF according to the information.

Wherein the deferred route identifier assignment process may be as shown in fig. 5, namely:

step 501: and the AMF sends an identification distribution request message to the LMF, wherein the message carries the first terminal identification, the position context information, the LDR index number or the notification association ID.

Step 502: the LMF locally stores the location context information of the first terminal, assigns a deferred route identifier, and returns it to the AMF.

Step 503: and the AMF sends a first terminal configuration updating message to the first terminal, wherein the delayed routing identifier is carried in the message.

Second embodiment

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for managing a location context, which is applied to a second mobility management entity or a UDM, and as shown in fig. 6, the method includes the following steps:

step 601: interacting with a first mobility management entity, and sending the location context of a first terminal to the first mobility management entity.

Wherein the first mobility management entity and the second mobility management entity belong to different core networks. The core network to which the first mobility management entity belongs is the core network to which the first terminal is currently registered. The core network to which the second mobility management entity belongs is a core network which is registered when the first terminal receives the position postponing request.

In addition, the first terminal is any one UE.

As can be seen from the above description, in the embodiment of the present invention, the second mobility management entity or the UDM interacts with the first mobility management entity belonging to a different core network from the second mobility management entity, so as to send the location context of the first terminal to the first mobility management entity, and transfer the location context of the first terminal from one core network to another core network, thereby implementing transfer of the location context of the UE between the different core networks.

Optionally, the interacting between the second mobility management entity or the UDM and the first mobility management entity, and sending the location context of the first terminal to the first mobility management entity, includes:

the second mobility management entity or the UDM receives a first request message sent by the first mobility management entity, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal;

the second mobility management entity or the UDM acquires the location context of the first terminal;

and the second mobility management entity or the UDM sends a first reply message to the first mobility management entity, wherein the first reply message carries the location context of the first terminal.

Optionally, the obtaining, by the second mobility management entity, the location context of the first terminal includes:

the second mobility management entity sends a second request message to a second location management function entity, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal, and the second location management function entity and the second mobility management entity belong to the same core network;

and the second mobility management entity receives a third reply message sent by the second location management function entity, wherein the third reply message carries the location context of the first terminal.

Specifically, when the first mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the second mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network, and the second location management functional entity is an E-SMLC, the MME sends a second request message to the E-SMLC, and the E-SMLC returns a third reply message carrying a location context of the first terminal to the MME; when the first mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network, the second mobility management entity is an AMF of the 5G core network, the second location management functional entity is an LMF, the AMF sends a second request message to the LMF, and the LMF returns a third reply message carrying the location context of the first terminal to the AMF.

Optionally, the obtaining, by the UDM, the location context of the first terminal includes:

the UDM acquires the position context of the first terminal from the second mobility management entity;

wherein the location context of the first terminal in the second mobility management entity is obtained from a second location management function entity, and the second location management function entity and the second mobility management entity belong to the same core network.

Specifically, when the first mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the second mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network, and the second location management functional entity is an E-SMLC, the MME acquires the location context of the first terminal from the E-SMLC and stores the location context in the UDM; when the first mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network, the second mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, and the second location management functional entity is an LMF, the AMF obtains the location context of the first terminal from the LMF and stores the location context in the UDM.

Optionally, when the first mobility management entity is a mobility management entity MME of a 4G core network, the second mobility management entity is a mobility management entity AMF of a 5G core network, and the second location management functional entity is a local management functional entity LMF of the 5G core network;

when the first mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the second mobility management entity is an MME of a 4G core network, and the second location management functional entity is an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) of the 4G core network.

scene one: when the first terminal is registered at the 5GC, the LCS client or AF issues a deferred location request. After the first terminal moves to the EPC, the first terminal sends location information to the network when an indicated event of deferring the location request occurs (i.e., a condition for reporting location information of the deferral location request).

The specific implementation process of the location context management method in the two scenarios may be referred to in the description of the first embodiment, and will not be described herein again.

Third embodiment

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a first mobility management entity, and as shown in fig. 7, the network side device includes the following functional modules:

a first interaction module 701, configured to interact with a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity UDM to obtain a location context of a first terminal;

a first sending module 702, configured to send the location context of the first terminal to a first location management function entity;

Optionally, the first interaction module 701 includes:

a first requesting unit, configured to send a first request message to the second mobility management entity or the UDM, where the first request message is used to request a location context of the first terminal;

a first receiving unit, configured to receive a first reply message returned by the second mobility management entity or the UDM, where the first reply message carries a location context of the first terminal.

Optionally, the first interaction module 701 includes:

a trigger control unit, configured to interact with the second mobility management entity or the UDM to obtain a location context of the first terminal when determining that the first terminal is in an execution process of deferring a location request according to the context of the first terminal obtained by the first mobility management entity in a preset process;

Optionally, the trigger control unit is specifically configured to:

determining that the first terminal is in an execution process of a deferred location request when the context of the first terminal acquired by the first mobility management entity in a preset process includes at least one of the following information:

a route identifier corresponding to the deferred location request;

an LDR index number;

notifying the association ID;

Optionally, the first sending module 702 includes:

a selection unit for selecting a first location management function entity;

a sending unit, configured to send the location context of the first terminal to the selected first location management function entity.

Optionally, the sending unit is specifically configured to:

and under the condition of receiving a position request sent by the first terminal, sending the position request and the position context of the first terminal to the selected first position management functional entity.

Optionally, the sending unit is specifically configured to:

and sending the position context of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal, the LDR index number or the notification association ID to the selected first position management functional entity.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive a second reply message sent by the selected first location management function entity, where the second reply message carries a first routing identifier, and the first routing identifier is allocated to the first terminal by the selected first location management function entity;

a second sending module, configured to send the first routing identifier to the first terminal.

when the first mobility management entity is an AMF of a 5G core network, the first location management functional entity is an LMF of the 5G core network, and the second mobility management entity is a mobility management entity MME of a 4G core network.

Fourth embodiment

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a second mobility management entity or a UDM, and as shown in fig. 8, the network side device includes the following functional modules:

a second interaction module 801, configured to interact with a first mobility management entity, and send a location context of a first terminal to the first mobility management entity;

Optionally, the second interaction module 801 includes:

a request receiving unit, configured to receive a first request message sent by the first mobility management entity, where the first request message is used to request a location context of the first terminal;

an obtaining unit, configured to obtain a location context of the first terminal;

a reply unit, configured to send a first reply message to the first mobility management entity, where the first reply message carries a location context of the first terminal.

Optionally, when the network side device is the second mobility management entity, the obtaining unit is specifically configured to:

sending a second request message to a second location management function entity, where the second request message is used to request a location context of the first terminal, and the second location management function entity and the second mobility management entity belong to the same core network;

and receiving a third reply message sent by the second location management function entity, wherein the third reply message carries the location context of the first terminal.

Optionally, when the network side device is the UDM, the obtaining unit is specifically configured to:

acquiring the position context of the first terminal from the second mobility management entity;

Fifth embodiment

In order to better achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a first mobility management entity, and as shown in fig. 9, the network side device includes: a processor 900; a memory 920 coupled to the processor 900 through a bus interface, and a transceiver 910 coupled to the processor 900 through a bus interface; the memory 920 is used for storing programs and data used by the processor in performing operations; transmitting data information or pilot frequency through the transceiver 910, and receiving an uplink control channel through the transceiver 910; when the processor 900 calls and executes the programs and data stored in the memory 920, the following functions are implemented:

the processor 900, when executing the computer program, performs the following steps:

Optionally, the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the following steps:

sending a first request message to the second mobility management entity or the UDM, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal;

and receiving a first reply message returned by the second mobility management entity or the UDM, wherein the first reply message carries the location context of the first terminal.

under the condition that the context of the first terminal acquired in a preset process determines that the first terminal is in the execution process of deferring the position request, the first mobility management entity interacts with the second mobility management entity or the UDM to acquire the position context of the first terminal;

determining an execution process of a request that the first terminal is in a deferred location when the context of the first terminal acquired in a preset process includes at least one of the following information:

a route identifier corresponding to the deferred location request;

an LDR index number;

notifying the association ID;

selecting a first location management function entity;

and sending the position context of the first terminal to the selected first position management function entity.

receiving a second reply message sent by the selected first location management functional entity, wherein the second reply message carries a first routing identifier, and the first routing identifier is allocated to the first terminal by the selected first location management functional entity;

and sending the first routing identifier to the first terminal.

In fig. 9, among other things, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 900, and various circuits, represented by memory 920, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 910 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a transceiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 900 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 920 may store data used by the processor 900 in performing operations.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps for implementing the above embodiments may be performed by hardware, or may be instructed to be performed by associated hardware by a computer program that includes instructions for performing some or all of the steps of the above methods; and the computer program may be stored in a readable storage medium, which may be any form of storage medium.

Sixth embodiment

In order to better achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network side device, where the network side device is a second mobility management entity or a UDM, and as shown in fig. 10, the network side device includes: a processor 1000; a memory 1020 coupled to the processor 1000 via a bus interface, and a transceiver 1010 coupled to the processor 1000 via a bus interface; the memory 1020 is used for storing programs and data used by the processor in performing operations; transmitting data information or pilot frequency through the transceiver 1010, and receiving an uplink control channel through the transceiver 1010; when the processor 1000 calls and executes the programs and data stored in the memory 1020, the following functions are implemented:

the processor 1000, when executing the computer program, performs the following steps:

receiving a first request message sent by the first mobility management entity, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal;

acquiring the position context of the first terminal;

and sending a first reply message to the first mobility management entity, wherein the first reply message carries the location context of the first terminal.

Optionally, when the network side device is the second mobility management entity, the processor implements the following steps when executing the computer program:

Optionally, when the network side device is the UDM, the processor implements the following steps when executing the computer program:

when the first mobility management entity is a mobility management entity MME of a 4G core network, the second mobility management entity is a mobility management entity AMF of a 5G core network, and the second location management functional entity is a local management functional entity LMF of the 5G core network;

Where in fig. 10, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits being linked together, particularly one or more processors represented by processor 1000 and memory represented by memory 1020. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1010 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a transceiver providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 1000 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1020 may store data used by the processor 1000 in performing operations.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements each process of the embodiment of the location context management method in the foregoing embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effect, and in order to avoid repetition, details are not repeated here. The computer-readable storage medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that in the device and method of the invention, it is obvious that the individual components or steps can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be regarded as equivalents of the present invention. Also, the steps of performing the series of processes described above may naturally be performed chronologically in the order described, but need not necessarily be performed chronologically, and some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or any of the steps or elements of the method and apparatus of the present invention may be implemented in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof, which can be implemented by those skilled in the art using their basic programming skills after reading the description of the present invention.

Thus, the objects of the invention may also be achieved by running a program or a set of programs on any computing device. The computing device may be a general purpose device as is well known. The object of the invention is thus also achieved solely by providing a program product comprising program code for implementing the method or the apparatus. That is, such a program product also constitutes the present invention, and a storage medium storing such a program product also constitutes the present invention. It is to be understood that the storage medium may be any known storage medium or any storage medium developed in the future. It is further noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that each component or step can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be regarded as equivalents of the present invention. Also, the steps of executing the series of processes described above may naturally be executed chronologically in the order described, but need not necessarily be executed chronologically. Some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for managing a location context, applied to a first mobility management entity, includes:

interacting with the second mobility management entity or the UDM to obtain a location context of the first terminal, including:

and under the condition that the first terminal is determined to be in the execution process of deferring the position request, the first mobility management entity interacts with the second mobility management entity or the UDM to acquire the position context of the first terminal.

2. The method for managing location context according to claim 1, wherein the interacting with the second mobility management entity or the unified data management entity UDM to obtain the location context of the first terminal includes:

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first mobility management entity determines that the first terminal is in an execution process of deferring a location request according to the context of the first terminal obtained in a preset process;

the preset process is a registration process or a switching process.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the determining, by the first mobility management entity, that the first terminal is in the execution process of deferring the location request according to the context of the first terminal obtained in a preset process includes:

a route identifier corresponding to the deferred location request;

deferred location request LDR index number;

notifying the association ID;

5. The method for managing location context according to claim 1, wherein the sending the location context of the first terminal to a first location management function entity comprises:

6. The method for managing the location context according to claim 5, wherein the sending, by the first mobility management entity, the location context of the first terminal to the selected first location management function entity comprises:

7. The method for managing the location context according to claim 5, wherein the sending, by the first mobility management entity, the location context of the first terminal to the selected first location management function entity comprises:

8. The method for managing location context according to claim 7, wherein after the first mobility management entity sends the location context of the first terminal, the identifier of the first terminal, the LDR index number or the notification association ID to the selected first location management function entity, the method further comprises:

9. The method for managing location context according to any one of claims 1 to 8,

when the first mobility management entity is a mobility management entity MME of a 4G core network, the first location management functional entity is an evolved serving mobile location center E-SMLC of the 4G core network, and the second mobility management entity is a mobility management entity AMF of a 5G core network;

10. A management method of a location context is applied to a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity (UDM), and comprises the following steps:

wherein, when the first terminal is in the execution process of deferring the location request, the second mobility management entity or the unified data management entity UDM interacts with the first mobility management entity.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second mobility management entity or the UDM interacts with the first mobility management entity to send the location context of the first terminal to the first mobility management entity, and wherein the method comprises:

12. The method for managing the location context according to claim 11, wherein the acquiring, by the second mobility management entity, the location context of the first terminal includes:

the second mobility management entity sends a second request message to a second location management functional entity, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal;

13. The method for managing location context according to claim 11, wherein the UDM obtaining the location context of the first terminal comprises:

wherein the location context of the first terminal in the second mobility management entity is obtained from a second location management function entity.

14. The method for managing location context according to claim 12 or 13,

15. A network side device, which is a first mobility management entity, includes: a transceiver, a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor when executing the computer program implements the steps of:

wherein the processor implements the following steps when executing the computer program:

16. The network-side device of claim 15, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

17. The network-side device of claim 15, wherein the first terminal is determined to be in an execution process of deferring a location request according to the context of the first terminal acquired in a preset process;

the preset process is a registration process or a switching process.

18. The network-side device of claim 17, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

a route identifier corresponding to the deferred location request;

deferred location request LDR index number;

notifying the association ID;

19. The network-side device of claim 15, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

selecting a first location management function entity;

20. The network-side device of claim 19, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

21. The network-side device of claim 19, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

22. The network-side device of claim 21, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

and sending the first routing identifier to the first terminal.

23. The network-side device of any one of claims 15-22,

24. A network side device, which is a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity (UDM), includes: a transceiver, a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor when executing the computer program implements the steps of:

25. The network-side device of claim 24, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, implements the steps of:

acquiring the position context of the first terminal;

26. The network-side device of claim 25, wherein when the network-side device is the second mobility management entity, the processor executes the computer program to implement the following steps:

sending a second request message to a second location management function entity, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the location context of the first terminal;

27. The network-side device of claim 25, wherein when the network-side device is the UDM, the processor executes the computer program to implement the following steps:

28. The network-side device according to claim 26 or 27, wherein the processor, when executing the computer program, performs the following steps:

29. A network side device, where the network side device is a first mobility management entity, the network side device includes:

a first sending module, configured to send the location context of the first terminal to a first location management function entity;

the first interaction module comprises:

and the trigger control unit is used for interacting with the second mobility management entity or the UDM under the condition that the first terminal is determined to be in the execution process of deferring the position request, and acquiring the position context of the first terminal.

30. A network side device, which is a second mobility management entity or a unified data management entity UDM, comprising:

31. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the method for managing a location context according to any one of claims 1 to 9, 10 to 14.