Patent Application
20120244868
The present invention relates to the mobile communication technical field, and particularly, to a method and apparatus for replacing a wireless network based on the Equivalent Public Land Mobile Network (EPLMN).
The networking of generally used wireless networks in the current communication technical field, such as the Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) network, is shown in
At present, the replacement of the WCDMA network uses the hard replacement, and the specific process is: dividing the whole wireless network into a plurality of areas, removing the old network equipment one area by one area, then installing the new network equipment, and the border of the new and old networks being required to configure the neighbor cell to each other for the purpose of not affecting the user migrating in the border of the new and old networks to use the wireless communication service. Then the new network equipment is powered on and services are provided for wireless network users.
The drawbacks of this existing replacement method are that: 1) there is not any network to provide service for users in the process of removing the old network equipment and installing the new network equipment, namely, since there is not any signal, the user held mobile equipment, such as the mobile phone or data card and so on, is unable to carry out the services such as voice call and downloading the data and so on in this process of discontinued network service; 2) since it is that all the cells covered by the WCDMA network are cutover by dividing into areas, the border of the new and old networks will change continuously along with the replacement of the network one area by one area, however the neighbor cell relationship of the new and old networks requires changing once and modifying once in the equipment of old network and new network for every change of the border, so the neighbor cell relationship after dividing is required to make and update a large quantity of data in time according to different cases of the network, which increases the workload of each cutover stage; 3) the cutover by dividing into areas will result in the different frequency or same frequency interworking between equipment of a good many and different manufacturers, which is likely to affect the service quality, produce the service delay, and result in that the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) of the network is unable to be ensured and the user experience is very bad; 4) the network replacement generally requires a short time, but the quantity of the data made in each stage of the cutover by dividing into areas is large and there are many operation steps, so the error easily occurs, and the network rollback is difficult after the error occurring. Since the just installed new network equipment requires removing, the old network equipment is re-installed, and original data are imported in the rollback process, so the method for replacing the network in the prior art should spend at least a plurality of hours during the rollback, and operation steps are cumbersome, which brings great risk for operators and equipment manufacturers.
The technical problem to be solved in the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN, which overcomes the drawback that there is not network to provide service for users in the process of removing the old network equipment and installing the new network equipment.
In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a method for replacing a wireless network based on an Equivalent Public Land Mobile Network (EPLMN), and comprises following steps of:
establishing a new network and configuring a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of the new network as a second Public Land Mobile Network, configuring a cell of the new network with a same station address for each cell of a current network as an inter-frequency neighbor cell, and configuring a re-selection parameter for reselecting the cell of the new network for each cell of the current network; a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) used by said current network to be replaced is a first Public Land Mobile Network;
a core network side of the current network sending an EPLMN list including the first Public Land Mobile Network and the second Public Land Mobile Network to a user which needs to migrate; and
changing the PLMN of the new network from the second Public Land Mobile Network to the first Public Land Mobile Network after all of the users of the current network migrate into the new network, and deleting the EPLMN list of the core network side of the new network.
Wherein the step of establishing the new network comprises: establishing network elements of the core network side and a wireless network side, and configuring a base station of the cell of the new network with the same station address beside a base station of the cell of the current network.
Wherein the step of configuring the cell of the new network with the same station address for each cell of the current network as the inter-frequency neighbor cell comprises: configuring an identification (ID) of the cell of the new network to a radio network controller to which a base station of the cell of the current network with the same station address belongs.
Besides, before users migrate to the new network, this method further comprises: grouping users of the current network based on an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), thereby users being able to migrate according to groups.
The present invention further provides a method for replacing a wireless network which is able to roll back, and comprises following steps of:
establishing a new network and configuring a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of the new network as a second Public Land Mobile Network, configuring a cell of the new network with a same station address for each cell of a current network as an inter-frequency neighbor cell, configuring a cell of the current network with a same station address for each cell of the new network as an inter-frequency neighbor cell, and configuring a re-selection parameter for reselecting the cell of the new network for each cell of the current network; a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) used by said current network to be replaced is a first Public Land Mobile Network;
a core network side of the current network sending an EPLMN list including the first Public Land Mobile Network and the second Public Land Mobile Network to a user which needs to migrate; and
changing the PLMN of the new network from the second Public Land Mobile Network to the first Public Land Mobile Network after all of the users of the current network migrate into the new network, and deleting the EPLMN list of the core network side of the new network.
Besides, after establishing the new network, this method further comprises: configuring a cell of the current network without the same station address for each cell of the new network as the inter-frequency neighbor cell.
Besides, if a fault occurs and the new network is unable to work normally after the user of the current network migrate into the new network, then this method further comprises following steps of:
changing a value of a cell state parameter “Cell Reserved for Operator Use” of the new network into “reserved” from a default value “not reserved”, and making the user which migrates into the new network roll back to the current network; and
when the new network is able to work normally after being repaired, changing the cell state parameter of the new network into the default value “not reserved” over again, and making the user which migrates into the new network enter into the cell of the new network to receive mobile communication service again.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for replacing a wireless network based on an Equivalent Public Land Mobile Network (EPLMN), and comprises: a network configuration module, a user migration module and a network change and replacement module, wherein
a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) used by a current network to be replaced is a first Public Land Mobile Network;
said network configuration module is configured to: configure a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of an established new network as a second Public Land Mobile Network, and configure a cell of a new network with a same station address for each cell of the current network as an inter-frequency neighbor cell, and configure a re-selection parameter for reselecting the cell of the new network for each cell of the current network;
said user migration module is configured to: send an EPLMN list including the first Public Land Mobile Network and the second Public Land Mobile Network to a user which needs to migrate from the current network to the new network;
said network change and replacement module is configured to: change the PLMN of the new network from the second Public Land Mobile Network to the first Public Land Mobile Network after all of the users of the current network migrate into the new network, and delete the EPLMN list of the core network side of the new network.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for replacing a wireless network which is able to roll back, and comprises: a network configuration module, a user migration module and a network change and replacement module, wherein
a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) used by a current network to be replaced is a first Public Land Mobile Network;
said network configuration module is configured to: configure a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) of an established new network as a second Public Land Mobile Network, configure a cell of a new network with a same station address for each cell of the current network as an inter-frequency neighbor cell, configure a cell of the current network with a same station address for each cell of the new network as an inter-frequency neighbor cell, and configure a re-selection parameter for reselecting the cell of the new network for each cell of the current network;
said user migration module is configured to: send an EPLMN list including the first Public Land Mobile Network and the second Public Land Mobile Network to a user which needs to migrate from the current network to the new network;
said network change and replacement module is configured to: change the PLMN of the new network from the second Public Land Mobile Network to the first Public Land Mobile Network after all of the users of the current network migrate into the new network, and delete the EPLMN list of the core network side of the new network.
Besides, said network configuration module is further configured to: configure a cell of the current network without the same station address for each cell of the new network as the inter-frequency neighbor cell.
Besides, said network configuration module is further configured to: change a value of a cell state parameter “Cell Reserved for Operator Use” of the new network into “reserved” from a default value “not reserved” when a fault occurs and the new network is unable to work normally, and make the user which migrates into the new network roll back to the current network; and when the new network is able to normally work after being repaired, change the cell state parameter of the new network into the default value “not reserved”, and make the user which migrates into the new network enter into the cell of the new network to receive mobile communication service over again.
Comparing with the prior art, the present invention at least has following advantages:
the method and apparatus for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN of the present invention are used for establishing the new network and configuring its PLMN as the second public land mobile network, and each cell of the current network being configured with the cell of the new network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell; the core network side of the current network sending the EPLMN list including the first public land mobile network and the second public land mobile network to the user which needs to migrate every time; and the PLMN of the new network is changed from the second public land mobile network to the first public land mobile network after all the users of the current network migrate to the new network, and deleting the EPLMN list of the core network side of the new network. Since the users have gradually migrated into the established new network before removing the old current network equipment, and when the new network is able to provide communication service for the migrated users, the current network still provides communication service for users which have not migrated into the new network at the same time, and therefore, the drawback of interrupting providing communication service for users in the process of removing the old network equipment and installing the new network equipment in the prior art is overcome.
Besides, since the present invention is based on the IMSI to group users of the current network, hence the present invention is able to preciously control the number of users which migrate to the new network, and is also able to carry out special processing regarding the individual user. The migration operation is only required to send the EPLMN list including the first public land mobile network and the second public land mobile network to users, and users will actively search the network with better signal in the EPLMN list to enter, and therefore, making and updating a great amount of data in the prior art are omitted, and the workload of replacing the network is reduced.
The technical scheme of the present invention will not produce the service delay, and ensure the KPI of the network without affecting the user experience.
When a fault occurs and the new network is unable to work normally and the present invention carries out the network rollback, it is only required to change the cell state parameter of the new network, so comparing with the prior art, the network rollback is easier, and the risk of operator and equipment manufacturer is greatly reduced.
Below it will describe the method and apparatus for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN of the present invention in detail with reference to the figures and preferable examples.
The first example of the present invention provides a method for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN, wherein it is assumed that the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) used by the current network to be replaced is the first public land mobile network PLMN A, and this method comprises three stages, as shown in
The first stage: before replacing the network
Step s101, the new network is established, and the established new network comprises the network elements of the core network side and the wireless network side, and the network elements of the core network side comprises the GMSC, GGSN, HLR, MSC/VLR and SGSN, and network elements of the wireless network side include the RNC and the Node B. The MSC and SGSN of the core network side are connected with the RNC of the wireless network side, and each RNC connects a plurality of Node B(s), and one Node B is responsible for providing wireless communication service for users in one geographical location area, and one geographical location area includes one or more cells. The composition and the working way of the above new network are the same with those of the current network.
When the new network is established, the Node B to which the cell belongs in the new network is configured beside the Node B to which this cell belongs in the current network, and the Node B (s) in the two networks to which this cell belongs have the same physical address, and herein the Node B (s) with the same physical address are called as the Node B (s) with the same station address.
The PLMN of the new network is configured as the second public land mobile network PLMN B.
Step s102, each cell of the current network is configured with a cell of the new network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell, and the specific process is: adding the Identification (ID) of the cell of the new network into the inter-frequency neighbor cell list of the RNC to which the Node B of the cell of the current network with the same station address belongs; and at the same time, each cell of the current network is configured with the re-selection parameter for re-selecting the cell of the new network, for example, the cell relative offset parameter Qoffset is configured to be −10 dB.
Step s103, users of the current network are grouped based on the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), thereby being able to migrate according to groups, and the specific number of groups can be determined by the specific number of users and practical demands of the operators. In this example, all the users in the current network are divided into three number segments, namely three groups, as shown in table 1, and the IMSI number segment of the first group of users is: 139*****000˜139*****049, the IMSI number segment of the second group of users is: 139*****050˜139*****099, and the IMSI number segment of the third group of users is: 139*****100˜139*****149.
The second stage: in the process of replacing the network
Step s104, the MSC and SGSN send the EPLMN list including the PLMN A and PLMN B to the user group which needs to migrate every time at the core network side of the current network. Table 1 shows that the migrated one is the first group of users, and the MSC and the SGSN of the current network send the EPLMN list including the PLMN A and the PLMN B to the number segment 139*****000˜139*****049 where the first group of users are located. The MSC and SGSN of the current network do not send the EPLMN list including the PLMN A and the PLMN B to the number segment 139*****050˜139*****099 where the second group of users are located and the number segment 139*****100˜139*****149 where the third group of users are located, and the second and third group of users are only able to use the default home public land mobile network PLMN A, and therefore, the second and third group of users in table 1 do not migrate to the new network temporarily.
Step s105, the step s104 is repeated until all the users in the current network migrate into the new network.
The third stage: after all the users in the current network migrate into the new network
Step s106, the PLMN B configured in network elements of the new network which comprise the MSC and SGSN of the core network side and the RNC and the Node B of the wireless network side, is changed into the PLMN A.
Step s107, the EPLMN list reserved in the core network of the new network is deleted.
Step s108, all the network element equipment in the current network is powered off and removed.
The above method of the present invention enables users to smoothly migrate into the new network from the old network, and it can preciously control the migrating number of users and user type at the old network side every time, which avoids the risk brought by the traditional cutover method by dividing into areas.
The second example of the present invention provides a method for replacing the wireless network which is able to roll back, wherein it is assumed that HPLMN used by the current network to be replaced is the first public land mobile network PLMN A, and this method comprises four stages, as shown in
The first stage: before replacing the network
Step s201, the new network is established, and the established new network comprises the network elements of the core network side and wireless network side, and the network elements of the core network side comprise the GMSC, GGSN, HLR, MSC/VLR and SGSN, and the network elements of the wireless network side comprise the RNC and the Node B. The MSC and SGSN of the core network side are connected with the RNC of the wireless network side, and each RNC connects a great many Node B(s), and one Node B is responsible for providing wireless communication service for users in one geographical location area, and one geographical location area includes one or more cells. The composition and the working way of the above new network are the same as those of the current network.
When the new network is established, the Node B to which the cell belongs in the new network is configured beside the Node B to which this cell of the current network belongs, and the Node B (s) in the two networks to which this cell belongs have the same physical address, and herein the Node B (s) with the same physical address are called as the Node B with the same station address.
The PLMN of the new network is configured as the second public land mobile network PLMN B.
Step s202, each cell of the current network is configured with the cell of the new network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell, and the specific process is: adding the ID of the cell of the new network into the inter-frequency neighbor cell list of the RNC to which the Node B of the cell of the current network with the same station address belongs; at the same time, each cell of the current network is configured with the re-selection parameter for re-selecting the cell of the new network, for example, the cell relative offset parameter Qoffset is configured to be −10 dB.
Step s203, each cell of the new network is configured with the cell of the current network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell, and the specific process is: adding the ID of the cell of the current network into the inter-frequency neighbor cell list of the RNC to which the Node B of the cell of the new network with the same station address belongs.
Preferably, each cell of the new network is further configured with the cell of the current network without the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell in this example, and herein the cell of the current network without the same station address generally refers to cells of the current network centering around this cell of the new network, namely the ID(s) of cells of the current network centering around this cell of the new network are added into the inter-frequency neighbor cell list of the RNC to which the Node B of the cell of the new network with the same station address belongs. The above step of configuring the cell of the current network without the same station address is for the purpose of solving the problem that if the new network does not reach the full coverage, then users entering into the new network will roll back to the current network in the location without the coverage; when the user is just located at the border of two cells of the current network, and if a problem of the new network occurs and the user is required to roll back to the current network, then the user can roll back to the coverage area of cells of the current network with the same station address of the new network and the surrounding cells without the same station address after configuring cells of the current network without the same station address.
Step s204, users of the current network are grouped based on the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), thereby being able to migrate according to groups, and the specific number of groups can be determined by the specific number of users and practical demands of operators.
The second stage: in the process of replacing the network
Step s205, the MSC and SGSN send the EPLMN list including the PLMN A and PLMN B to the user group which needs to migrate every time at the core network side of the current network.
Step s206, the step s205 is repeated until all the users in the current network migrate into the new network.
The third stage: after all the users in the current network migrate into the new network
Step s207, the PLMN B configured in the network elements of the new network which comprise the MSC and SGSN of the core network side and the RNC and the Node B of the wireless network side, is changed into the PLMN A.
Step s208, the EPLMN list reserved in the core network of the new network is deleted.
The fourth stage: users roll back to the current network from the new network:
Step s209, if faults occur in part of the Node B (s) of the new network, then the value of cell state parameter “Cell Reserved for Operator Use” in the RNC to which the Node B with the fault belongs is changed from the default value “not reserved” into the “reserved”, then users in the new network will roll back to the current network. Users will be unable to reside in the new network, but roll back to the current network by re-selecting the cell after changing the cell state into the reserved.
When the fault is eliminated and the new network is able to work normally after being repaired, and the cell state parameter of the new network is changed into the default value “not reserved” over again, and users migrating into the new network will enter into the cell of the new network to receive mobile communication service again.
The third example of the present invention provides an apparatus for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN, wherein it is assumed that HPLMN used by the current network to be replaced is the first public land mobile network PLMN A, and as shown in
a network configuration module 401, which is configured to: configure the PLMN of the established new network as the second public land mobile network PLMN B, and configure the cell of the new network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell for each cell of the current network, and configure the re-selection parameter for re-selecting the cell of the new network for each cell of the current network.
A user migration module 402, which is configured to: send the EPLMN list including the PLMN A and PLMN B to users which need to migrate from the current network to the new network every time. Said user migration module 402 comprises a Mobile Switching Centre and a Serving GPRS Support Node.
A network change and replacement module 403, which is configured to change the PLMN of the new network into the PLMN A from the PLMN B after all the users in the current network migrate into the new network, and delete the EPLMN list reserved in the core network of the new network.
The forth example of the present invention provides an apparatus for replacing the wireless network which is able to roll back, wherein it is assumed that HPLMN used by the current network to be replaced is the first public land mobile network PLMN A, and this apparatus comprises following composition parts:
a network configuration module, which is configured to: configure the PLMN of the established new network as the second public land mobile network PLMN B, and configure the cell of the new network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell for each cell of the current network, and configure the cell of the current network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell for each cell of the new network, and configure the re-selection parameter for re-selecting the cell of the new network for each cell of the current network. Preferably, said network configuration module is further configured to: configure the cell of the current network without the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell for each cell of the new network.
A user migration module, which is configured to: send the EPLMN list including the PLMN A and PLMN B to users which need to migrate from the current network to the new network every time. Said user migration module comprises a Mobile Switching Centre and a Serving GPRS Support Node.
A network change and replacement module, which is configured to: change the PLMN of the new network into the PLMN A from the PLMN B after all the users in the current network migrate into the new network, and delete the EPLMN list reserved in the core network of the new network.
Said network configuration module is further configured to: change the value of cell state parameter “Cell Reserved for Operator Use” in the RNC to which the Node B with the fault belongs from the default value “not reserved” into the “reserved” when faults occur in part of the Node B (s) of the new network and users in the new network are required to roll back to the current network, and make users in the new network roll back to the current network. After the cell state is changed into the “reserved”, users will be unable to reside in the new network, and roll back to the current network by re-selecting the cell. When the fault is eliminated and the new network is able to work normally after being repaired, said network configuration module changes the cell state parameter of the new network into the default value “not reserved” over again, and makes users migrating into the new network enter into the cell of the new network again to receive mobile communication service.
The method and apparatus for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN provided in the present invention are used for establishing the new network and configuring its PLMN as the second public land mobile network PLMN B, and configuring the cell of the new network with the same station address as the inter-frequency neighbor cell for each cell of the current network; the core network side of the current network sending the EPLMN list including the first public land mobile network PLMN A and the second public land mobile network PLMN B to the user which needs to migrate every time; and changing the PLMN of the new network from the PLMN B to the PLMN A after all the users of the current network migrate to the new network, and deleting the EPLMN list of the core network side of the new network. Since users have gradually migrated to the established new network before removing the old current network equipment, and the new network is able to provide communication service for the migrated users, and at the same time the current network still provides communication service for users which have not migrated into the new network, and therefore, the drawback of interrupting providing communication service for all network users in the process of removing the old network equipment and installing the new network equipment is overcome.
Besides, since the present invention is based on the IMSI to group the users of the current network, so the present invention is able to preciously control the number of users which are migrating to the new network, and also is able to carry out special processing regarding the individual user. The migration operation is only required to send the EPLMB list including the PLMN A and PLMN B to users, and users will actively search the network with the better signal in the EPLMN list to enter, and therefore, making and updating a great amount of data in the prior art are omitted, and the workload of replacing the network is reduced.
The technical scheme of the present invention will not produce the service delay, and ensure the KPI of the network without affecting the user experience.
When a fault of the new network occurs and the new network is unable to work normally and the present invention carries out the network rollback, it is only required to change the cell state parameter of the new network, so comparing with the prior art, the network rollback is easier, and the risk of operator and equipment manufacturer is greatly reduced.
Certainly, the present invention can also have other various examples, and various corresponding modifications and transformations can be made according to the present invention by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or essence of the present invention. Such corresponding modifications and transformations shall all fall into the protection scope of the appended claims of the present invention.
The method and apparatus for replacing the wireless network based on the EPLMN provided in the present invention overcome the drawback of interrupting providing communication service for users of the whole network in the process of removing the old network equipment and installing the new network equipment in the prior art, and omit making and updating a great amount of data in the prior art, and reduce the workload of replacing the network, and make the network rollback easier, and will not produce the service delay, and ensure the KPI of the network without affecting the user experience.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200910180297.3 | Oct 2009 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN10/73627 | 6/7/2010 | WO | 00 | 9/21/2011 |
