CN104427568A

CN104427568A - Method and device for realizing unloading of 3GPP network flow

Info

Publication number: CN104427568A
Application number: CN201310400024.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 薛莉; 杜宗鹏
Original assignee: Beijing Huawei Digital Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Huawei Digital Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2013-09-05
Filing date: 2013-09-05
Publication date: 2015-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 2033-09-05
Also published as: CN104427568B

Abstract

The invention discloses a method and device for realizing unloading of a 3GPP network flow, and relates to the field of communication, and can unload a flow of a specific service accessed through a 3GPP network node by utilizing a non-3GPP network gateway. The method comprises the steps of determining a carrier needing to be established for accessing the specific service by adopting user equipment UE; transmitting a request of UE accessing to the non-3gpp network gateway to the served 3GPP network access node; completing the establishment of the carrier for UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway by virtue of a 3GPP network, and accessing the specific service by the UE through the established carrier.

Description

Method and device for realizing 3GPP network flow unloading

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload.

Background

The increasing abundance of applications available on networks has led to an increasing demand for users to access networks via mobile terminals. To provide better service, mobile operators have now deployed 3GPP network + non-3GPP network (i.e., non-3GPP, e.g., WLAN) hybrid networking.

The first mode is that the User Equipment (UE) is accessed by a 3GPP Network, that is, the UE can be accessed to the internet through an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a serving gateway (S-GW), a Packet Data Network gateway (PDN gateway, which may be abbreviated as P-GW, Packet Data Network gateway), and other Network elements at any time and any place, and the second mode is that the User Equipment (UE) is accessed to the internet through a non-3GPP Network, which can provide a more stable access bandwidth and a lower price.

For the first access method, if the number of users in a cell is too large or some users occupy a large amount of bandwidth, the overall user experience will be affected.

In order to reduce the bandwidth pressure of the 3GPP core network, in the prior art, a Selected IP Traffic Offload (SIPTO) scheme applied to the 3GPP network is provided, where the scheme supports user access through a 3GPP network node and implements Offload through adding a local packet data network gateway (L-PGW).

Specifically, the UE may access to a Core Network (CN) through the base station, the S-GW, and the P-GW, and in this scheme, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) may select an L-PGW for a user to offload traffic.

Although the SIPTO technology can relieve the bandwidth pressure of the mobile core network to a certain extent, a network element L-PGW needs to be added in the 3GPP network, which has a certain influence on the current network architecture and is not convenient for the specific implementation of the mobile operator.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and an apparatus for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload, where a user may offload traffic of a specific service accessed through a 3GPP network node by using a non-3GPP network gateway, that is, part of traffic of a 3GPP network is diverted to the non-3GPP network by using existing equipment, so as to reduce a burden of a 3GPP core network. In addition, the non-3GPP network gateway is adopted as equipment for unloading the 3GPP network flow, which lays a foundation for realizing seamless switching between a 3GPP network access mode and a non-3GPP network access mode so as to ensure that the specific service connection accessed by a user at present is not interrupted.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

in a first aspect, a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload includes:

user Equipment (UE) determines that a bearer for accessing a specific service needs to be established, wherein the specific service is accessible through a 3GPP network and a non-3GPP network;

sending a request for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network access node serving the UE; so that the UE accesses the non-3GPP network gateway through a 3GPP network and the establishment of the load is completed;

and the UE accesses the specific service through the established bearer.

In a first possible implementation form, according to the first aspect,

the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway comprises the following steps: a UE identity, an Access Point name, APN, for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway,

or, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway includes: a UE identity, an APN for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway, and a handover identity.

In a second possible implementation manner, according to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner, the UE learns and stores address information of a non-3GPP network gateway to which the UE accesses.

In a second aspect, a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload is provided, including:

a 3GPP network control network element receives a request sent by a 3GPP network access node for UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway;

controlling to establish a bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network.

In a first possible implementation form, according to the second aspect,

the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway comprises the following steps: UE identification and an access point name APN used for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway;

In a second possible implementation manner, according to the first possible implementation manner, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway further includes: location information of a 3GPP network access node;

or, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway further includes: address information of non-3GPP network gateways.

In a third possible implementation manner, with reference to the second aspect or any one of the first two possible implementation manners, the controlling to establish a bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway through a 3GPP network includes:

acquiring address information of a non-3GPP network gateway;

sending a request for UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one address information through a 3GPP network service gateway;

receiving a reply of the non-3GPP network gateway to the request;

and if the reply indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful, establishing the bearer of the UE accessed to the 3GPP network service gateway.

In a fourth possible implementation, according to the third possible implementation,

the acquiring the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway comprises the following steps: sending a query request to a DNS server; the query request includes: the location information of the 3GPP network access node and the access point name APN used for pointing to the non-3GPP network gateway, and the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway fed back by the DNS server is received; or,

reading address information of a non-3GPP network gateway from the received request of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway; or,

and acquiring the address information of the pre-configured non-3GPP network gateway.

In a fifth possible implementation, according to a fourth possible implementation,

the sending the request of the UE for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one address information comprises:

under the condition that non-3GPP network access needs to be switched to 3GPP network access, a request of UE for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway is sent to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to each acquired address information; otherwise, sending a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to one of the obtained address information.

In a sixth possible implementation manner, according to the second aspect or any one of the first two possible implementation manners, the controlling to establish a bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network includes:

sending a request for UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network service gateway; the 3GPP network service gateway acquires address information of a non-3GPP network gateway pre-configured by the 3GPP network service gateway, and sends a request of UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to at least one non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to the address information;

receiving a reply of the non-3GPP network gateway to the request;

In a seventh possible implementation manner, according to the second aspect, in a case that a bearer for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway via the 3GPP network is not required, the method further includes:

and deleting the bearer of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway through the 3GPP network.

In a third aspect, a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload is provided, including:

a non-3GPP network gateway receives a request sent by a 3GPP network service gateway for UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway;

forwarding, by the 3GPP network service gateway, a reply to the request to a 3GPP network control element; so that the 3GPP network control network element controls to establish the bearer of the UE accessing the 3GPP network service gateway under the condition that the reply indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

In a second possible implementation form, according to the third aspect,

the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway comprises the following steps: UE identification and APN used for pointing to non-3GPP network gateway;

In a third possible implementation manner, according to the second possible implementation manner, if the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway does not include the handover identifier, the method further includes:

establishing a load bearing between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway;

allocating address information for accessing the specific service to the UE;

the reply to the request indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network serving gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful, and includes: address information allocated to the UE for accessing the specific service.

In a fourth possible implementation manner, according to the first possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

and storing the identifier of the UE currently accessed to the non-3GPP network gateway and the identifier of the current access mode of the UE.

if the request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE comprises a switching identifier, the method further comprises the following steps:

inquiring whether a UE identifier consistent with the request exists in the current record of the non-3GPP network gateway or not;

if the specific service exists, updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE, establishing a bearer between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway, and not reallocating address information for accessing the specific service for the UE; the reply to the request indicates a successful bearer establishment and includes address information previously assigned to the UE for accessing the particular service.

In a sixth possible implementation manner, according to the fourth possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

receiving an authentication message sent by a UE through an access point of a non-3GPP network, wherein the authentication message comprises: the identity of the UE and a handover identity;

after the authentication is successful, inquiring whether a UE identifier consistent with the authentication message exists in the current record of the non-3GPP network gateway;

if the specific service exists, updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE, and not reallocating address information for accessing the specific service for the UE;

transmitting an authentication feedback message to the UE, the authentication feedback message including address information previously allocated to the UE for accessing the specific service;

and sending a request for deleting the bearer to a 3GPP service gateway so that the UE accesses the bearer of the non-3GPP network gateway through a 3GPP network to delete the bearer.

In a fourth aspect, a UE is provided, including:

a determination unit: for determining that a bearer needs to be established for accessing a particular service, the particular service being a service accessible via both a 3GPP network and a non-3GPP network;

a transmission unit: sending a request for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network access node serving it; to enable the UE to access the non) bearer establishment completion of the 3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network;

an access unit: for the UE to access the specific service through the established bearer.

In a first possible implementation form, according to the fourth aspect,

In a second possible implementation manner, according to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

a storage unit: for learning and storing address information of non-3GPP network gateways to which it has access.

In a fifth aspect, a 3GPP network control network element is provided, including:

a receiving unit: receiving a request sent by a 3GPP network access node for a UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway;

a control unit: for controlling establishment of a bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network.

In a first possible implementation form, according to the fifth aspect,

In a second possible implementation, according to the first possible implementation,

the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway further comprises: location information of a 3GPP network access node;

In a third possible implementation form, according to the fifth aspect or any of the first two possible implementation forms,

the 3GPP network control network element further includes: a first sending unit, configured to send a request for accessing a non-3GPP network gateway by a UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one piece of address information;

the control unit includes: the system comprises an acquisition module, a first sending control module and a first bearing management module; wherein,

an acquisition module: the method comprises the steps of obtaining address information of a non-3GPP network gateway;

a first transmission control module: the first sending unit is used for controlling the first sending unit to send a request of UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one address information through a 3GPP network service gateway;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a reply to the request from the non-3GPP network gateway;

the first bearing management module: and the bearer used for establishing the UE to access the 3GPP network service gateway is established under the condition that the response received by the receiving unit indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

In a fourth possible implementation manner, according to the third possible implementation manner, the obtaining module is specifically configured to:

sending a query request to a DNS server; the query request includes: the location information of the 3GPP network access node and the access point name APN used for pointing to the non-3GPP network gateway, and the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway fed back by the DNS server is received; or,

reading address information of a non-3GPP network gateway from a request of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway received by a receiving unit; or,

In a fifth possible implementation manner, according to a fourth possible implementation manner, the first sending control module is specifically configured to:

under the condition that non-3GPP network access needs to be switched to 3GPP network access, the first sending unit is controlled to send a request of UE for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to each address information acquired by the acquisition module; otherwise, controlling the first sending unit to send a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to one of the address information acquired by the acquisition module.

In a sixth possible implementation manner, according to the fifth aspect or any one of the first two possible implementation manners, the 3GPP network control network element further includes: a second sending unit, configured to send, to the 3GPP network serving gateway, a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE;

the control unit includes: a second sending control module and a second bearing management module;

the second transmission control module: the second sending unit is used for controlling the second sending unit to send a request of UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the 3GPP network service gateway; the 3GPP network service gateway acquires address information of a non-3GPP network gateway pre-configured by the 3GPP network service gateway, and sends a request of UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to at least one non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to the address information;

the receiving unit: the non-3GPP network gateway is also used for receiving a reply of the request;

the second bearer management module: and the bearer used for establishing the UE to access the 3GPP network service gateway if the reply received by the receiving unit indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

In a seventh possible implementation manner, according to the fifth aspect, the control unit is further configured to:

deleting the bearer of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway via the 3GPP network in case the bearer of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway via the 3GPP network is not needed.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a non-3GPP network gateway comprising:

a receiving unit: a request for receiving a UE access non-3GPP network gateway sent by a 3GPP network service gateway;

a transmission unit: for forwarding, by the 3GPP network serving gateway, a reply to the request to a 3GPP network control element; so that the 3GPP network control network element controls to establish the bearer of the UE accessing the 3GPP network service gateway under the condition that the reply indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

In a first possible implementation manner, in combination with the sixth aspect,

alternatively, it comprises: a UE identity, an APN for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway, and a handover identity.

In a second possible implementation manner, in combination with the first possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

the first bearing unit is established: the gateway is used for establishing a load between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway;

a distribution unit: for allocating address information for accessing the specific service to the UE;

In a third possible implementation manner, with reference to the sixth aspect, the method further includes:

a storage unit: and the method is used for storing the identifier of the currently accessed UE and the identifier of the current access mode of the UE.

In a fourth possible implementation manner, with reference to the third possible implementation manner, the method further includes:

a first query unit: the UE is used for inquiring whether the UE identification consistent with the request exists in the current record or not;

a first update unit: the identifier is used for updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE in the storage unit under the condition that the first query unit queries that the consistent UE identifier exists;

and a second bearing establishing unit: the gateway is used for establishing a load between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway;

the reply to the request indicates a successful bearer establishment and includes address information previously assigned to the UE for accessing the particular service; wherein the non-3GPP network gateway does not reallocate address information for the UE for accessing the specific service.

In a fifth possible implementation manner, with reference to the third possible implementation manner, the method further includes: a second query unit and a second updating unit;

the receiving unit is further configured to: receiving an authentication message sent by a UE through an access point of a non-3GPP network, wherein the authentication message comprises: the identity of the UE and a handover identity;

the second query unit: the network gateway is used for inquiring whether the current record of the non-3GPP network gateway has the UE identification consistent with the authentication information after the authentication is successful;

a second updating unit: the second query unit is used for updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE in the storage unit under the condition that the second query unit queries that the consistent UE identifier exists;

the sending unit is further configured to: transmitting an authentication feedback message to the UE, the authentication feedback message including address information previously allocated to the UE for accessing the specific service; wherein the non-3GPP network gateway does not reallocate address information for the UE for accessing the specific service;

the sending unit is further configured to: and sending a request for deleting the bearer to a 3GPP service gateway so that the UE accesses the bearer of the non-3GPP network gateway through a 3GPP network to delete the bearer.

The method and the device for realizing 3GPP network flow unloading provided by the embodiment of the invention adopt the non-3GPP network gateway as the equipment for unloading the flow, namely the flow of the 3GPP network is shunted through the non-3GPP network, thereby reducing the burden of the 3GPP core network, and the proposal has no influence on the current network architecture and is beneficial to the realization of operators. In addition, the non-3GPP network gateway is adopted as equipment for unloading the 3GPP network flow, which lays a foundation for realizing seamless switching between a 3GPP network access mode and a non-3GPP network access mode and ensures that the connection of the specific service currently accessed by the user is not interrupted.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a user equipment accessing a specific service through a 3GPP network and a non-3GPP network in the prior art;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user equipment accessing a specific service through a method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user equipment accessing a specific service through another method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart corresponding to another method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart corresponding to another method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a flowchart corresponding to another method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a ue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of another ue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a 3GPP network control element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of another 3GPP network control element according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of another 3GPP network control element according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a non-3GPP network gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of another non-3GPP network gateway according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of another non-3GPP network gateway according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of another non-3GPP network gateway according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of another ue according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 18 is a schematic diagram of another 3GPP network control element according to the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of another non-3GPP network gateway according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following describes in detail a method, an apparatus, and a system for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload according to embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiment of the present invention is applied to a scenario of a 3GPP Network and a non-3GPP Network hybrid networking, for example, the 3GPP Network includes but is not limited to a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) Network, a Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TDSCDMA) Network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Network, and the non-3GPP Network includes but is not limited to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and WiMAX.

As shown in fig. 1, in the prior art, under the management control of a 3GPP network control element, a UE may access a specific service, i.e. an a-path in fig. 1, through a 3GPP network access node, a 3GPP serving gateway, and other devices. The specific service is a service accessible via both a 3GPP network and a non-3GPP network, and may be, for example, the Internet. For convenience of description, the Internet is taken as an example in the embodiments of the present invention. Of course, it is also possible to access a specific service, i.e. the b-path in fig. 2, through a non-3GPP network access point, a non-3GPP gateway, or the like.

In order to realize 3GPP network traffic offload by using a non-3GPP network gateway, the present invention provides a method for realizing 3GPP network traffic offload, and a path c in fig. 2 is established. As shown in fig. 3, the method specifically includes:

s001, the UE determines that a bearer for accessing the Internet needs to be established.

For example, when the user triggers a shortcut of the UE's browser, the UE determines that a bearer for accessing the Internet needs to be established. For another example, when the user is accessing the Internet through the UE, if the UE finds that network handover (generally, non) from the 3GPP network to the 3GPP network is possible, and switches the b-path to the c-path corresponding to fig. 2), the UE determines that a bearer for accessing the Internet needs to be established.

S002, UE sends a request of UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network access node serving the UE.

Optionally, if the bearer is initially established, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway includes: UE identification, access point name APN for pointing to non-3GPP network gateway. Or, optionally, if the bearer needs to be established for the network handover, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway includes: a UE identity, an APN for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway, and a handover identity.

Further optionally, if the bearer needs to be established for the network handover at this time, and the UE can previously learn and store the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway to which the UE accesses, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway may further include: address information of non-3GPP network gateways. Of course, if the UE cannot acquire the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway to which the UE is connected, the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway can be obtained in the subsequent step.

And S003, the 3GPP network access node sends the request of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the 3GPP network control network element.

Optionally, the 3GPP network access node may directly forward the request received by the 3GPP network access node to the 3GPP network control element. Or, optionally, the 3GPP network access node may process the received request and send the processed request to the 3GPP network control element. The processing procedure may be adding the position information of the mobile terminal itself, or may be adding or subtracting the packet header and other conventional processing.

Through the above S003, the 3GPP network control element receives the request sent by the 3GPP network access node. Then, the 3GPP network control element controls to establish a bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway through the 3GPP network, specifically, the method includes: S004-S012; wherein S004 is an optional step.

S004 and 3GPP network control network elements can acquire the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway.

The acquiring the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway comprises the following three optional modes:

mode 1: a 3GPP network control network element sends a query request to a DNS server; the query request includes: and the location information of the 3GPP network access node and the access point name APN used for pointing to the non-3GPP network gateway, and receiving the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway fed back by the DNS server.

Mode 2: and the 3GPP network control network element reads the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway from the received request of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway. This approach particularly refers to the case where the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway is statically configured in the 3GPP access node.

Mode 3: and the 3GPP network control network element acquires the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway which is configured in advance. This approach particularly refers to the case where the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway is statically configured in the 3GPP network control element.

S005 and the 3GPP network control network element sends a request of UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the 3GPP network service gateway.

Optionally, the request includes an IP address of at least one non-3GPP network gateway.

Or, optionally, if the 3GPP network control element knows through a previous configuration that the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway is statically configured in the 3GPP network service gateway, therefore, in the request sent by the 3GPP network control element to the 3GPP network service gateway for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway, the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway may be default. At this time, S004 is not necessary.

Correspondingly, the 3GPP network service gateway receives a request sent by the 3GPP network control network element for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE.

S006, 3GPP network service gateway obtains the address of non-3GPP network gateway.

Optionally, if the 3GPP network service gateway obtains the IP address of at least one non-3GPP network gateway from the received request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE, the 3GPP network service gateway sends the request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to the obtained IP address.

Or, optionally, if the 3GPP network service gateway does not obtain the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway from the received request of accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE, the 3GPP network service gateway obtains the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway preconfigured by itself, and sends the request of accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one IP address.

It should be noted that, when it is necessary to switch the non-3GPP network access to the 3GPP network access, if the UE does not store the address of the non-3GPP network gateway connected before, the IP address of the non-3GPP network gateway acquired by the 3GPP network service gateway may be one or multiple.

The S007 and the 3GPP network service gateway send a request of UE for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to at least one non-3GPP network gateway.

Correspondingly, the non-3GPP network gateway receives a request sent by the 3GPP network service gateway for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway.

And S008, the non-3GPP network gateway processes according to the received request of the UE for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway.

If the request of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway received by the non-3GPP network gateway does not include the handover identifier, specifically, the non-3GPP network gateway needs to perform the following operations:

firstly, establishing a load bearing between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway;

secondly, allocating address information for accessing the specific service to the UE;

then, the success of bearer establishment between the 3GPP network serving gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is indicated in reply to the request, and includes: address information allocated to the UE for accessing the specific service.

Optionally, the non-3GPP network gateway may further store an identifier of the UE currently accessing the non-3GPP network gateway and an identifier of a current access mode of the UE.

If the request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE includes the handover identifier, specifically, the non-3GPP network gateway needs to perform the following operations:

inquiring whether a UE identifier consistent with the request exists in the current record of the non-3GPP network gateway or not; if the specific service exists, updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE, establishing a bearer, and not reallocating address information for accessing the specific service for the UE; the reply to the request indicates a successful bearer establishment and includes address information previously assigned to the UE for accessing the particular service.

S009, the non-3GPP network gateway sends a reply to the 3GPP network service gateway for the request.

And S010 and the 3GPP network service gateway processes according to the received reply.

Specifically, the 3GPP network serving gateway receives a reply of the non-3GPP network gateway to the request, and if the reply indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network serving gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful, the bearer for the UE to access the 3GPP network serving gateway needs to be established through subsequent steps. The processing in this step may be to add address information for accessing the specific service in the received reply.

And S011, the 3GPP network service gateway sends the processed reply of the request to a 3GPP network control network element.

And S012 and a 3GPP network control network element control and establish the load of the UE accessing the 3GPP network service gateway.

Specifically, if the reply received by the 3GPP network control element indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful, the bearer for the UE to access the 3GPP network service gateway is controlled to be established.

S013, the UE accesses the Internet through the established bearer.

Optionally, if the bearer is established for the first time, the UE accesses the Internet through the address information for accessing the Internet allocated to the UE by the non-3GPP network gateway this time; or, optionally, if the bearer needs to be established for the network handover, the UE may access the Internet through the address information for accessing the Internet previously allocated to the UE by the non-3GPP network gateway, so as to ensure that the handover does not cause interruption of communication.

The method for realizing 3GPP network flow unloading provided by the embodiment of the invention adopts the non-3GPP network gateway as the equipment for unloading the flow, namely the flow of the 3GPP network is shunted through the non-3GPP network, thereby reducing the burden of the 3GPP core network, and the proposal has no influence on the current network architecture and is beneficial to the realization of operators.

Through the above steps, the UE can access the Internet using the c-path in fig. 2.

There is another handover case, for example, after the UE accesses Internet by using the c path in fig. 2, if the UE finds that the non-3GPP network is satisfied, the c path in fig. 2 may be switched to the b path.

The method comprises the following specific steps:

1) the UE sends an authentication message to an authentication server through an access point of a non-3GPP network via a non-3GPP network gateway, wherein the authentication message comprises: the identity of the UE and the switching identity.

2) The authentication server authenticates according to the received authentication message, and sends the authentication feedback message to the non-3GPP network gateway after the authentication of the authentication server is successful.

3) And the non-3GPP network gateway inquires whether the current record has the UE identification consistent with the authentication message. And if so, updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE, and not reallocating the address information for accessing the specific service for the UE.

4) And the non-3GPP network gateway sends an authentication feedback message to the UE, wherein the authentication feedback message comprises address information which is allocated to the UE before and is used for accessing the specific service.

5) And the non-3GPP network gateway sends a request for deleting the load to a 3GPP service gateway so that the UE accesses the load of the non-3GPP network gateway through the 3GPP network to delete the load.

The method for realizing 3GPP network flow unloading provided by the embodiment of the invention adopts the non-3GPP network gateway as the equipment for unloading the flow, namely the flow of the 3GPP network is shunted through the non-3GPP network, thereby reducing the burden of the 3GPP core network, and the proposal has no influence on the current network architecture and is beneficial to the realization of operators. In addition, the non-3GPP network gateway is adopted as equipment for unloading the 3GPP network flow, which lays a foundation for realizing seamless switching between a 3GPP network access mode and a non-3GPP network access mode and ensures that the connection of the specific service currently accessed by the user is not interrupted.

The invention provides another method for realizing 3GPP network flow unloading, wherein an LTE network and a WLAN are taken as examples for explanation respectively, at this time, a 3GPP network access Node is an Evolved Node B (eNodeB), a 3GPP network control network element is an MME, a 3GPP network service Gateway is an S-GW, and a non-3GPP network Gateway is a Broadband Network Gateway (BNG).

In order to offload the part of traffic that the UE accesses the Internet through the 3GPP network, the embodiment of the present invention adopts the following method to establish the connection shown in the direction of line c' in fig. 4, that is, to offload the traffic that accesses the Internet through the 3GPP network by using the BNG, which needs to implement the P-GW function on the basis of the existing BNG to implement the offloading function.

It should be noted that, in the connection process shown in the c 'line direction in fig. 4, the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway does not refer to a specific request, but is a generic term for a type of request, that is, in the connection process shown in the c' line direction in fig. 4, the bearers that need to be established under the control of the MME include: the specific requests for establishing the bearer between the UE and the eNodeB, the bearer between the eNodeB and the S) GW, and the bearer between the S-GW and the BNG are generally different (the request carrying different indication information is also different), but the purpose of the request is to enable the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway. In the following description of specific steps, for the sake of clarity, the request for establishing a bearer between different network elements is directly used for description.

When the request of the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway passes through any network element of eNodeB, MME, S-GW, and BNG, the processing performed by the network element includes: the conventional processing such as increasing or decreasing the packet header is performed, and then the processed request is forwarded, which is the conventional processing in the prior art, so in this embodiment, the conventional processing of such a network element is not described in detail. Further, the network element may also add or remove some parameters according to specific situations.

The specific steps are shown in fig. 5:

s101: the UE sends a PDN connection request to the eNodeB.

The PDN connection request is a request for UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway.

The UE adds Access Point Name (APN) information to the PDN connection request. The APN can represent a class of services, namely directed to BNGs (there may be only one BNG, or there may be multiple BNGs), for example, the format of the APN may be marked as: offroad BNG.

S102: and the eNodeB processes according to the received PDN connection request.

Specifically, after receiving the PDN connection request, the eNodeB adds its own location information to the request, and then sends the processed PDN connection request to the MME.

Optionally, the location information includes: tracking area code (tai) or eNodeB identity (id).

S103: and the eNodeB sends the processed PDN connection request to the MME.

S104: and the MME processes according to the PDN connection request sent by the eNodeB.

Typically, the created session is a bearer, i.e. a default bearer, and then a new dedicated bearer may also be established under this session.

Specifically, after receiving the PDN connection request sent by the eNodeB, the MME acquires, according to the APN in the PDN connection request, information that the UE desires to offload traffic through the BNG, so that the MME needs to acquire the IP address of the BNG. Exemplary ways in which the MME knows the IP address of the BNG include the following four (one of which has been configured in advance):

in the mode 1, the MME dynamically acquires the IP of the BNG according to the principle that the geographical position is nearby.

After receiving the PDN connection request, the MME acquires the APN information and location information from the request, and sends both the APN information and location information to a Domain Name System (DNS) server, and the DNS server resolves the APN by using the location information to obtain the IP address of the BNG.

The following describes in detail a specific method for the DNS server to obtain the IP address of the BNG:

firstly: a special APN may be defined which can represent a class of services, namely directed to BNGs (there may be only one or more of said BNGs), for example, the format of said APN may be marked as: offload BNG.

Secondly, the method comprises the following steps: the BNGs need to be registered in the DNS server of the operator in advance, and the registration information of the BNGs includes the IP address and the location information of the BNGs, and the registration information of at least one BNG forms a BNG list. The location information of the BNG in the BNG list may be tai (tracking area identity), or an eNodeB ID to which the BNG belongs.

And the DNS server receives the APN with the offload BNG mark and the position information of the eNodeB sent by the MME, and finds out that the APN points to the BNG by analyzing the APN information, searches a BNG list and finds out the BNG with the nearby geographic position according to the received position information. The above BNG may only have one BNG, or may have a plurality of BNGs (at this time, the area covered by the plurality of BNGs in the location of the UE is crossed), and the DNS server only needs to report the IP addresses of the BNGs satisfying the condition to the MME.

Mode 2, the IP address of the BNG is statically configured in the eNodeB.

If the IP address of the BNG statically configured in the eNodeB is adopted, the BNG corresponding to the coverage area of the eNodeB is obtained according to the result of network planning and is configured in the eNodeB. The BNG corresponding to one eNodeB may be one, or may be multiple (the eNodeB is located in the cross coverage area of multiple BNGs).

If the MME obtains the IP address of the BNG by using the method 2, the step S102 further includes: and the eNodeB adds the IP address of the BNG meeting the condition in the PDN connection request and sends the PDN connection request to the MME.

After receiving the PDN connection request sent by the eNodeB, the MME learns, according to the APN in the PDN connection request, information that the UE wants to offload traffic through the BNG, so that the MME learns the IP address of the BNG, and further, the MME acquires, from the PDN connection request, the IP address of the BNG that meets the condition.

Mode 3, statically configuring the IP address of the BNG in the MME.

If the IP address of the BNG is statically configured in the MME, according to the result of network planning, the MME may be used as a granularity configuration, that is, each MME only stores the IP address of one BNG, or the eNodeB is used as a granularity, that is, each MME includes a list including each eNodeB belonging to the MME and the BNG corresponding to the eNodeB. The MME selects a BNG satisfying the condition according to the eNodeB location information, and the BNG may be one or multiple (the eNodeB is located in the cross coverage area of multiple BNGs).

After receiving the PDN connection request sent by the eNodeB, the MME learns, according to the APN in the PDN connection request, information that the UE wants to offload traffic through the BNG, so that the MME learns the IP address of the BNG, and further, the MME selects, from the list thereof, the IP address of the BNG that satisfies the condition.

The MME acquires the IP addresses of the BNGs that satisfy the condition in any one of the above manners 1 to 3, and if the IP addresses of the BNGs are not only one, the MME needs to select one of the IP addresses, for example, the MME may always select the first one in the list of the BNGs that satisfy the condition.

The MME adds the IP address of the BNG in the session creation request.

Mode 4, the IP address of the BNG is statically configured in the S-GW.

The specific configuration method is the same as the configuration method described in method 3 above.

After receiving the PDN connection request sent by the eNodeB, the MME learns, according to the APN in the PDN connection request, that the UE wants to offload traffic through the BNG, and at this time, the MME knows that the S-GW has configured the IP address of the relevant BNG, so that the MME sets the IP address of the BNG in the create session request to null.

S105, the MME sends a session creation request to the S-GW.

The session creation request sent by the MME to the S-GW is a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE.

And S106, the S-GW processes according to the received session creation request.

Specifically, if the MME adopts the method mode 1-3 in S104, the MME acquires the IP address of the BNG and adds it in the session creation request to send it to the S-GW, and the S-GW can acquire the IP address of the BNG from the session creation request;

if the MME adopts method 4 in S104, the S-GW receives the request for creating a session sent by the MME, and finds that the IP address of the BNG in the request is set to null, and further, the S-GW acquires an address satisfying the condition from the IP address of the BNG in its own configuration list.

If the IP address of the BNG is not only one, the S-GW needs to select one from the IP addresses, for example, the S-GW may always select the first one in the list in the BNG that satisfies the condition.

S107, the S-GW sends a request for creating the session to the BNG according to the obtained IP address of the BNG.

And S108, the BNG processes according to the received session creation request.

After receiving the session creation request, the BNG needs to reply to the received session creation request, for example, the reply to the session creation request may be a Create session response, which includes an identifier of session establishment success or session establishment failure.

Generally, the identifier indicates that the session is successfully established when the PDN connection is established, and the processing performed by the BNG includes:

1) and establishing a bearer with the S-GW.

2) An IP address is assigned to said UE for the UE to access the Internet via said BNG, and said reply to said create session request further comprises said IP address.

3) And recording the identifier of the UE and the current connection mode identifier, wherein the current connection mode identifier is used for indicating that the eNodeB or the WLAN is currently adopted to access the BNG.

S109, BNG sends reply of the above request for creating session to S-GW.

S110, the S-GW processes according to the received reply of the request for establishing the session.

Specifically, if any of the above manners 1-3 is adopted, the S-GW processes the reply of the session creation request received by the S-GW, and at this time, the request may not carry the IP address of the BNG currently establishing the bearer, because the MME already knows this information;

if the above-mentioned method 4 is adopted, the S-GW may add the IP address of the BNG currently establishing the bearer in the reply of the create session request, so that the MME knows the BNG currently connected to the UE.

And S111, the S-GW sends the processed reply of the session creation request to the MME.

And S112, the MME controls and establishes the corresponding bearer between the eNodeB and the S-GW and the bearer between the UE and the eNodeB according to the received reply of the session creation request.

Optionally, if the UE and the network support the related functions, the MME may further carry the IP address of the BNG in the corresponding indication information and send the IP address of the BNG to the UE when controlling to establish the bearer between the eNodeB and the S-GW and the radio bearer between the UE and the eNodeB, and the UE may obtain the IP address of the BNG from the request and store the IP address.

At this time, the UE establishes a connection shown in the direction of line b in fig. 1, and offloads the traffic of the UE accessing the Internet through the BNG.

According to the method described above, there are also two switching scenarios:

switching scene 1: as shown in fig. 4, the UE has established a connection in the b' line direction, accesses the BNG through the WLAN, and accesses the Internet. When the UE detects that the WLAN signal strength is lower than the threshold, in order to ensure that the connection for accessing the Internet is not interrupted, the UE initiates a handover procedure for switching from the WLAN access mode to the eNodeB access mode (to establish a connection in the direction of line c' in fig. 4 to continue accessing the Internet).

The specific steps for switching scenario 1 are shown in fig. 6:

s201, UE sends a PDN connection request to an eNodeB.

The request may carry an identifier indicating a Handover request, which may be, for example, Handover Indication.

When the UE detects that the WLAN signal strength is lower than the threshold, it is desirable to switch from the WLAN access BNG mode to the eNodeB access BNG mode in order to ensure the continuity of the currently accessed Internet connection.

UE sends PDN connection request to eNodeB to which UE belongs, and UE carries relevant information in the request, wherein the relevant information comprises APN information.

Optionally, the related information may further include location information.

Or alternatively, if the UE is capable of acquiring the IP address of the BNG from the WLAN and the PDN connectivity request message is extended to support the IP address carrying the BNG, the related information may include the IP address of the BNG.

S202, the eNodeB processes according to the received PDN connection request.

Specifically, after receiving the PDN connection request, the eNodeB adds its own location information to the request. Optionally, the location information may include: tracking Area code (tai) or eNodeB identity (id).

And S203, the eNodeB sends the processed PDN connection request to the MME.

And S204, the MME processes according to the received PDN connection request.

Specifically, the MME obtains information from the PDN connection request:

if the acquired information directly includes the IP address of the BNG, the IP address of the BNG is unique at the moment;

if the acquired information does not include the IP address of the BNG, but the APN information and the location information can be acquired (where the location information is only provided in the method 1), the IP address of the BNG is obtained by using the APN information and the location information according to any one of the first four methods described in the above S104 (one of the methods is configured to be used in advance):

if the MME learns the IP address of the BNG in any of the manners 1 to 3, the learned IP address of the BNG may be one or more, and is different from the PDN connection establishment of the non-handover (the information obtained by the MME from the PDN connection request further includes an identifier of whether the current PDN connection request is a handover, so that the MME can learn whether the current PDN connection request is a handover), at this time, the MME does not perform the selection operation, and the MME adds the IP addresses of all the BNGs that satisfy the condition to the create session request.

If the MME learns the IP address of the BNG in the way 4, the MME learns the information that the UE wants to offload traffic through the BNG according to the APN in the PDN connection request, and at this time, the MME knows that the S-GW has configured the IP address of the associated BNG, so the IP address of the BNG in the MME create session request is set to null.

S205, MME sends the processed request for creating session to S-GW.

S206, the S-GW processes according to the received session creation request.

Specifically, if the S-GW can acquire the IP address of the BNG from the create session request, the acquired IP address of the BNG may be one or more;

if the MME in S204 adopts the method 4 in S104, the S-GW receives the request for creating a session sent by the MME, and finds that the IP address of the BNG in the request is set to null, then further, the S-GW acquires an address meeting the condition from the IP addresses of the BNGs in its own configuration list, where the acquired IP addresses of the BNGs may be one or more.

S207, S-GW sends the processed request for creating session to BNG.

S208, BNG processes according to the received request for creating session.

Specifically, after receiving the session creation request, the BNG checks the UE identifier and the current connection mode identifier recorded in the BNG itself, and makes the following determination:

if the BNG finds that one of the UE identifications currently recorded is the same as the UE identification sending the session creating request, the BNG establishes a bearer with the S-GW, and the response of the session creating request carries the successful path establishing identification by the BNG.

It is mainly pointed out that, after the BNG finds the identifier of the UE, it knows the current connection mode through the current connection mode identifier to know what access mode the current access mode is, and the two access modes need to enter from different interfaces of the BNG, so the BNG needs to switch the traffic to a new bearer after the bearer is established, and release the original session.

Then, the BNG updates the connection type identifier corresponding to the UE.

And if the BNG does not find the UE identifier for sending the session creating request in the currently recorded UE identifiers, carrying the path establishing failure identifier in a reply of the session creating request.

Because only one BNG is currently connected with the UE, only one BNG carries the route establishment success identification in the reply of the session establishment request, the BNG does not allocate a new IP address for accessing the Internet to the UE, but the UE currently uses the IP address for accessing the Internet, thereby ensuring the continuity of the current Internet connection of the UE.

S209, BNG sends reply to the S-GW for the above request to create session.

S210, the S-GW processes according to the received reply of the request for establishing the session.

Specifically, the S-GW may receive one or more replies to the create session request, but only one of the replies to the create session request sent by the BNG carries the successful route establishment identifier and the IP address allocated by the BNG to the UE for accessing the Internet.

For the BNG carrying the successful route establishment identifier in the reply message, and adopting the above method 4, the S-GW needs to further add the IP address of this BNG in the reply of the session creation request, so that the MME can know the BNG to which the UE is currently connected.

S211, S-GW sends the processed reply of creating session request to MME.

S212, the MME controls the establishment of the bearer between the eNodeB and the S-GW and the bearer between the UE and the eNodeB according to the received reply of the request for establishing the session.

Through the above steps S201-S212, the UE switches the mode of accessing the BNG from WLAN to the mode of accessing the BNG by eNodeB, and ensures the continuity of the Internet connection.

Switching scene 2: as shown in fig. 4, the UE already establishes a connection in the b 'line direction, accesses the BNG through the eNodeB, and accesses the Internet, but when the UE detects that the WLAN signal strength is higher than or equal to the threshold, the UE initiates a handover procedure of switching from the eNodeB access mode to the WLAN access mode to establish a connection in the c' line direction to continue accessing the Internet.

As shown in fig. 7, the specific steps for switching scenario 2 are as follows:

s301, the UE associates to an Access Point (AP) of the WLAN.

When the UE detects that the WLAN signal strength is higher than or equal to the threshold, it wants to switch from the current eNodeB to the BNG mode. The UE first associates with the AP of the WLAN (this step is prior art and detailed description is omitted here).

S302, the UE sends an authentication message to the BNG.

For example, in this embodiment, taking the authentication manner of EAP-SIM/AKA' as an example, the UE sends an authentication message to the BNG, where the authentication message includes a Handover Indication.

S303, the BNG sends the received authentication message to the authentication server.

After receiving the authentication message, the BNG can know the identity and connection type (handover request) of the UE. The BNG sends the authentication message to the authentication server (the specific authentication process is prior art and is not described here in detail).

S304, the authentication server carries out authentication processing according to the received authentication message.

S305, the authentication server sends the authentication feedback message to the BNG.

S306, the BNG processes according to the received authentication feedback message.

Specifically, after the BNG receives the authentication feedback message sent by the authentication server, if the feedback message indicates that the authentication is successful, the BNG searches the UE identifier currently recorded by the BNG, and if one of the UE identifiers currently recorded by the BNG is found to be the same as the UE identifier initiating the authentication, the BNG may delay the current IP address for accessing the Internet to the UE (i.e., allocate the current IP address for accessing the Internet to the UE), thereby ensuring the continuity of the previous connection for accessing the Internet.

S307, the BNG sends the processed authentication feedback message to the UE.

The processed authentication feedback message may include an IP address allocated by the BNG to the UE for accessing the Internet.

S308, BNG sends a request for deleting the load to S-GW.

The BNG switches the current load flow accessed from the S-GW to the WLAN access through the switching request indicated by the learned connection type, and updates the connection mode identification corresponding to the UE.

The BNG sends a Delete Bearer Request to the S-GW, which may be, for example, a Delete Bearer Request.

S309, the UE processes according to the received authentication feedback message of the BNG.

Specifically, the UE receives the authentication feedback message of the BNG, acquires the IP address for accessing the Internet from the authentication feedback message, and if the IP address is the same as the IP address for accessing the Internet before, the UE also switches the current traffic accessed through the eNodeB to the WLAN access.

S310, the S-GW processes according to the received request for deleting the bearing.

S311, S-GW sends the processed delete bearing request to MME.

S312, the MME processes according to the received request for deleting the bearing.

Specifically, after receiving the bearer deletion request, the MME controls deletion of bearers between the eNode and the S-GW, and between the UE and the eNodeB.

S313, the MME feeds back a delete bearer response to the S-GW.

For example, the Delete Bearer Response may be Delete Bearer Response.

S314, S-GW sends the response of deleting the load to BNG.

Through the above steps S301 to S314, the UE switches from the state of eNodeB accessing the BNG to the state of WLAN accessing the BNG, and ensures the continuity of the Internet connection.

There are also situations where the UE location changes, which may cause the AP of the WLAN not to be affiliated with the BNG that has been accessed by the eNodeB before, and the UE will be successfully authenticated, but the BNG does not find the UE id in its current record, and the BNG will assign a new Internet IP address to the UE. After the UE receives the new IP address, the following processes may be performed, for example:

to ensure the continuity of the Internet connection currently accessed by the UE, the UE may be configured by default not to make a handover in this case, and continue to use the access mode of the eNodeB to utilize the Internet that has been accessed through the BNG accessed by the eNodeB. At this time, the UE does not need to respond to the DHCPOffer message of the BNG. After the UE enters the idle state, the UE may perform the reselection of the BNG.

Whether switching is carried out can be configured by the UE, and whether switching is carried out can be determined by displaying prompt information to a user or by a method of presetting or monitoring whether the service of the current user has continuity requirements in a software mode. At this time, if the UE decides to handover, the UE directly accesses the Internet from the WLAN using the new IP address. The session between the UE and the original BNG is deleted by the original BNG after the UE is idle for a certain time.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment 70, as shown in fig. 8, including:

the determination unit 71: for determining that a bearer needs to be established for accessing a particular service, the particular service being a service accessible via both a 3GPP network and a non-3GPP network;

the transmission unit 72: sending a request for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network access node serving it; so that the UE accesses the non-3GPP network gateway through a 3GPP network and the establishment of the load is completed;

the access unit 73: for the UE to access the specific service through the established bearer.

As shown in fig. 9, optionally, a saving unit 74 may be further included: for learning and storing address information of non-3GPP network gateways to which it has access.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a 3GPP network control network element 90, as shown in fig. 10, including:

the receiving unit 91: receiving a request sent by a 3GPP network access node for a UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway;

the control unit 92: for controlling establishment of a bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 11, the 3GPP network control network element may further include: a first sending unit 93, where the first sending unit 93 is configured to send a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one piece of address information.

The control unit 92 includes: an obtaining module 921, a first sending control module 922, and a first bearer management module 923; wherein,

the obtaining module 921: the method comprises the steps of obtaining address information of a non-3GPP network gateway;

the first transmission control module 922: the first sending unit 93 is configured to send, via a 3GPP network serving gateway, a request for UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one piece of address information;

the receiving unit 91 is further configured to receive a reply to the request from the non-3GPP network gateway;

the first bearer management module 923: for establishing the bearer for the UE to access the 3GPP network service gateway if the reply received by the receiving unit 91 indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

The obtaining module 921 is specifically configured to:

sending a query request to a DNS server; the query request includes: the location information of the 3GPP network access node and the access point name APN used for pointing to the non-3GPP network gateway, and the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway fed back by the DNS server is received; or, the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway is read from the request of the UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway received from the receiving unit 91; or acquiring the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway configured in advance.

The first sending control module 922 is specifically configured to:

under the condition that non-3GPP network access needs to be switched to 3GPP network access, the first sending unit 93 is controlled to send a request of UE for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to each address information acquired by the acquisition module; otherwise, the first sending unit 93 is controlled to send a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to one of the address information acquired by the acquiring module.

Or, optionally, as shown in fig. 12, the 3GPP network control network element may further include: a second sending unit 94, configured to send, to the 3GPP network serving gateway, a request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway;

the control unit 92 includes: a second transmission control module 924 and a second bearer management module 925;

the second transmission control module 924: a second sending unit 94 configured to send a request for UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network serving gateway; the 3GPP network service gateway acquires address information of a non-3GPP network gateway pre-configured by the 3GPP network service gateway, and sends a request of UE accessing the non-3GPP network gateway to at least one non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to the address information;

the second bearer management module 925: and is configured to establish a bearer for the UE to access the 3GPP network service gateway if the reply received by the receiving unit 91 indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

The control unit 92 is further configured to delete the bearer for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway via the 3GPP network in case the bearer for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway via the 3GPP network is not needed

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a non-3GPP network gateway 120, as shown in fig. 13, including:

the receiving unit 121: a request for receiving a UE access non-3GPP network gateway sent by a 3GPP network service gateway;

the transmission unit 122: for forwarding, by the 3GPP network serving gateway, a reply to the request to a 3GPP network control element; so that the 3GPP network control network element controls to establish the bearer of the UE accessing the 3GPP network service gateway under the condition that the reply indicates that the bearer establishment between the 3GPP network service gateway and the non-3GPP network gateway is successful.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 13, the non-3GPP network gateway may further include:

the saving unit 123: and the method is used for storing the identifier of the currently accessed UE and the identifier of the current access mode of the UE.

Further optionally, as shown in fig. 14, the non-3GPP network gateway may further include:

the first setup bearer 124: the gateway is used for establishing a load between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway;

the distribution unit 125: for allocating address information for accessing the specific service to the UE;

Further optionally, as shown in fig. 15, the non-3GPP network gateway may further include:

the first query unit 126: the UE is used for inquiring whether the UE identification consistent with the request exists in the current record or not;

the first updating unit 127: the identifier is used for updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE in the storage unit when the first query unit 126 queries that the consistent UE identifier exists;

the second setup bearer 128: the gateway is used for establishing a load between a 3GPP network service gateway and a non-3GPP network gateway;

Alternatively, further optionally, as shown in fig. 16, the non-3GPP network gateway may further include: a second query unit 129 and a second update unit 130;

the receiving unit 121 is further configured to receive an authentication message sent by the UE through an access point of a non-3GPP network, where the authentication message includes: the identity of the UE and a handover identity;

the second querying unit 129: the network gateway is used for inquiring whether the current record of the non-3GPP network gateway has the UE identification consistent with the authentication information after the authentication is successful;

the second updating unit 130: the identifier is used for updating the identifier of the current access mode of the UE in the storage unit when the second querying unit 129 queries that the UE identifiers are consistent;

the sending unit 121 is further configured to send an authentication feedback message to the UE, where the authentication feedback message includes address information previously allocated to the UE for accessing the specific service; wherein the non-3GPP network gateway does not reallocate address information for the UE for accessing the specific service;

the sending unit 121 is further configured to send a request for deleting a bearer to a 3GPP serving gateway, so that the UE accesses the bearer deletion of the non-3GPP network gateway through the 3GPP network.

The device for realizing 3GPP network flow unloading provided by the embodiment of the invention adopts the non-3GPP network gateway as the equipment for unloading the flow, namely the flow of the 3GPP network is shunted through the non-3GPP network, thereby reducing the burden of the 3GPP core network, and the proposal has no influence on the current network architecture and is beneficial to the realization of operators. In addition, the non-3GPP network gateway is adopted as equipment for unloading the 3GPP network flow, which lays a foundation for realizing seamless switching between a 3GPP network access mode and a non-3GPP network access mode and ensures that the connection of the specific service currently accessed by the user is not interrupted.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a user equipment 160, as shown in fig. 17, including:

a transmitter 161, a memory 162, and a processor 163 coupled to the memory.

The processor is configured to call the program code stored in the memory, to execute operations other than sending in the method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload corresponding to any user equipment in the foregoing embodiments, and the transmitter is configured to send a processing result of the processor.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a 3GPP network control element 170, as shown in fig. 18, including:

a receiver 171, a memory 172 and a processor 173 coupled to the memory.

The receiver is configured to receive information sent by another device to the 3GPP network control element, the memory stores a set of program codes, and the processor is configured to call the program codes stored in the memory, and execute an operation, other than receiving, in the method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload corresponding to any 3GPP network control element in the foregoing embodiments.

Optionally, the 3GPP network control element may further include a transmitter 174, configured to send a result processed by a processor, where the processor is configured to call a program code stored in the memory, and perform an operation, other than receiving and transmitting, in a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload corresponding to any 3GPP network control element in the foregoing embodiments.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a non-3GPP network gateway 180, as shown in fig. 19, including:

a receiver 181, a memory 182, and a processor 183 coupled to the memory.

The receiver 181 is configured to receive information sent by another device to a non-3GPP network gateway, the memory stores a set of program codes, and the processor 183 is configured to call the program codes stored in the memory 182, so as to perform operations, other than receiving, of a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload corresponding to any non-3GPP network gateway in the foregoing embodiments.

Optionally, the non-3GPP network gateway may further include a transmitter 184, configured to transmit the processing result of the processor; the memory stores a set of program codes, and the processor 183 is configured to call the program codes stored in the memory 182, and perform operations other than receiving and sending in a method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload corresponding to any non-3GPP network gateway in the above embodiments.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may be physically included alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

The integrated unit implemented in the form of a software functional unit may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The software functional unit is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute some steps of the methods according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload, comprising:

and the UE accesses the specific service through the established bearer.

2. The method of claim 1,

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

and the UE acquires and stores the address information of the non-3GPP network gateway accessed by the UE.

4. A method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload, comprising:

5. The method of claim 4,

6. The method of claim 5,

7. The method of any of claims 4-6, wherein the controlling establishing the bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network comprises:

acquiring address information of a non-3GPP network gateway;

receiving a reply of the non-3GPP network gateway to the request;

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the obtaining address information of the non-3GPP network gateway comprises:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the sending the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to the at least one address information comprises:

10. The method of any of claims 4-6, wherein the controlling establishing the bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network comprises:

receiving a reply of the non-3GPP network gateway to the request;

11. The method of claim 4, wherein in a case that the UE does not need to access the bearer of the non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network, the method further comprises:

12. A method for implementing 3GPP network traffic offload, comprising:

13. The method of claim 12,

14. The method of claim 13, wherein if the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway does not include a handover id, the method further comprises:

allocating address information for accessing the specific service to the UE;

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

16. The method of claim 15, wherein if the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway includes a handover identifier, the method further comprises:

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

18. A User Equipment (UE), comprising:

a transmission unit: sending a request for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway to a 3GPP network access node serving it; so that the UE accesses the non-3GPP network gateway through a 3GPP network and the establishment of the load is completed;

19. The UE of claim 18,

or the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway comprises: a UE identity, an APN for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway, and a handover identity.

20. The UE of claim 18 or 19, further comprising:

21. A 3GPP network control element, comprising:

22. The 3GPP network control network element of claim 21,

23. The 3GPP network control network element of claim 22,

24. A 3GPP network control element according to any of claims 21-23, wherein the 3GPP network control element further comprises: a first sending unit, configured to send a request for accessing a non-3GPP network gateway by a UE to the non-3GPP network gateway corresponding to at least one piece of address information;

25. The 3GPP network control element of claim 24, wherein the obtaining module is specifically configured to:

26. The 3GPP network control element of claim 25, wherein the first transmission control module is specifically configured to:

27. A 3GPP network control element according to any of claims 21-23, wherein the 3GPP network control element further comprises: a second sending unit, configured to send, to the 3GPP network serving gateway, a request for accessing the non-3GPP network gateway by the UE;

28. The 3GPP network control element of claim 21, wherein the control unit is further configured to delete the bearer for the UE to access a non-3GPP network gateway via a 3GPP network if the bearer for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway via the 3GPP network is not required.

29. A non-3GPP network gateway, comprising:

30. The non-3GPP network gateway of claim 29, wherein,

the request for the UE to access the non-3GPP network gateway comprises the following steps: a UE identity, an APN for pointing to a non-3GPP network gateway,

31. The non-3GPP network gateway of claim 30, further comprising:

32. The non-3GPP network gateway of claim 29, further comprising:

33. The non-3GPP network gateway of claim 32, further comprising:

34. The non-3GPP network gateway of claim 32, further comprising: a second query unit and a second updating unit;