WO2005089001A1 - A method of implementing roaming restriction between heterogeneous networks - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of implementing roaming restriction between heterogeneous networks, characterized in that configerating, in advance, roaming restriction rules in core network device MSC/SGSN, and adding the type of subscribed service to subscribing information of mobile user. The method comprises the steps of: step A, mobile user transmitting accessing request to the core network device MSC/SGSN; step B, MSC/SGSN obtaining the subscribing information including the type of the subscribed service of the user from HLR of the user after receiving the accessing request, and MSC/SGSN determining the type of the access network that the user is located; step C, MSC/SGSN judging if the mobile user is allowed to access a network according to the roaming restriction rules configerated in MSC/SGSN based on the subscribed service type of the mobile user and the type of access network located, and if so, allowing the mobile user to access the network, else, rejecting the user.

Description

 Method for realizing roaming restriction between different types of networks

Technical field

 The present invention belongs to the field of mobile communication technology, and particularly relates to a method for implementing roaming restriction between different types of networks. Background of the invention

 Currently, with the increasing popularity of mobile communication technology, mobile users roam between the same types of mobile networks provided by different operators, or operators of a certain type of mobile network restrict roaming on mobile users of this type of mobile network It is already a very common phenomenon, and related technologies for implementing roaming restrictions between the same types of networks as described above are also very mature. Taking the Global Digital Mobile Phone System (GSM) network as an example, the GSM networks of different network operators have different public land mobile network (PLMN) numbers. Currently, for example, the Global Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) or the Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network is judged by PLMN information corresponding to user identifiers such as numbers (MSISDN) can well solve the problem of roaming restrictions between PLMN networks. In this way, mobile users of the GSM network can roam between GSM networks of different operators, and, Operators of the GSM network can also restrict roaming restrictions for some mobile users of the GSM network.

 However, as the types of networks used to implement mobile communications continue to increase, mobile users can choose more types of mobile communications networks to implement communications. Therefore, with the emergence of more types of networks that implement mobile communications, different types of mobile networks need to be implemented Roaming restrictions between.

For example, after a current mobile operator builds a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access System (WCDMA) network, some network operators may have both a GSM network and a WCDMA network, or the two access networks of GSM and WCDMA correspond to a core network. The GSM network and WCDMA network can use two different PLMN numbers, or they can share one PLMN number, in this case, the following roaming restriction needs will be generated:

1. Different mobile networks have different roaming restriction rules for GSM users and WCDMA users, that is, a mobile user's service network can allow a carrier's GSM users to access its GSM network according to the network's roaming restriction rules. And WCDMA networks, while another service network allows only a certain operator's GSM users to access its GSM network;

 2. Even if the GSM network and the WCDMA network use the same PLMN number, the service network of the mobile user can distinguish whether the user is a WCDMA user or a GSM user according to the subscription information of the mobile user, and then perform corresponding roaming according to the network type of the user limit.

 In order to achieve the above roaming restrictions, it is necessary to distinguish between GSM users and WCDMA users. However, the need to distinguish between GSM users and WCDMA users was not considered at the beginning of the WCDMA specification. Therefore, in the GSM / WCDMA network, the home location register ( (HLR), Mobile Switching Center (MSC) / Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node (SGSN) and other devices cannot distinguish whether a user is a GSM user or a WCDMA user; when a user belongs to a network where a GSM and WCDMA share a PLMN number, The serving network cannot determine whether the user belongs to a GSM user or a WCDMA user according to the PLMN number of the user's home network, and cannot implement roaming restrictions on different networks for the user, and thus cannot meet the aforementioned roaming restriction requirements.

 Similarly, among other different types of networks, the above-mentioned problems cannot be met. Summary of the invention

In view of this, the main object of the present invention is to provide a method for implementing roaming restriction between different types of networks. The method can distinguish different types of network users, and aims at the user's network. Type to perform roaming restrictions to meet the needs of roaming restrictions within operators or between different types of networks.

 In order to achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a method for implementing roaming restriction between different types of networks. The key lies in that a roaming restriction rule is configured in the core network device MSC / SGSN in advance, and the subscription service is added to the subscription information of the mobile user. The method includes the following steps:

 Step A: The mobile user terminal sends an access request to the core network device MSC / SGSN; Step B: After the MSC / SGSN receives the access request, it obtains subscription information including the type of service the user subscribes from the HLR to which the user belongs, Obtain the PLMN number of the user's home network according to the identity analysis of the mobile user, and determine the type of access network in which the user is located with the MSC / SGSN;

 Step C: The MSC / SGSN determines whether the mobile user is allowed to access the mobile service according to the subscription service type of the mobile user, the PLMN number of the mobile user's home network, and the type of access network. Access to the network, if yes, allow the mobile user to access the network; otherwise, deny the user access to the network.

 Wherein, the configuration roaming restriction rule is a static configuration roaming restriction rule.

 The roaming restriction rule includes at least one of the following rules:

 Allow mobile users belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access all types of networks;

 Forbid mobile users belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access all types of networks;

 Allow mobile users of the first network type belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access the first type network, and prohibit access to the second type network;

Allow first-type mobile users belonging to a network corresponding to a PLMN number to access the first-type network and the second-type network; Allowing mobile users of the second network type belonging to a network corresponding to a PLMN number to access the second type network and prohibiting access to the first type network;

 Mobile users of the second network type belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number are allowed to access the first type network and the second type network.

 The first type of network is a GSM network, and the second type of network is a WCDMA network.

 Wherein, adding the subscription service type to the subscription information of the mobile user includes: adding a GSM subscription service type and a WCDMA subscription service type to the subscription information. Wherein, determining the access network type in step B includes:

 The MS C / S GSN uses the correspondence between the location area / routing area configured on itself and the type of access network, and determines the access network according to the location area / routing area identifier in the access request described in step A. Types of.

 Wherein, determining the access network type in step B includes:

 The MSC / SGSN uses the corresponding relationship between the access network device type and the access network type configured on itself, and determines the access network type according to the access network device type in the access request described in step A. .

 Wherein, determining the access network type in step B includes:

 The MSC / SGSN uses the correspondence between the interface type and the access network type between the access network device and the core network device configured on itself, and according to the access network device transmitting the access request in step A, The type of the interface between the core network devices is determined to obtain the type of the access network.

 The MSC is implemented by an MSC server.

It can be seen that by adding user subscription service types to the user subscription information, the present invention enables the method provided by the present invention to distinguish users of different network types, and implements pre-configured restriction rules for different types of network users to these users. Roaming restrictions, This method can meet the needs of roaming restrictions within different operators or between different types of networks in various network situations, and is beneficial to the operation of network operators. Brief description of the drawings

 FIG. 1 is a flowchart for implementing the present invention. Mode of Carrying Out the Invention

 The present invention is a method for restricting roaming between different types of networks. The method differentiates users of different network types by adding user subscription service types to user subscription information, and implements different types of network users according to pre-configured roaming restriction rules. Roaming restrictions to meet the needs of roaming restrictions.

 The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings. For the convenience of description, the following embodiments of the present invention are only described by using the roaming restriction method between the GSM network and the WCDMA network as an example. The description is only descriptive, and the description should not be considered to limit the scope of the present invention. The method of roaming restriction between types of networks is similar to the embodiment described below.

In order to implement the present invention, it is necessary to first add user subscription service type information to the subscription information of each mobile user. In the embodiment of the present invention, the HLR adds subscription service type information to each mobile user's subscription information. The subscription service Type information is divided into two types: GSM user and WCDMA user. Among them, GSM user means that the user is a user who subscribes to GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) / Improved Data Rate GSM Service (EDGE) service, instead of referring only to access. For a user to a GSM network, a WCDMA user means that the user is a user who has subscribed to a WCDMA service, rather than a user who can only access the WCDMA network. In other embodiments of the present invention, it may also be a mobile user according to the change of the network type. Adding other types of contracted service type information, and the content and quantity of the contracted service type information do not affect the implementation of the present invention; Meanwhile, in order to implement the present invention, a roaming restriction rule needs to be statically configured in the core network device MSC / SGSN of the mobile network. For example, the following roaming restriction rule may be configured:

 Static configuration in the core network equipment MSC / SGSN of China Mobile Network allows GSM users whose PLMN number is Hong Kong Mobile Network to access China Mobile's GSM network, but prohibits their access to China Mobile's WCDMA network;

 Wherein, in the present invention, according to the requirements of roaming restriction, the configured roaming rules may include the following types:

 1. Forbid a user of a PLMN number to access all networks including GSM network and WCDMA network;

 2. Allow a user of a PLMN number to access all networks including GSM network and WCDMA network;

 3. Allow a GSM user with a PLMN number to access the GSM network, and prohibit access to the WCDMA network;

 4. Allow a GSM user with a PLMN number to access the GSM network and WCDMA network;

 5. Allow a WCDMA user with a PLMN number to access the WCDMA network, and prohibit access to the GSM network;

 6. Allow a WCDMA user with a PLMN number to access the GSM network and the WCDMA network;

The mobile network operator can choose one or more of the above roaming rules to be statically configured in the MSC / SGSN of the core network according to the actual needs of roaming restrictions. However, the selected roaming rules should ensure roaming for the same PLMN number. The rules do not contradict each other. Among them, when multiple roaming rules are statically configured in the MSC / SGSN of the core network, the data structure shown in Table 1 can be used to store the static configuration rules. The MSC / SGSN uses this table to obtain the corresponding roaming rules. And use this rule to implement roaming restrictions; PLMN number user contract service type allows access to the network and prohibits access to the network

46000 GSM GSM WCDMA

46001 GSM GSM WCDMA

 45400 WCDMA WCDMA GSM

45406 WCDMA GSM WCDMA

 52501 All networks

 52503 Among all networks, in other embodiments of the present invention, the table can also statically configure different access rules according to the needs of roaming restrictions, and the statically configured access rules can also be implemented using other forms of data structures. Affect the realization of the invention;

 Using the statically configured access rules and the newly added subscription service types in the user subscription information, as shown in FIG. 1, the implementation of the access restriction by the present invention includes the following steps:

 Step 101: After the mobile terminal of the user accesses the access network of the service network, it sends an access request to the core network device MSC / SGSN of the service network to request access to the service network. Step 102: The MSC / SGSN receives the After the access request, the user's subscription information is obtained from the HLR to which the user belongs according to the user identifier in the access request, and the PLMN number of the user's home network is obtained according to the user identifier analysis; where the obtained contract information includes User subscription service types preset in the manner described above;

 The above steps 101 and 102 are steps used to implement network access in the prior art, and those skilled in the art can implement the steps without creative labor;

 Step 103: the MSC / SGSN determines the type of the access network where the user that initiated the access request is located;

Step 104: The MSC / SGSN obtains the user's subscription service type and the user's home network PLMN number obtained in step 102, and the user's access determined in step 103. The type of network, according to the statically configured access rules pre-configured on the MSC / SGSN itself, determine whether the user is allowed to access the network, and if so, go to step 105, No 'j, go to step 106; Step 105: MSC / SGSN sends an access permission response to the user, and after receiving the response, the user accesses the service network to realize roaming and ends the network access process;

 Step 106: The MSC / SGSN sends an access rejection response to the user. The user fails to request access to the serving network, and ends the network access process.

 Wherein, the specific implementation of step 103 to determine the type of the access network where the user initiating the access request is located is as follows:

 The access network type corresponding to the location area (LA) / routing area (RA) is statically configured in advance in the core network equipment MSC / SGSN. In the embodiment of the present invention, the configured access network type includes the GSM access network and the In a WCDMA access network, the MSC / SGSN receives the user's mobile terminal's access request, and determines the access of the user based on the LA / RA identifier in the request message based on the statically configured access network type corresponding to the LA RA. Access type

 In other embodiments of the present invention, step 103 may also be implemented in the following manner:

Since the access network devices of different access networks are different, the access network type corresponding to the access network device type can be statically configured in the core network device MSC / SGSN, and the MSC / SGSN is based on the received user mobile terminal connection. The access request message determines the access network device of the user's mobile terminal, and then determines the current access network type of the user according to the static configuration in the MSC / SGSN. In the embodiment of the present invention, the GSM network access The network equipment GSM BSC and the access network equipment WCDMA RNC in a WCDMA network are not the same. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the access network equipment GSM BSC is statically configured in the MSC / SGSN corresponding to the GSM access network type. The device WCDMA RNC corresponds to the WCDMA access network type, and then analyzes the access network device of the user's mobile terminal according to the user access request message analysis. The MSC / SGSN determines the access network type from the access network device according to the static configuration; The interface type between the access network device and the core network device MSC / SGSN is different. Therefore, in other embodiments of the present invention, the interface type between the access network device and the core network device MSC / SGSN may also be based on the interface type. Determine the type of access network. In these embodiments, the correspondence between the type of the interface between the access network device and the core network device MSC / SGSN and the type of the access network is pre-configured in the MSC / SGSN. Then, the MSC The / SGSN determines the type of the access network according to the type of the interface transmitting the access request message and uses the corresponding relationship.

 In the present invention, as mentioned above, the MSC can also be implemented by the MSC server, which does not affect the implementation of the present invention.

 The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the present invention. Within the scope of protection.

Claims

Claim  1. A method for realizing roaming restriction between different types of networks, characterized in that a roaming restriction rule is configured in a core network device MSC / SGSN in advance, and the subscription service type is added to the subscription information of a mobile user, and the method includes the following Steps:  Step A: The mobile user terminal sends an access request to the core network device MSC / SGSN; Step B: After the MSC / SGSN receives the access request, it obtains subscription information including the type of service the user subscribes from the HLR to which the user belongs, Obtain the PLMN number of the user's home network according to the identity analysis of the mobile user, and determine the type of access network in which the user is located with the MSC / SGSN;  Step C: The MSC / SGSN determines whether the mobile user is allowed to access the mobile service according to the subscription service type of the mobile user, the PLMN number of the mobile user's home network, and the type of access network. Access to the network, if yes, allow the mobile user to access the network; otherwise, deny the user access to the network.  2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration roaming restriction rule is a static configuration roaming restriction rule.  3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the roaming restriction rule includes at least one of the following rules:  Allow mobile users belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access all types of networks;  Forbid mobile users belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access all types of networks;  Allow mobile users of the first network type belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access the first type network, and prohibit access to the second type network; Allow first-type mobile users belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access A first type network and a second type network;  Allow mobile users of the second network type belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number to access the second type network, and prohibit access to the first type network;  Mobile users of the second network type belonging to the network corresponding to a PLMN number are allowed to access the first type network and the second type network.  4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first type network is a GSM network, and the second type network is a WCDMA network.  5. The method according to claim 1, wherein adding the subscription service type to the subscription information of the mobile user comprises:  Add GSM subscription service type and WCDMA subscription service type to the contract information. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the type of the access network in step B comprises:  The MSC / SGSN uses the correspondence between the location area / routing area configured on itself and the access network type, and determines the access network type according to the location area / routing area identifier in the access request described in step A.  7. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the access network type in step B comprises:  The MSC / SGSN uses the corresponding relationship between the access network device type and the access network type configured on itself, and determines the access network type according to the access network device type in the access request described in step A. .  8. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the access network type in step B comprises: The MSC / SGSN uses the corresponding relationship between the interface type and the access network type between the access network device and the core network device configured on itself, and according to the access network device transmitting the access request in step A, the same The type of the interface between the core network devices is determined to obtain the access Net type.  9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the MSC is implemented by an MSC server.