CN1744761A - A method for multiple operators to share radio access network - Google Patents

Abstract

The method includes steps: (1) when user initiates message of attachment request to wireless network controller at first time, using international mobile user ID as request ID of the user, the wireless network controller routes the request to a serving GPRS support node (SGSN node); (2) receiving attachment request, the SGSN node allocates a packet temporary mobile subscriber ID (P-TMSI) for user; network resource ID in P-TMSI is divided into two segments: one is ID of operation manager the user belongs to in order to distinguish different operation managers, and the other is ID of SGSN node of next continuous processing; (3) when initiating attachment request at next time, user sends P-TMSI to wireless network controller; based on ID of operation manager in network resource ID, wireless network controller routes user's message to SGSN node of operation manager the user belongs to for further process.

Description

A method for multiple operators to share radio access network

technical field

The present invention relates to the field of WCDMA mobile communication, in particular to a method for realizing multiple operators sharing RAN (RadioAccess Network, radio access network) through NRI (NetworkResource Identifier) segmentation.

Background technique

With the maturity of 3G mobile communication technology, the construction of 3G network has been put on the agenda. Among the 3G technical standards, WCDMA is developed from GSM, and the GSM system can smoothly transition to the WCDMA system. Since the GSM system accounts for the vast majority in the world, the WCDMA system has a strong market advantage.

During the construction of a WCDMA network, multiple operators may use the same RAN for the following reasons:

1. Due to the largest proportion of wireless network construction in WCDMA network construction, due to funding problems, multiple operators consider using wireless access networks together;

2. Some operators do not have 3G licenses and cannot allocate spectrum resources. They can only share wireless access networks of other operators to achieve the purpose of sharing spectrum;

3. The WCDMA 3G service has not been used on a large scale, and the number of users is still relatively small, while the construction cost of the wireless network is relatively high. The use of the same wireless access network by multiple operators is very helpful for the recovery of funds.

Therefore, RAN sharing across operators is favored by operators.

In RAN sharing, it is mainly realized through the sharing of RNC (Radio Network Controller) in RAN.

In the R5 version of the 3GPP protocol, a technical solution in which the same RAN node is shared by multiple SGSN (ServingGPRS Support Node, serving GPRS support node) nodes is proposed. The technical solution is IU FLEX (flexible access to IU interface).

As shown in Figure 1, the processing procedure of this scheme is as follows:

The user initiates an attach request through the RNC for the first time, and the RNC routes the message to an SGSN node with the user's IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity, International Mobile Subscriber Identity) as the request identifier according to its load condition;

After the SGSN receives the user's attachment request, it allocates P-TMSI (Packet-TemporaryMobile Subscriber Identify) for the user, and 0-10 bits in the P-TMSI are NRIs, which are the identification of the SGSN node;

After the mobile phone receives the P-TMSI allocated by the SGSN, it sends the attached request to the RNC with the allocated P-TMSI as the identification when it sends the attach request next time, and the RNC selects the SGSN node that served the user last time for the user according to the NRI in the P-TMSI. User's attach request.

However, the IU FLEX solution can only be used when multiple SGSN nodes within the same operator share the same or multiple RNCs. When the SGSN nodes of multiple operators share one or more RNCs at the same time, since the NRI allocation strategy is formulated by each operator, in this case, the uniqueness of the NRI cannot be guaranteed. For example, the SGSN node identification NRI of multiple operators sharing a certain RNC is the same. When a user belonging to a certain operator initiates an attach request to the shared RNC, the shared RNC cannot route the user's message to the user according to the NRI on the SGSN node of the carrier to which the service belongs.

Currently, no solution has been proposed in which one RAN node is shared by core network nodes of multiple operators.

Contents of the invention

The present invention implements the method for multiple operators to share the wireless access network through network resource identification segmentation, including the following steps:

A: When the user initiates an attach request message to the radio network controller for the first time, the radio network controller routes the message to a serving GPRS support node (SGSN node) with the user's International Mobile Subscriber Identity as the request identifier;

B: The SGSN node receives the user's attachment request, and assigns a packet temporary mobile subscriber identification number (P-TMSI) to the user. The network resource identifier in the P-TMSI is divided into two sections, and one section is the operator to which the user belongs. The operator ID is used to distinguish different operators, and the other segment is the current SGSN node ID for connection;

C: When the user initiates an attach request next time, the P-TMSI is sent to the radio network controller, and the radio network controller routes the user message to the SGSN node of the operator for processing according to the operator identifier in the network resource identifier.

According to the above method of the present invention, the number of digits used to identify the operator in the network resource identifier is no more than 10, and the specific number of digits can be determined according to the number of operators sharing the wireless access network.

According to the above method of the present invention, the operator identification segment is the first few digits in the network resource identification.

According to the above method of the present invention, the operator identification segment is the last few digits in the network resource identification.

According to the above method of the present invention, each SGSN node can be configured with one or more network resource identifiers, and each network resource identifier corresponds to a wireless network area composed of different operators sharing one RNC.

Referring to Fig. 2, the RNC of operator X is shared by the SGSN nodes of operator A, operator B, and operator C respectively. The three SGSN nodes of operator B use IU FLEX technology to share RNC. After the user of operator A attaches to the network through the RNC shared by operator X, using the method of the present invention, the RNC routes the user's message to the SGSN node of operator A, which is processed by operator A instead of operator B Or operator C handles it. Therefore, sharing one or more RANs among multiple operators can be conveniently realized through the method of the present invention.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the flowchart of sharing RNC among multiple SGSN nodes of the same operator in the prior art;

Fig. 2 is the schematic diagram that RNC of the present invention is shared by the SGSN node of multiple operators;

Fig. 3 is the flowchart of the inventive method;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of multi-operator sharing in the roaming situation of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The solution of the present invention will be further elaborated below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the flow chart of the present invention shown in Fig. 3, when the user registers and starts up, he first initiates an attach request to the RNC to which he belongs, and the RNC routes the message to an SGSN node with the user's IMSI as the request identifier. The corresponding relationship between the user's IMSI and the SGSN node can be realized by the following method: the RNC divides the user's IMSI by 1000 to obtain a remainder, and the RNC configures the corresponding relationship between the SGSN and the remainder. For example, the range of SGSN1 is 0-500, and the range of SGSN2 is 500-999. Through this correspondence, the corresponding SGSN node can be found.

After the corresponding SGSN node receives the user's attachment request, it allocates a P-TMSI for the user. The NRI in the P-TMSI is divided into two sections. One section is the operator identification to which the user belongs to distinguish different operators, and the other section It is the identification of the SGSN node currently connecting; that is, in the 10 bits of the NRI, the NRI is divided into the operator identification segment and the operator's internal SGSN node identification segment. If several operators who have reached a sharing agreement agree that the first three digits of the NRI are the operator's identifier, and the last seven digits are the operator's internal SGSN node identifier; or conversely, the first seven digits of the NRI are the operator's internal SGSN node ID, the last three digits are the operator ID. If the first three digits of the NRI are operator identifiers, 8 shared operators can be identified; the last seven digits of the NRI are used as internal node identifiers of the operators, and a maximum of 128 SGSN nodes can be identified for each operator. How many digits the specific operator ID needs to occupy is determined by the number of operators who have reached a sharing agreement.

Different operators form a POOL area by sharing one RNC.

Referring to FIG. 4 , it is a schematic diagram of a user roaming.

The three POOLs are shared by operator 1 and the operator, and users belonging to operator 1 can roam from POOL1 or POOL2 to POOL3. Operators have configured different NRIs for the SGSNs of POOL1 and POOL2. For example, the NRI identifier of operator 1 can be 00100000001, and the NRI identifier of operator 2 can be 0020000001. The first three digits of the NRI are the operator identifier, and the last seven digits are the affiliation The operator's internal SGSN node identifier. At this time, the last seven digits of the SGSN node identifiers may be the same.

When a user belonging to operator 1 roams from POOL1 or POOL2 to POOL3, the user's MS will carry the NRI allocated on POOL1 or POOL2 last time, and RNC3 knows that the user belongs to operator 1, so that the user's message is routed to the operator's SGSN5 node.

Each SGSN node can also be configured as multiple NRIs by the operator, and each NRI corresponds to a POOL area. Therefore, each SGSN node can correspond to multiple POOL areas at the same time. At this time, the shared RNC can route the user's information to the corresponding SGSN node of the operator according to the operator identifier in the NRI.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention can easily think of changes or Replacement should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

1. A method for multiple operators to share a wireless access network, comprising the following steps: A: When the user initiates an attach request message to the radio network controller for the first time, the radio network controller routes the message to a serving GPRS support node (SGSN node) with the user's International Mobile Subscriber Identity as the request identifier; B: The SGSN node receives the user's attachment request, and assigns a packet temporary mobile subscriber identification number (P-TMSI) to the user. The network resource identifier in the P-TMSI is divided into two sections, and one section is the operator to which the user belongs. The operator ID is used to distinguish different operators, and the other segment is the current SGSN node ID for connection; C: When the user initiates an attach request next time, the P-TMSI is sent to the radio network controller, and the radio network controller routes the user message to the SGSN node of the operator for processing according to the operator identifier in the network resource identifier. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: the segment used to identify the operator in the network resource identifier occupies no more than 10 digits, and the specific number of digits can be determined according to the number of operators sharing the wireless access network to make sure. 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: the operator identification segment is the first few digits in the network resource identification. 4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: the operator identification segment is the last few digits in the network resource identification. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein each SGSN node can be configured with one or more network resource identifiers, and each network resource identifier corresponds to a wireless network area composed of different operators sharing one RNC .

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