CN1330191C - Method of time sequence control for access layer and non-access layer message - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for controlling the timing of access layer and non-access layer messages, which can avoid errors in the sending and receiving sequence of direct transmission messages and signaling messages, and prevent direct transmission messages from being discarded because they arrive at user equipment later than signaling messages . The sequence control method of the access stratum and non-access stratum messages includes the following steps: A. The core network sends a signaling message to the radio network controller; The direct transmission message is being sent, if there is, then enter step C, if not, then enter step D; C universal mobile communication system terrestrial wireless access network side waits for the transmission of the direct transmission message, and enters step D; D wireless network control The device sends a signaling message to the user equipment.

Description

Sequence control method for access stratum and non-access stratum messages

technical field

The invention relates to a timing control method for sending and receiving messages in a mobile communication system, in particular to a timing control method for sending and receiving messages between an access layer and a non-access layer in the mobile communication system.

Background technique

In the existing Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) communication system, when a call is made, the signaling plane of the access layer (including the signaling plane of the transmission network layer and the wireless network layer) is first established. ), and then establishes the non-access stratum signaling plane. When releasing, the non-access stratum message of the core network and the user equipment first completes the interaction, and then the core network triggers the release of the access stratum signaling plane.

The interaction process between the access layer signaling message and the non-access layer direct message in the above process is detailed in the 3GPP series protocols, especially the 3GPP TS 25.331 V3.7.0 and 3GPPTS 23.122 V3.7.0 published in June 2001 description of.

However, in some cases, a timing error may occur between the non-access stratum direct transmission message and the access stratum signaling message. The reason is as follows: when the access layer signaling message interacts with the non-access layer direct transmission message, and the core network first communicates to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UMTSTerrestrial Radio Access Network, referred to as "UTRAN") through the IU interface. When sending non-access stratum direct transmission messages, and then sending access stratum signaling messages to UTRAN, UTRAN does not perform any processing on non-access stratum direct transmission messages and transmits them directly to user equipment; The UTRAN also immediately sends the incoming signaling message to the user equipment. But the two kinds of messages are sent through different channels. The signaling message is sent from the radio link control layer corresponding to Signaling Radio Bearing (Signalling Radio Bearing, referred to as "SRB") 1, while the direct transmission message is sent from the corresponding Delivered by the radio link control layer. Normally, the priority of SRB1 is higher than that of SRB3 and SRB4, so the system will send signaling messages first. In addition, the signaling message is generally small, while the direct transmission message is large, which also affects the transmission speed, so it is easier to cause the user equipment to fail when the core network sends the direct transmission message first and then sends the signaling message. The signaling message is received first, and then the direct transmission message is received.

FIG. 1 shows a specific example of sending and receiving direct messages and signaling messages. In Figure 1, the user equipment first sends an "INITIAL DIRECT TRANSFER" (initial direct transfer) message to the UTRAN, and then the UTRAN sends an "INITIAL UE MESSAGE" (initial UE message) message to the core network, and then the core network first passes through the IU interface , and deliver the direct transmission message to the radio network controller in the UTRAN. Then, the core network sends an "IU RELEASE COMMAND" (IU release command) message through the IU interface, which is a signaling message.

The radio network controller (Radio Network Control, referred to as "RNC") forwards the direct message to the user equipment after receiving the direct message sent by the core network; on the other hand, the radio network controller receives the message sent by the core network Command message, that is, send an "RRC CONNECTIONRELEASE" (radio resource control connection release) message to the user equipment.

As mentioned above, the signaling message "RRC CONNECTION RELEASE" is sent from the radio link control layer corresponding to SRB1, and the direct transfer message "DIRECT TRANSFER" is sent from the radio link control layer corresponding to SRB3 or SRB4. From the perspective of the level, SRB1 is higher than SRB3 and SRB4, and the signaling message is smaller. In addition, there may be more data packets on the radio link control layer corresponding to SRB3 or SRB4. The out-of-sequence of the direct transmission message and the signaling message appears on the UU interface between them, that is, as shown in Figure 1, on the IU interface, the direct transmission message arrives at the UTRAN side before the signaling message "IU RELEASE COMMAND", but on the UU interface However, the direct transmission message arrives at the user equipment side slower than the signaling message "RRC CONNECTION RELEASE".

In this case, the user equipment will release the access layer after receiving "RRC CONNECTION RELEASE", so that the received non-access layer direct message will be discarded and cannot be transmitted to the user equipment's non-access layer.

Contents of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a new timing control method for access stratum and non-access stratum messages. The signaling message is discarded when it reaches the UE.

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the timing control method of access stratum and non-access stratum messages provided by the present party includes the following steps:

A core network sends a signaling message to the radio network controller;

The ground wireless access network side of the B universal mobile communication system judges whether the current corresponding domain has a downlink direct transmission message being sent, if yes, then enters step C, if not, then enters step D;

C terrestrial wireless access network side of the universal mobile communication system waits for the transmission of the direct transmission message to be completed, and enters step D;

D. The radio network controller sends a signaling message to the user equipment.

Wherein, in the step A, the signaling message is a release-type or configuration-type signaling message.

The step B includes the following steps: the radio network controller judges whether there is a direct transmission message that has been sent to the user equipment in the current corresponding domain but has not received a confirmation message, and if so, the UTRAN The network side determines that the current corresponding domain has a downlink direct transmission message being sent, and if not, determines that the corresponding domain does not currently have a downlink direct transmission message being sent.

The step C can be realized in the following way:

The radio network controller waits for a confirmation message of the direct transmission message, and receiving the confirmation message indicates that the transmission of the direct transmission message is completed, and proceeds to step D.

The step C also includes the following steps:

When the radio network controller waits for the confirmation message from the radio link control layer at the user equipment side to expire, a timer is used to trigger the radio network controller to deliver the signaling message to the user equipment.

The timing length of the timer is set by the network side.

Through comparison, it can be found that the difference between the technical solution of the present invention and the prior art is that when the terrestrial wireless access network of the universal mobile communication system needs to forward the signaling message to the user equipment, it first determines whether there is a downlink direct transmission message in the current corresponding domain is being sent, if there is, the signaling message is sent to the user equipment only after the direct transfer message is sent.

This difference in technical solutions brings obvious beneficial effects, that is, it avoids sending a signaling message when a downlink direct transmission message is currently being sent in the corresponding domain. In this way, timing errors of sending and receiving signaling messages and direct transmission messages are prevented, and it is ensured that the direct transmission messages can arrive at the user equipment correctly.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the timing of sending and receiving direct transmission messages and signaling messages in the prior art;

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a timing control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the object, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of a timing control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 2, in step 100, the core network sends signaling messages to the radio network controller on the UTRAN side through the IU interface, wherein these signaling messages can be release type signaling messages, such as "RADIOBEARER RELEASE" (wireless bearer release) message, "SIGNALLING CONNECTION RELEASE" (signaling connection release) message and "RRC CONNECTION RELEASE" (radio resource connection release) message, etc.; it can also be a configuration signaling message, such as "RADIO BEARER RECONFIGURATION" (radio bearer reconfiguration )wait. Then go to step 200 .

In step 200, after receiving the above-mentioned signaling message, the UTRAN side judges whether there is a downlink direct transfer message being sent in the current corresponding domain, and if yes, proceeds to step 300, and if not, proceeds to step 400. The corresponding domain refers to the domain where the signaling connection is located, such as CS (Circuit Switching) domain or PS (Packet Switching) domain. It is only judged in the current corresponding domain because connections in different domains are independent.

A specific example is given here to illustrate how the UTRAN side determines whether a downlink direct transfer message is being sent in the corresponding domain.

In the WCDMA communication system, the direct transfer message is AM (Acknowledged Mode, notification mode) mode, so if the radio network controller on the UTRAN side sends a direct transfer message to the user equipment through the UU interface, and the user equipment receives the direct transfer message If so, the radio link control layer on the user equipment side must return a confirmation message to the radio network controller.

That is to say, if the radio network controller sends the direct transmission message to the user equipment through the UU interface, but does not receive the confirmation message returned from the radio link control layer on the user equipment side, it means that the direct transmission message has not correctly reached the user equipment. The device, that is, the corresponding domain is currently sending downlink direct transmission messages.

Therefore, the radio network controller can judge whether there is a downlink direct transmission message according to whether the direct transmission message has been sent to the user equipment in the current corresponding domain, but the confirmation message returned by the radio link control layer of the user equipment side has not been received by the UTRAN side. Message is being sent.

According to the above principles, if the judgment result is that there is no direct transmission message that has been sent in the current corresponding domain but no confirmation message has been received, it means that no downlink message is being sent. There are two possibilities for this situation. One is that the radio network controller on the UTRAN side has sent a direct transmission message to the user equipment through the UU interface, and the direct transmission message has correctly reached the user equipment, so that the radio link control on the user equipment side The layer returns an acknowledgment message to the radio network controller. The other is that the radio network controller on the UTRAN side does not send the direct transmission message to the user equipment. In both cases, the radio network controller on the UTRAN side is allowed to directly send the direct transfer message to the user equipment without causing a wrong sequence of sending and receiving of the direct transfer message and the signaling message. In this case, go to step 400 .

On the other hand, if the judgment result is that there is a direct transmission message that has been sent but the confirmation message has not been received, it means that there is a downlink direct transmission message being sent. In this case, go to step 300 .

In step 300, because in step 200, UTRAN judges that there is a downlink direct transmission message being sent in the corresponding domain, so in order to prevent the user equipment from receiving the signaling message before receiving the direct transmission message, the direct transmission message and signaling The sequence of the messages is wrong, so after waiting for the direct transfer message to be sent, go to step 400, that is, the radio network controller on the UTRAN side sends a signaling message to the user equipment.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the radio network controller on the UTRAN side waits for the confirmation message returned from the radio link control layer on the user equipment side, and sends a message to the user equipment through the UU interface until the confirmation message is received. order news. This solution ensures that the user equipment can correctly receive the direct transmission message sent by the UTRAN side, and avoids the phenomenon that the direct transmission message is discarded because it receives a signaling message such as release first. In addition, the time for the radio network controller to wait for the confirmation message from the radio link control layer of the user equipment side is protected by a timer, if the UTRAN side does not receive the confirmation message from the radio link control layer of the user equipment side for a long time , that is, waiting for timeout, the radio network controller is triggered to send a signaling message to the user equipment through the UU interface when the above-mentioned timer times out.

In step 400, the radio network controller directly sends a signaling message to the user equipment through the UU interface.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein, and without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. A method for sequence control of access stratum and non-access stratum messages, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: A core network sends a signaling message to the radio network controller; The ground wireless access network side of the B universal mobile communication system judges whether the current corresponding domain has a downlink direct transmission message being sent, if yes, then enters step C, if not, then enters step D; C terrestrial wireless access network side of the universal mobile communication system waits for the transmission of the direct transmission message to be completed, and enters step D; D. The radio network controller sends a signaling message to the user equipment. 2. The method for timing control of access stratum and non-access stratum messages according to claim 1, wherein in step A, the signaling message is a release type or a configuration type signaling message. 3. The method for sequence control of access stratum and non-access stratum messages according to claim 1, wherein step B comprises the following steps: the radio network controller judges whether there is a message to the user equipment in the current corresponding domain If there is a direct transmission message sent but no confirmation message has been received, the terrestrial wireless access network side of the universal mobile communication system determines that there is a downlink direct transmission message being sent in the current corresponding domain; if not, it determines that the current corresponding domain does not have a downlink direct transmission message. Message is being sent. 4. The sequence control method of access stratum and non-access stratum messages according to claim 3, characterized in that, the implementation of the step C is as follows: The radio network controller waits for a confirmation message of the direct transmission message, and receiving the confirmation message indicates that the transmission of the direct transmission message is completed, and proceeds to step D. 5. The method for timing control of access stratum and non-access stratum messages according to claim 4, wherein said step C also includes the following steps: When the radio network controller waits for the confirmation message from the radio link control layer at the user equipment side to expire, a timer is used to trigger the radio network controller to deliver the signaling message to the user equipment. 6. The method for controlling the timing of access stratum and non-access stratum messages according to claim 5, wherein the timing length of the timer is set by the network side.