KR101460292B1 - Method and system for providing network selection services in heterogeneous network environment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a service providing method and system for allowing a user to access a desired network in a heterogeneous communication network environment.
According to the present invention, there is provided a network access control processing service according to a selection of a user in an environment in which heterogeneous networks are overlapped, comprising: (a) selecting and inputting a desired network from a user terminal in a network access management server; (b) the network access management server instructing the home subscriber server to set the selected network information to the subscriber profile information of the user; And (c) transitioning the access network of the user terminal according to the network information set in the subscriber profile information, wherein the mobility management server is provided with subscriber profile information from the home subscriber server. A service providing method is disclosed.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network selection access process in a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a service providing method and system that allow a user to access a desired network in a heterogeneous communication network environment.

Recently, according to the remarkable development of electronic engineering and communication engineering, mobile communication terminals have various functions. That is, as the wireless communication and data processing technology rapidly develops, people can use functions such as Internet access, video communication, and video message transmission as well as voice communication using a mobile communication terminal. In addition, due to rapid diffusion of mobile communication terminals, a considerable amount of communication occurring in human relationships is performed through mobile communication terminals, and mobile communication terminals are becoming essential communication means in modern life.

As a result of the continuous development of mobile communication infrastructure and the development of technologies therefor, various types of wireless mobile communication networks have existed in recent years, and furthermore, various types of communication networks are expected to appear in the future. A multi-band multi-mode terminal and a dual-band dual-mode terminal have been developed to support and connect various types of communication networks. Such a multiple or dual terminal has a function of covering all communication networks corresponding to a plurality of bandwidths or connecting to two or more communication networks of different systems. That is, the communication modem corresponding to each communication network is provided in one terminal device.

Conventional multi-band multimode terminals are structured such that they are individually connected to each communication network by a modem corresponding to each communication network provided in the terminal. Therefore, the conventional multi-band multimode terminal can carry a single terminal device and selectively access the plurality of communication networks to use the communication service of the corresponding network, or access the communication network at the same time .

According to recent mobile communication technologies, UMTS and WCDMA connection technology, which is a third generation (3G) mobile communication system, are popularized and used. Further, LTE technology as a fourth generation (4G) mobile communication system has been developed and commercialized. As described above, according to the environmental characteristics in which UMTS and LTE are mixed, terminals capable of accessing both UMTS and LTE communication networks have been developed and sold in recent mobile communication terminals.

The current LTE / UMTS combined terminal can not select the network, and the network selection is selected in the network. However, there is a growing demand for users to directly select the network they wish to use in consideration of the performance and the fee of the network. In this case, regardless of the intention of the user, the network connection and the network selection are performed according to the judgment of the network, and recently, there is a problem that the request of the users is not reflected.

The present invention provides a network selection service method and system for supporting a user to select a communication network desired by a user according to a user's will in a heterogeneous network environment and access the corresponding communication network It has its purpose.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be described hereinafter and will be understood by the embodiments of the present invention. Further, objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by the means and the combination shown in the appended claims.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to the present invention is a network access control processing service according to a selection of a user in an environment in which heterogeneous networks are overlapped, Selecting and inputting a desired network from a user terminal; (b) the network access management server instructing the home subscriber server to set the selected network information to the subscriber profile information of the user; And (c) the mobility management server receives the subscriber profile information from the home subscriber server and transitions the access network of the user terminal according to the network information set in the subscriber profile information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for processing a network access control according to a user's selection in an environment in which heterogeneous networks are overlapped, the system comprising: A network connection management server instructing to set the subscriber profile information of the user; A home subscriber server storing and managing information of mobile communication service subscribers as subscriber profile information, setting subscriber profile information according to an instruction of the network access management server, and providing subscriber profile information at the request of the mobile management server; And a mobility management server performing call setup, network connection, and mobility processing of the terminals, receiving the subscriber profile information from the home subscriber server, and transitioning the access network of the user terminal according to the network information set in the subscriber profile information A network selection service providing system is provided in a heterogeneous network environment including the network selection service providing system.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for processing a network access control according to a selection of a user in an environment in which heterogeneous networks overlap, the apparatus comprising: a connection processing unit to which a user terminal wishing to select a network to be connected via a communication network is connected; A network selector for providing a list of selectable networks to the connected user terminals to select and input a desired network; And a setting controller for instructing the home subscriber server to set the selected network information to the subscriber profile information of the user in a network access priority order.

According to the present invention, a user can directly select a network of a terminal in an environment in which heterogeneous networks are overlapped, so that the network connection processing can be performed according to the user's intention considering the performance, cost, and efficiency of the network , It is possible to accurately reflect the intention of the user in the communication service, thereby providing the effect of enhancing user convenience in the communication service.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the description of the invention below, And should not be construed as limiting.
1 is a block diagram of a system in which a method for providing a network selection service is implemented in a heterogeneous network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating a parameter table in which a value is set to an LTE access priority in subscriber profile information.
6 is a diagram showing a parameter table in which a value is set to WCDMA access priority in the subscriber profile information.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Prior to this, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary terms, and the inventor should appropriately interpret the concepts of the terms appropriately It should be interpreted in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined. Therefore, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not represent all the technical ideas of the present invention. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

1 is a block diagram of a system in which a method for providing a network selection service is implemented in a heterogeneous network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system in which the present invention is implemented includes a network access management server 100 that manages network connection processing according to a user's selection, a home subscriber server 200 that maintains subscriber profile information, A mobile station management server 300 (MME / MSC) for performing wireless connection and call setup of user terminals, mobility processing, etc., a base station 400 installed in a main area and directly connected to a user terminal, A user terminal 500 capable of connecting to a heterogeneous network, and the like.

As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the heterogeneous network environment is exemplified as an environment in which an LTE network and a WCDMA network of UMTS are overlapped. In the system according to the present invention, When a user connected to the server 100 selects a desired network, the system is improved so that the connection is switched to the corresponding network.

That is, when the user terminal 500 is connected to the LTE network and the user desires to select and access the WCDMA network through the network access management server 100, the system accesses the access network of the user terminal 500 Transition from LTE network to WCDMA network is induced.

The network access management server 100 selects and inputs a network desired to be accessed from the user connected through the user terminal 500 and receives the subscriber profile information of the user in the home subscriber server 200 of the communication system And controls the setting process. In addition, the network access management server 100 may include a node for performing a connection process and a selection information input process of the user terminal 500. That is, an application server (AS) that accesses information through a client-server method through an application of the user terminal 500 may be included. In addition, it may include an Automatic Response Service (ARS) system that accesses through the call setup of the user terminal 500 and receives information through dialing processing. A more detailed description of the configuration of the network connection management server 100 will be described later with reference to additional drawings.

The home subscriber server 200 stores and manages information of communication service subscribers in a subscriber profile ID (SPID), and when the mobile management server 300 requests the subscriber information And the like. In addition, the SPID, which is subscriber information managed by the home subscriber server 200, includes access network information of users. According to the access network information, an access network is determined when a user attempts to access the network according to the access network information, And the access network is transited according to the access network. The home subscriber server 200 is controlled to change and set the information of SPIDs under storage management in accordance with an instruction from the network access management server 100. [ For example, it is controlled to change the network access network priority information of a specific user among the SPIDs or set the designated network as a priority access network of the user.

The access network information may be used as access network priority information of the corresponding user. That is, the priority information of the network is set and stored in the SPID information of the corresponding user, and the network to be connected to the user is determined or determined according to the priority information. In addition, the home subscriber server 200 may use HSS in the LTE system and HRL in the UMTS system.

The mobility management server 300 performs call connection and call setup processing of the user terminals 500. At this time, the mobility management server 300 receives subscriber information of the corresponding user from the home subscriber server 200 and uses the subscriber information for call connection and call setup processing do. In addition, the mobility management server 300 performs mobility processing of the user terminal 500, and determines the access network of the user terminal 500 or performs the access network transition based on the provided subscriber information. The mobility management server 300 performs an inter-cell handover process in a network and an inter-frequency handover process in a network, and performs a handover process between heterogeneous networks and a transition process between heterogeneous networks through a frequency change using redirection. In the LTE system, the MMS is used in the mobility management server 300, and in the UMTS system, an MSC / SGSN is used.

The base station 400 is installed in a main area and performs a physical wireless connection process with a user terminal 500 in a wireless range. A wireless range area according to one base station 400 is designated as one cell. The base station 400 uses an eNode B in an LTE system and a Node B in a UMTS system.

The user terminal 500 is a mobile communication terminal device that accesses a mobile communication network and provides a mobile communication service to a user. In order to use the network selection service according to the present invention, the user terminal 500 must be a terminal capable of accessing a heterogeneous network, and a multimode terminal capable of connecting to an LTE network and a WCDMA network is used as in the example of the drawing.

Although the network selection service providing system of the present invention is described as an example of an environment in which an LTE network and a WCDMA network are overlapped, the present invention is not limited to this, and even in an environment in which different heterogeneous networks are overlapped, Of course, can be provided.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus 100 for providing a network selection service according to the present invention includes a connection processing unit 110, a network selection unit 120, a setting control unit 130, and the like.

The network selection service providing apparatus 100 according to the present invention is connected to the mobile communication system and connected to the user terminal 500. In response to the network selection request of the terminal user, the network selection service providing apparatus 100 interworks with the network control node of the communication system, ) To perform the access network transition procedure for the network access management server.

The connection processing unit 110 is connected to a communication network, performs connection processing of the user terminal 500, and processes data communication with the connected user terminal 500. The connection processing unit 110 includes an application server (AS), an automatic answering service system, and the like so that users who want to directly select a network to be connected can easily connect to the user terminal. That is, the application server provides an application to the terminal and installs it, and the user can access the server through the application. Also, the answering service system supports the user to access through the call originated through the dialing of the terminal.

The network selection unit 120 provides an interface to the user terminal connected through the connection processing unit 110 so that the user can select a desired network and receives the selected network information as an input signal. The network selection unit 120 provides a network list that can be selected by the connected user terminal, and receives a network selected from a user among the provided network lists as network selection information. At this time, in the case of the client-server method through the application server, the list is provided through the application of the user terminal, and the selected network information is inputted. Also, in the case of the automatic response processing method through the automatic answering service system, the network list that can be selected by the user terminal is voiced and the network information selected through the dialing input of the terminal is received.

The setting control unit 130 performs a process of guiding the access network of the user terminal 500 to the selected network or connecting to the selected network through the communication system according to the network information selected by the user. That is, a control signal or an instruction signal is transmitted to the home subscriber server (HSS), and control processing is performed so that the access network priority information of the subscriber is set to the selected network in the subscriber profile information.

When the network selected by the user in the subscriber profile information of the home subscriber server is set as the access network priority according to the control process, the mobile management server, which processes the access network determination and the access network transition based on the subscriber profile information of the home subscriber server, , The access network of the user terminal 500 is caused to transition to the selected network set in the subscriber profile information.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A method for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in the drawing, a procedure for selecting and inputting a desired network is performed from a user who desires to manually select a network connection manually. At this time, the user selects a desired one of the provided selection list after directly connecting through the terminal, and a selection input procedure of the desired network is performed. (S10)

When the desired network is selected and inputted, the selected network information is transmitted to the home subscriber server (HSS), and the corresponding network is set as the access network priority information in the subscriber profile information (SPID) of the user who is stored and managed in the home subscriber server (S20). ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 >

In the communication system, a process of receiving subscriber profile information of a corresponding user from a home subscriber server is performed. At this time, when the subscriber profile information of the home subscriber server is changed or the setting process is performed, the subscriber profile information is received or the subscriber profile information is received from the home subscriber server according to the conventional procedure at the call origination and call connection attempt of the user terminal (S30)

Upon receiving the subscriber profile information, a procedure for extracting the network priority information set in the profile information is performed. At this time, the access network information extracted in the specific field is extracted from the subscriber profile information or the identification information of the subscriber profile information is read to extract the access network information. That is, the access network information can be extracted by referring to the table promised in advance according to the identification information. (S40)

When the access network information for the user is extracted, an access network transition procedure for the user terminal is performed. At this time, if the user terminal is a call setup and a call connection attempt, control is performed to connect to the corresponding network according to the extracted access network information. If the user terminal is already connected to one of the heterogeneous networks, a procedure is performed to control the access network to transition to the corresponding network according to the extracted access network information (S50)

In this manner, the access network transition procedure can change the frequency change access network used by the terminal by using the redirection, and further can transition the access network to the transition target network using the handover.

As described above, when a user who desires to directly select an access network accesses a network connection management server through an application or an automatic response service and selects a desired network, the network information selected in the subscriber profile information of the communication system is transmitted to the access network The user terminal is controlled so as to be switched to the selected network or to the selected network according to the access network priority information set in the subscriber profile information. Therefore, the user can obtain the effect of manually selecting the connection network and connecting the network manually according to his / her will.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a procedure performed when a user terminal accessing through LTE in a mixed network in which an LTE communication network and a WCDMA communication network are overlapped transits an access network to a WCDMA communication network according to a user's request.

First, a user terminal of a user wishing to select an access network accesses a server managing the network connection through an LTE network connected thereto. At this time, an application can be connected through a client-server method or can be connected through dialing through an automatic response service. (1)

When the user terminal is connected, the server provides a list of selectable networks to the user terminal. In this embodiment, LTE and WCDMA networks are provided as an example of an environment in which an LTE network and a WCDMA network are overlapped. At this time, it is also possible to provide the list on the screen through the application or to provide the list by voice through the answering service. In addition, the server can provide a list after receiving an access network selection request signal from a connected user terminal. (2)

After receiving the list, the user terminal transmits the network information desired by the user to the server according to the operation input of the user, and performs the network selection input procedure. In this example, the WCDMA network is selected and input because it is a user wishing to access the WCDMA network during the LTE connection. (3)

The server instructs the home subscriber server to set the network information input in the subscriber profile information of the user as the access network priority information based on the received network information. At this time, since the selected input network is WCDMA, a message instructing to set WCDMA as a connection priority order is transmitted to the home subscriber server. (4)

The home subscriber server sets the network information selected by the user in the subscriber profile information (SPID) of the user as the connection priority order according to the received instruction. That is, WCDMA is set as the access priority to the SPID of the user. (5)

After the setting process, the home subscriber server transmits the set subscriber profile information to the mobility management server. At this time, the mobility management server transmits the corresponding information according to the subscriber profile information request, or transmits the set SPID to the mobility management server as the subscriber profile information is set. (6)

The mobility management server extracts and confirms the access priority network from the received subscriber profile information and transmits the SPID to the base station where the corresponding user terminal is located in order to connect or transit the corresponding user terminal to the extracted priority network, And controls connection and transition processing to the user terminal. (7)

The base station receives the control signal including the SPID, and performs the connection process and the access network transition process for the corresponding user terminal, and proceeds with the connection and the transition process based on the access priority network information included in the received SPID. )

The base station determines an access network to which the corresponding user terminal is to be connected according to the connection procedure and the transition procedure to the user terminal, and performs connection processing or transition processing to the determined access network. In this case, since the access priority information set in the SPID is the WCDMA network, the transition procedure from the LTE network currently connected to the user terminal to the WCDMA network is performed based on the access priority order information.

In addition, the access network transition procedure can change the access network from LTE to WCDMA using WCDMA using redirection, or transition the access network from LTE to WCDMA using handover.

Through such a procedure, if the user selects a network to be directly connected, the subscriber information of the user is changed in the communication system, and the user switches the access network to the desired network or accesses the network, Allows the network to select the access network.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a parameter table in which a value is set to an LTE access priority in the subscriber profile information, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a parameter table in which a value is set in WCDMA access priority in subscriber profile information.

As shown in the figure, when the SPID is 256, the priority parameter of the LTE is set to high (high), and when the SPID is 255, the priority parameter of the WCDMA is set to high. In addition, the SPID has a value ranging from 1 to 256. When a value other than 256 or 255 as described above is received, the corresponding user does not set a dedicated priority.

Referring to the SPID setting information, it is possible to guide the user to transit the access network to the desired network by adjusting the set value of the SPID according to the user's request. That is, if the connection to the LTE is desired to be controlled, the SPID value is set to 256, and if the connection to the WCDMA is desired, the SPID value is controlled to be set to 255. According to the network connection and the network transition procedure of the communication system, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > and / or < / RTI >

The method of the present invention as described above may be embodied as a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (such as a CD-ROM, a RAM, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magneto-optical disk).

While the specification contains many features, such features should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention or the scope of the claims. In addition, the features described in the individual embodiments herein may be combined and implemented in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described herein in a single embodiment may be implemented in various embodiments individually or in a suitable subcombination.

It is to be understood that, although the operations have been described in a particular order in the figures, it should be understood that such operations are performed in a particular order as shown, or that a series of sequential orders, or all described operations, . In some circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. It should also be understood that the division of various system components in the above embodiments does not require such distinction in all embodiments. The above-described program components and systems can generally be implemented as a single software product or as a package in multiple software products.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The present invention is not limited to the drawings.

100: Network access management server 200: Home subscriber server
300: mobility management server 400: base station
500: user terminal

Claims (19)

A network access control processing service according to a user's selection in an environment where heterogeneous networks are overlapped,
(a) the network access management server receives network information of a network from which a user wishes to access from a user terminal;
(b) instructing the network access management server to set the inputted network information in the subscriber profile information of the user, the home subscriber server managing the subscriber profile information; And
(c) when the mobility management server receives the subscriber profile information from the home subscriber server, the mobility management server transitions the access network of the user terminal according to the network information set in the subscriber profile information A method for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment. The method according to claim 1,
Prior to step (a)
(1) A method for providing a network selection service in a heterogeneous network environment, the method comprising the steps of: (1) connecting a user terminal desiring to select a network to be connected to the network connection management server. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step (a) comprises: in the network access management server,
(a-1) providing a list of networks selectable by the user terminal; And
(a-2) selecting and inputting one of the networks provided from the user terminal. The method according to claim 1,
The step (a)
Wherein the connection and input processing is performed through a client-server method. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the network access management server includes an application server (AS). The method according to claim 1,
The step (a)
Wherein the connection and input processing are performed through an automatic answering service method. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the network access management server includes an ARS (Automatic Response Service) system. The method according to claim 1,
The step (b)
Wherein the network access management server instructs the home subscriber server to set the selected network information to the subscriber profile information of the user in a network access priority order. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the heterogeneous network includes an LTE network and a UMTS network. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the home subscriber server is a home subscriber server (HSS), and the subscriber profile information is a subscriber profile ID (SPID). The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the mobility management server is an MME,
Wherein the step (c) transitions the access network of the user terminal through the base station. The method according to claim 1,
In the step (c)
The access network transition of the user terminal comprises:
Wherein the access network is switched by changing the frequency used by the terminal using the redirection. The method according to claim 1,
In the step (c)
The access network transition of the user terminal comprises:
And transitioning the access network to the transition destination network using the handover. A network access control processing system according to a user's selection in an environment in which heterogeneous networks are overlapped,
A network access management server for receiving network information of a network to which a user wishes to connect from a user terminal and instructing the home subscriber server to set the inputted network information in the subscriber profile information of the user;
A home subscriber server storing and managing information of mobile communication service subscribers as subscriber profile information, setting the subscriber profile information according to an instruction of the network access management server, and providing the subscriber profile information according to a request of the mobile management server; And
A mobile management server performing call setup, network connection and mobility processing of the terminals, receiving the subscriber profile information from the home subscriber server, and transitioning the access network of the user terminal according to the network information set in the subscriber profile information; A network selection service providing system in a heterogeneous network environment including. 15. The method of claim 14,
The network access management server comprises:
And an application server (AS) connected to the user terminal through a client-server method, and receives information. 15. The method of claim 14,
The network access management server comprises:
And an ARS (Automatic Response Service) system. The system is connected to the user terminal through an automatic answering service system, and receives information. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the mobility management server comprises:
Wherein the access network is switched by changing the frequency used by the terminal using the redirection. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the mobility management server comprises:
And transitioning the access network to the transition target network using the handover. A network access control processing apparatus according to a user's selection in an environment in which heterogeneous networks are overlapped,
A connection processing unit connected to a user terminal for selecting a network to be connected via a communication network;
A network selection unit for providing a list of selectable networks to the user terminal connected to the connection processing unit and receiving network information of a network from which the user wishes to connect from the user terminal; And
And a setting controller for instructing the home subscriber server to set the input network information to the subscriber profile information of the user in a network access priority order.

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