WO2019129119A1 - Method and device for sending short message - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and device for sending a short message, comprising: after a mobile management entity (MME) determines that a user equipment is reachable, informing a base station connected to the user equipment to stay connected to the user equipment, or informing a short message center to send a short message immediately without delay; and after the short message sent by a mobile switch center is received, forwarding the short message to the base station to be issued. Therefore, successful issuing of the short message is ensured, and system reliability is improved.

Description

Method and device for sending short messages

This application claims the priority of the Chinese Patent Application filed on Dec. 29, 2017, the Chinese National Intellectual Property Office, the application number is 201711488616.8, and the invention is entitled "A Method and Apparatus for Sending Short Messages", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference. In this application.

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and device for sending a short message.

Background technique

Short messages (also known as short messages) are commonly used functions in mobile communication systems. In the 4th generation (4G) mobile communication system, the short message is sent by the short message center (SMC) to the mobile switch center (MSC), and the MSC forwards the short message to the mobile management entity MME (mobile management entity). The MME then sends the short message to the base station of the current location of the user equipment, and finally sends it to the user equipment UE (user equipment). The user device can be a mobile phone or other terminal that can receive text messages.

In some cases, such as when the phone is turned off, the user device is unreachable and the SMS cannot be sent to the user device. After the user equipment is reachable, for example, after the mobile phone is turned on, the SMS center SMC will receive the user reachable notification, and the short message center will send the unsent SMS again. In the prior art, if the short message center has received the user reachable notification, the short message is sent, which usually causes the user terminal to receive the short message. Therefore, after receiving the user reachable notification, the short message center will delay the delivery for a period of time. SMS, usually with a delay of one minute.

On the other hand, with the development of technology, such as the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, new types of user equipment have emerged, for example, a power saving mode (PSM) type terminal, which is enabled. After the UE enters the idle state from the connected state, an activation timer (Active Timer) is enabled. The MME can page the UE before the activation timer expires. If the activation timer expires, the UE enters the power saving mode state. In this state, the UE does not listen to the wireless signal and enters the dormant state. In this state, the UE can only wait for the UE to initiate the signaling process. Another new type of UE is a terminal of the discontinuous reception eDRX (extended Discontinuous Reception) type, which involves two concepts: cycle and paging window. After the eDRX type UE enters the idle state, in each period, the UE only listens to the wireless signal when the time reaches the paging window, and can respond to the paging on the network side, during the period of the non-paging window in the period. The UE enters a sleep state and does not accept paging on the network side. A UE using a PSM or eDRX function belongs to a high latency class UE.

In the scenario where the short-message UE is required to send a short message, the UE can only wait for the paging in the paging window of the eDRX or wait for the UE to initiate a service flow, because the UE does not listen to the paging on the network side in the dormant state. After the high-latency UE enters the connected state, the eNodeB detects whether the UE has signaling or data transmission. If there is neither signaling nor data, the eNodeB will actively release the connection with the UE. The detection time is generally about 20s, which is smaller than The delay time of the aforementioned SMS center. In this way, when the short message arrives at the MME, the UE has entered the idle state again, so that the short message cannot be sent to the UE.

Summary of the invention

To overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention provide a method and a device for sending a short message, which ensure the successful delivery of the short message and improve the reliability of the system.

In a first aspect, the embodiment of the present invention provides a method for sending a short message, including: after determining that the user equipment is reachable, the mobile management entity MME sends a keep-alive notification to the base station connected to the user equipment, where the keep-alive notification includes The MME receives the short message sent by the mobile switching center and forwards the short message to the base station.

The above method is used to notify the base station to maintain the connection, which ensures the successful delivery of the short message and improves the reliability of the system.

In one possible design, the MME determines that a mobile switching center alert request message has been received before transmitting a keep-alive notification to the base station. In this way, connection reservation is only performed for UEs that have not been successfully transmitted before, which increases system flexibility.

In yet another possible design, the hold duration is configured by the MME or by the MME from the home subscriber server HSS. This also further increases system flexibility.

In yet another possible design, the MME sends the keep-alive notification to the base station via control plane signaling. This also further increases system flexibility.

In a second aspect, the embodiment of the present invention provides a method for sending a short message, including: after the mobile management entity MME determines that the user equipment is reachable, the mobile switching center MSC user equipment is notified that the user equipment is reachable, and the notification includes immediately sending a short message. The MME forwards the short message to the base station to which the user equipment is connected after receiving the short message sent by the mobile switching center.

Through the above method, the SMS center is immediately delivered, which ensures the successful delivery of the short message and improves the reliability of the system.

In one possible design, the MME determines that a mobile switching center alert request message has been received before notifying the MSC user equipment that it is reachable. In this way, connection reservation is only performed for UEs that have not been successfully transmitted before, which increases system flexibility.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an MME device, which has the function of implementing MME behavior in the foregoing method. The functions may be implemented by hardware or by corresponding software implemented by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions, such as a determining unit, a notification unit, and a short message forwarding unit.

In one possible design, the structure of the MME device includes a processor and a memory for storing program code for performing the above method, the processor being configured to execute a program stored in the memory. The MME device may also include a communication interface for communicating with other devices.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions used by the MME device, including a program designed to perform the above aspects.

The foregoing technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention ensures that the short message is successfully delivered and the system reliability is improved by sending a keep-alive notification to the base station, or notifying the short message center that the short message is sent immediately.

DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a system for sending a short message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic flowchart of sending a short message according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another method for sending a short message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an MME device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is another schematic structural diagram of an MME device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a system for wireless network communication provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The devices included in the system are: user equipment (UE) 101, base station 102, gateway 103, mobility management entity (MME) 104, mobile switching center 105, short message center 106, and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 107.

The user equipment 101 can be a mobile phone or other mobile device and accesses the core network through a wireless air interface. The present invention is mainly directed to a high-latency UE and can receive short messages.

The base station 102 is configured to access the user equipment to the wireless communication network, receive the short message sent by the MME, and forward the message to the UE.

The gateway 103 is used to connect the user equipment to a data network, such as the Internet Internet. The gateway 103 is not related to the short message delivery of the present invention.

The MME 104 is used for registration, security authentication, mobility management, location management, and the like of the user equipment. In the present invention, the MME receives the short message from the MSC and forwards the message to the base station.

The MSC 105 is configured to accept text messages from the short message center and forward them to the MME.

The SMC 106 is configured to store and transmit a short message of the target UE.

The HSS 107 is used to manage the subscription data, device authentication, and authentication functions of the subscriber, including the management of the configuration information of the user.

The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for sending a short message, as shown in FIG. 2 . In this method, after the MME determines that the UE is reachable, it notifies the base station to maintain a long connection, and waits for the short message to be sent. The specific steps include the following steps:

201. The short message center sends a short message forwarding request to the mobile switching center, and requests the mobile switching center to forward the short message to the UE.

202. The mobile switching center forwards the received short message to the MME.

203. The MME determines that the UE is unreachable, for example, the UE is in the power saving mode, or the UE is an eDRX type terminal and is not in the paging window.

204. The MME notifies the mobile switching center that the UE is unreachable.

205. The mobile switching center sends an alert request to the MME, requesting the MME to notify the mobile switching center after the UE is reachable.

206. The mobile switching center returns a short message forwarding response to the short message center, where the response message includes the reason for the forwarding failure, and the UE is unreachable.

207. The short message center sends a short message status report to the HSS to notify the HSS user that the short message has not been successfully sent.

211. Subsequently, after the UE goes online, for example, the UE is in a non-power saving mode, or the UE is an eDRX type terminal and enters a paging window. The UE enters the connected state through the signaling process, and the MME determines that the UE is reachable.

212. The MME determines that the alarm request message of the mobile switching center MSC has been received, and the UE is a high-latency UE, and notifies the base station to maintain the connection. The notification message includes the duration of the hold, and the hold duration should be longer than the duration of the short message sent by the short message center. .

The MME may notify the base station by using a control plane signaling procedure CP-CIoT, or a user plane signaling procedure UP-CIoT, or an S1-U signaling procedure, or other similar message flow.

The above retention duration may be from a local configuration of the MME, or may be from user subscription data stored in the HSS.

213. The MME notifies the mobile switching center that the UE is reachable.

214. The mobile switching center notifies the HSS user equipment that the UE can receive the short message.

215. The HSS sends an alert service request to the short message center to notify the short message center that the UE is online, and can send a short message to the UE.

216. The short message center uses a local delay to send a short message policy. After the preset time is delayed, for example, one minute later, a short message forwarding request is sent to the mobile switching center, and the mobile switching center is requested to forward the short message to the UE.

217. The mobile switching center forwards the received short message to the MME.

218. The MME determines that the user is reachable, and sends the short message to the base station, where the MME sends the short message to the UE.

In the above embodiment, the short message connection is kept notified to the base station to ensure that the short message is successfully delivered.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides another method for sending a short message, as shown in FIG. 3 . In this method, after determining that the UE is reachable, the MME notifies the short message center to immediately send a short message to the UE, which specifically includes the following steps:

301. The short message center sends a short message forwarding request to the mobile switching center, and requests the mobile switching center to forward the short message to the UE.

302. The mobile switching center forwards the received short message to the MME.

303. The MME determines that the UE is unreachable, for example, the UE is in the power saving mode, or the UE is an eDRX type terminal and is not in the paging window.

304. The MME notifies the mobile switching center that the UE is unreachable.

305. The mobile switching center sends an alert request to the MME, requesting the MME to notify the mobile switching center after the UE is reachable.

306. The mobile switching center returns a short message forwarding response to the short message center, where the response message includes the reason for the forwarding failure, and the UE is unreachable.

307. The short message center sends a short message status report to the HSS to notify the HSS user that the short message has not been successfully sent.

311. Subsequently, after the UE goes online, for example, the UE is in a non-power saving mode, or the UE is an eDRX type terminal and enters a paging window. The UE enters the connected state through the signaling process, and the MME determines that the UE is reachable.

313. The MME determines that the alarm request message of the mobile switching center MSC has been received, and the UE is a high-latency UE, and notifies the mobile switching center that the UE is reachable, and the notification message includes a flag for immediately sending a short message.

314. The mobile switching center notifies the HSS user equipment that the UE can receive the short message, and the notification message includes a flag for immediately sending the short message.

315. The HSS sends an alert service request to the short message center to notify the short message center that the UE is online, and can immediately send a short message to the UE.

316. The short message center does not use the local delayed sending short message policy, and immediately sends a short message forwarding request to the mobile switching center, requesting the mobile switching center to forward the short message to the UE.

317. The mobile switching center forwards the received short message to the MME.

318. The MME determines that the user is reachable, and sends the short message to the base station, where the MME sends the short message to the UE.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the MME instructs the short message center to immediately send a short message to the UE, so as to ensure that the short message is successfully sent to the UE before the base station releases the connection with the UE.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a schematic structural diagram of an MME device. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes a determining unit 401, a notification unit 402, and a short message forwarding unit 403.

The determining unit is configured to determine that the user equipment is reachable;

The notification unit is configured to send a keep connection notification to the base station to which the user equipment is connected, where the keep-alive notification includes a hold duration; or the notification unit is configured to notify the mobile switching center that the MSC user equipment is reachable, and the notification includes Immediately send a text message to the logo;

The short message forwarding unit is configured to forward the short message to the base station after receiving the short message sent by the mobile switching center.

Further, these units implement the related functions of the MME in the foregoing method, and are not described again.

In this embodiment, the MME device is presented in the form of a functional unit. A "unit" herein may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), circuitry, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuitry, and/or other functions that provide the functionality described above. Device. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the MME device can be implemented using a processor, memory, and communication interface.

The MME device in the embodiment of the present invention may also be implemented in the manner of the computer device (or system) in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer device includes at least one processor 501, a communication bus 502, a memory 503, and at least one communication interface 504, and may further include an IO interface 505.

The processor can be a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present invention.

The communication bus can include a path for communicating information between the components described above. The communication interface uses devices such as any transceiver for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), and the like.

The memory can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of information and instructions that can be stored. The dynamic storage device may also be an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, or a disc storage device ( Including compressed optical discs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs, Blu-ray discs, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be stored by a computer Any other media taken, but not limited to this. The memory can exist independently and be connected to the processor via a bus. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

Wherein, the memory is used to store application code for executing the solution of the present invention, and is controlled by a processor. The processor is configured to execute application code stored in the memory.

In a specific implementation, the processor may include one or more CPUs, and each CPU may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data, such as computer program instructions.

In a particular implementation, as an embodiment, the computer device can also include an input/output (I/O) interface. For example, the output device may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector. . The input device can be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device.

The computer device described above may be a general purpose computer device or a special purpose computer device. In a specific implementation, the computer device may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or the like in FIG. Structured equipment. Embodiments of the invention do not limit the type of computer device.

The MME device as in Figure 1 may be the device shown in Figure 5, in which one or more software modules are stored. The MME device can implement the above method by implementing the software module through the processor and the program code in the memory.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for use in the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5, which includes a program designed to execute the foregoing method embodiments. The above method can be implemented by executing a stored program.

Although the invention has been described in connection with the specific features and embodiments thereof, various modifications and combinations are possible. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be construed as the It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and modifications of the invention

Claims (12)

A method for sending a short message, comprising: The mobility management entity MME determines that the user equipment is reachable; The MME sends a keep-alive notification to the base station to which the user equipment is connected, where the keep-alive notification includes a hold duration; After receiving the short message sent by the mobile switching center, the short message is forwarded to the base station. The method of claim 1 wherein said MME determines that a mobile switching center alert request message has been received prior to transmitting a keep-alive notification to the base station. The method of claim 1, wherein the hold duration is configured by the MME or obtained by the MME from a home subscriber server HSS. The method according to claim 1, wherein said MME transmits said keep-alive notification to a base station by control plane signaling. A method for sending a short message, comprising: The mobility management entity MME determines that the user equipment is reachable; The MME notifies the mobile switching center that the MSC user equipment is reachable, and the notification includes a flag for immediately sending a short message; After receiving the short message sent by the mobile switching center, the MME forwards the short message to the base station to which the user equipment is connected. The method of claim 5, wherein the MME determines that the mobile switching center alert request message has been received before notifying the MSC user equipment that it is reachable. A mobility management entity MME device, comprising: a determining unit, a notification unit, and a short message forwarding unit, wherein: The determining unit is configured to determine that the user equipment is reachable; The notification unit is configured to send a keep connection notification to the base station to which the user equipment is connected, where the hold connection notification includes a hold duration; The short message forwarding unit is configured to forward the short message to the base station after receiving the short message sent by the mobile switching center. The MME device according to claim 7, wherein the determining unit is further configured to determine that the mobile switching center alarm request message has been received before transmitting the keep-alive notification to the base station. The MME device according to claim 7, wherein the hold duration is configured by the MME or obtained by the MME from a home subscription subscriber server HSS. The MME device according to claim 7, wherein the notification unit transmits the keep-alive notification to the base station by control plane signaling. A mobility management entity MME device, comprising: a determining unit, a notification unit, and a short message forwarding unit, wherein: The determining unit is configured to determine that the user equipment is reachable; The notification unit is configured to notify the mobile switching center MSC that the user equipment is reachable, and the notification includes a flag for immediately sending a short message; After receiving the short message sent by the mobile switching center, the short message forwarding unit forwards the short message to the base station connected to the user equipment. The MME device according to claim 11, wherein the determining unit is further configured to determine that the mobile switching center alarm request message has been received before notifying the MSC user equipment that the device is reachable.

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