Gateway selection method, apparatus and system during heterogeneous network handover
View Patent ↗Embodiments of the present invention disclose a gateway selection method for heterogeneous networks, where the method includes: accessing, by a terminal, an access network 1 ; obtaining, by the terminal, an equipment identity of a core network element 1 ; accessing, by the terminal, an access network 2 , where the access network 2 and the access network 1 are heterogeneous networks; and sending, by the terminal, the obtained equipment identity of the core network element 1 to a core network element 2 , and if an equipment identity of the core network element 2 is different from the equipment identity of the core network element 1 , selecting the core network element 1 as a target gateway. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention further provide a terminal, a core network element, and a communication system.
1. A gateway selection method during heterogeneous network handover, comprising:
accessing, by a terminal, a first access network;
obtaining, by the terminal, an equipment identity of a first core network element;
accessing, by the terminal, a second access network, wherein the second access network and the first access network are heterogeneous networks;
sending, by the terminal, the obtained equipment identity of the first core network element to a second core network element, such that when an equipment identity of the second core network element is different from the equipment identity of the first core network element, the second core network element selects the first core network element as a target gateway in order that the terminal is handed over to the target gateway to maintain session continuity in first access network; wherein the equipment identity of the first core network element comprises:
a gateway identity uniformly allocated by an operator during network deployment; or
a fully qualified domain name (FQDN); or
a prefix and an identity that are added in an APN.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein
the first access network is a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) access network, the first core network element comprises is a gateway general packet radio service support node (GGSN), and the second access network comprises a non-3GPP access network; or
the first access network comprises a long term evolution (LTE) access network or a system architecture evolution (SAE) access network, the first core network element comprises a PGW, and the second access network comprises a non-3GPP access network; or
the first access network comprises a non-3GPP access network, the first core network element comprises a PDN gateway (PGW), and the second access network comprises is a 3GPP access network.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the obtaining, by the terminal, the equipment identity of the first core network element comprises:
obtaining, by the terminal, an equipment identity in a protocol optional configuration information element, wherein the protocol optional configuration information element is carried in an activate PDP context accept message or in a default bearer creation request which is in an attach accept message of 3GPP access; or
obtaining, by the terminal, an equipment identity in a protocol optional configuration information element carried in an attach complete message of non-3GPP access; or
obtaining, by the terminal, an equipment identity in an access point name (APN) carried in an activate PDP context accept message or in a default bearer creation request which is in an attach accept message.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the selecting the first core network element as the target gateway comprises:
obtaining, by the second core network element, an address of the first core network element according to location configuration or DNS domain name resolution, and selecting the first core network element as the target gateway.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein
if the equipment identity of the second core network element is the same as the equipment identity of the first core network element, the second core network element is the first core network element, and is the selected target gateway.
6. A terminal, comprising:
a network access unit, configured to access a first access network and a second access network in sequence, wherein the first access network and the second access network are heterogeneous networks;
an equipment identity obtaining unit, configured to obtain an equipment identity of a first core network element; and
an equipment identity sending unit, configured to send the equipment identity which is of the first core network element and obtained by the equipment identity obtaining unit, to the second core network element, wherein if it is determined that the equipment identity of the first core network element is different from an equipment identity of the second core network element, the second core network element selects the first core network element as a target gateway in order that the terminal is handed over to the target gateway to maintain session continuity in the first access network; wherein the equipment identity of the first core network element comprises:
a gateway identity uniformly allocated by an operator during network deployment or
a fully qualified domain name (FQDN); or
a prefix and an identity that are added in an APN.
7. The terminal according to claim 6 , wherein the equipment identity obtaining unit is configured to obtain an equipment identity in a protocol optional configuration information element or in an access point name (APN), wherein the protocol optional configuration information element or the APN is carried in an activate PDP context or in a default bearer activation request which is in an attach accept message.
8. A core network element, comprising:
an equipment identity receiving unit, configured to:
receive an equipment identity which is of another core network element and sent by a terminal; and
a target gateway selecting unit, configured to, according to the equipment identity which is of the core network element and received by the equipment identity receiving unit, select a target gateway; and
if the received equipment identity is different from an equipment identity of the core network element itself, the core network element selects another core network element corresponding to the received equipment identity as a target gateway in order that the terminal is handed over to the target gateway to maintain session continuity in target gateway's access network; wherein the equipment identity of the first core network element comprises:
a gateway identity uniformly allocated by an operator during network deployment; or
a fully qualified domain name (FQDN); or
a prefix and an identity that are added in an APN.
9. The core network element according to claim 8 , wherein the target gateway selecting unit is configured to judge whether an equipment identity which is in an optional configuration information element and obtained through resolution or an equipment identity which is in an APN and obtained through resolution is the same as an equipment identity of the core network element itself, and if the equipment identity which is in the optional configuration information element and obtained through resolution or the equipment identity which is in the APN and obtained through resolution is the same as an equipment identity of the core network element itself, select the core network element itself as a target gateway; and if the equipment identity which is in the optional configuration information element and obtained through resolution or the equipment identity which is in the APN and obtained through resolution is different from an equipment identity of the core network element itself, select a core network element corresponding to the received equipment identity of another core network element as a target gateway.
10. The core network element according to claim 8 , wherein the target gateway selecting unit is configured to obtain an equipment identity of the core network element through local configuration or DNS resolution, and select the core network element as a target gateway.
11. The core network element according to claim 9 , wherein the core network element is a PGW or a GGSN.