[0029] The embodiment of the present invention realizes information transmission to the MTC terminal by sending a paging message to a group that needs to receive a message. Compared with the traditional paging method, one-to-one transmission is no longer needed, saving network resources. Compared with the MBMS mode, the realization of paging messages is more flexible and is not restricted by fixed format and length.
[0030] This embodiment includes a RAN group (RAN group) and an MTC group (MTC group). RANgroup can be divided according to services, operations, and MTC equipment types. MTC group can be divided according to the type of MTC equipment and geographical area. Each RAN group has a unique RAN group public identity, and each MTC group has a unique MTC group public identity. The RAN group public identity has a corresponding relationship with the MTC group public identity, and the corresponding relationship can be one-to-one, many-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many. The RAN group public identity can be a Radio Network Temporary Identity (RNTI), or other public identities, and there is a one-to-one correspondence between the RAN group public identity and the RNTI.
[0031] See figure 1 In this embodiment, the communication system includes: an MTC server, a packet data network gateway (Packed Data Network Gateway, PDN GW), a serving gateway (S-GW), a mobility management entity (MME), and an evolved base station (eNB).
[0032] The MTC server (MTC server) is used to send the MTC group public identifier and the public message content of the MTC group that needs to receive the public message content to the PDN GW.
[0033] The PDN GW is used to forward the MTC group public identity and public message content to the serving gateway (S-GW);
[0034] The S-GW is used to forward the MTC group public identity and public message content to the mobile management entity (MME);
[0035] The MME is used to determine the RAN group corresponding to the public identity of the MTC group, and obtain the eNB corresponding to the RAN group, generate a paging message including the content of the public message, or generate information related to the content of the public message (such as including a public message content address) Paging message. The MME sends a paging message to the corresponding MTC group through the corresponding eNB. If the RAN group public identity adopts the RNTI, the MME determines the corresponding eNB according to the RNTI. If the RAN group public identity uses a public identity other than RNTI, the MME determines the corresponding eNB according to the RAN group public identity. Then the eNB determines the corresponding RNTI according to the RAN group public identity, so that the MTC terminal can monitor.
[0036] The eNB is used to send the paging message and RNTI to the MTC terminals in the MTC group in a multicast manner, and to receive the response message returned by the MTC terminal, and return the response message to the MTC server. The response message includes an acknowledgement response message (ACK) and an error response message (NACK). The corresponding relationship between the RNTI and the local MTC group public identity is configured inside the eNB. Specifically, the eNB sends the RNTI on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and sends the paging message on the shared channel. If the paging message includes the public message content address, the eNB also needs to send the public message content on the channel indicated by the public message content address. If the paging message does not include the public message content and the public message content address, the eNB also needs to send the public message content on the preset resource. At this time, the location information of the preset resource is configured in both the eNB and the MTC terminal.
[0037] The internal structure and functions of the MME are described in detail below.
[0038] See figure 2 In this embodiment, the MME includes: a generation module 201, a query module 202, and an interface module 203.
[0039] The query module 202 is used to determine the RAN group corresponding to the MTC group that needs to receive the paging message, and obtain the RAN group public identifier. The query module 202 is also used to determine the eNB corresponding to the RAN group. The query module 202 is also used to obtain the RNTI of the RAN group, or the eNB obtains the RNTI of the RAN group.
[0040] The generating module 201 is used to generate a paging message. The paging message includes public message content or information related to public message content; or the paging message does not include public message content and information related to public message content.
[0041] The interface module 203 is configured to send RNTI and paging messages to the determined MTC group. Specifically, the interface module 203 sends a paging message to the corresponding MTC group in a multicast manner through the corresponding eNB. The interface module 203 sends a paging message to the corresponding MTC group on the shared channel through the corresponding eNB, and sends the RNTI on the PDCCH. Using the shared channel to simultaneously page multiple users, compared with the paging mechanism in the prior art, saves the resources of the shared channel. And it is not restricted by the format of MBMS related channels. The interface module 203 is also used to receive the response message returned by the MTC terminal through the eNB.
[0042] The paging message also includes the MTC group public identity so that the MTC terminal can perform message verification.
[0043] The RNTI is a common paging RNTI (P-RNTI), a MTC dedicated P-RNTI, or a RAN group dedicated control RNTI (C-RNTI). The ordinary P-RNTI does not distinguish between H2H mode and M2M mode. In order not to affect the transmission of the H2H mode, this embodiment provides the P-RNTI dedicated to the MTC for the M2M mode to distinguish the P-RNTI of the H2H mode. Furthermore, in order not to affect other forms of transmission (such as broadcasting, etc.), this embodiment provides a RAN group-specific C-RNTI for the RAN group. And in order not to affect other forms of transmission, when using C-RNTI for paging, the RAN group public identity does not use RNTI.
[0044] The MTC group public identifier may be a public temporary mobile station identifier (S-TMSI), an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI), or other identifiers that can mark the MTC group.
[0045] The network side realizes sending paging messages to the MTC terminals in the MTC group, especially when only one paging message is sent for one operation of an MTC group. The MTC terminal needs to receive and parse the paging message. The internal structure and functions of the MTC terminal are introduced.
[0046] See image 3 In this embodiment, the MTC terminal includes: a monitoring module 301 and an interface module 302.
[0047] The monitoring module 301 is used for paging monitoring. Specifically, the monitoring module 301 performs paging monitoring on the RNTI on the PDCCH. The monitoring module 301 can periodically monitor according to the discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. The monitoring module 301 stores the RNTI corresponding to the MTC terminal.
[0048] The interface module 302 is configured to receive a paging message when the local corresponding RNTI is monitored. Specifically, the interface module 302 receives paging messages on the shared channel, and may also receive public message content on the broadcast channel or the MBMS service channel. The interface module 302 is also used to return a response message after receiving the paging message.
[0049] The MTC terminal also includes: a parsing module 303 and a matching module 304, see Figure 4 Shown.
[0050] The parsing module 303 is used for parsing the paging message.
[0051] The matching module 304 is used to compare the MTC group public identifier in the paging message with its corresponding MTC group public identifier when the paging message includes the MTC group public identifier, and instruct the parsing module when the comparison is consistent 303 continues to parse the paging message, and discards the paging message when the comparison is inconsistent. The matching module 304 stores the MTC group public identity and RNTI corresponding to the MTC terminal.
[0052] The paging message may contain the content of the public message or the address of the content of the public message. The parsing module 303 is used to parse the paging message to obtain the public message content; or to parse the paging message to obtain the public message content address, and instruct the interface module 302 to obtain the public message content according to the public message content address. The public message content address can be a channel other than the shared channel, such as a broadcast channel or an MBMS service channel.
[0053] The paging message may also not include the public message content and the address of the public message content. After receiving the paging message, the interface module 302 receives the public message content on a preset resource. The content of public messages includes control information and business data.
[0054] When an MTC terminal accesses the network (especially for the first time accessing the network), the network side (such as MME and eNB) allocates the public identification used by the MTC terminal according to the attributes or subscription information of the MTC terminal, such as the MTC to which it belongs The public S-TMSI of the group determines the public RNTI that it uses, such as P-RNTI, MTC-dedicated P-RNTI, or public C-RNTI of the RAN group to which it belongs. And the public RNTI, MTC group public identity and AS layer related parameters (including the timing configuration for monitoring paging, such as discontinuous reception period, etc.) are sent to the MTC terminal.
[0055] After understanding the internal structure and function of the system and device through the above description, the realization process of transmitting machine-type communication public messages will be introduced below.
[0056] See Figure 5 , The main method flow for transmitting machine-type communication public messages in this embodiment is as follows:
[0057] Step 501: The network side determines the radio access network (RAN) group corresponding to the machine type communication (MTC) group that needs to receive the paging message, and obtains the radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) of the RAN group.
[0058] Step 502: The network side generates a paging message.
[0059] Step 503: The network side sends an RNTI and a paging message to the MTC terminal in the determined MTC group in a multicast manner.
[0060] Since the RNTI has many specific forms, the paging message may include the public message content or the public message content address, so the specific implementation process may have multiple ways, which are described in detail through two typical embodiments below.
[0061] See Image 6 In this embodiment, the process of the method for transmitting machine-type communication public messages through C-RNTI is as follows:
[0062] Step 601: The MTC server sends the S-TMSI and the public message content of the MTC group that needs to receive the paging message to the PDN GW.
[0063] Step 602: The PDN GW forwards the S-TMSI and public message content to the S-GW.
[0064] Step 603: The S-GW forwards the S-TMSI and the public message content to the MME.
[0065] Step 604: The MME determines the RAN group public identity corresponding to the S-TMSI and the eNB corresponding to the RAN group public identity. The RAN group public identity does not use C-RNTI.
[0066] Step 605: MME generates a paging message including S-TMSI, and forwards the paging message to the corresponding eNB.
[0067] Step 606: The eNB determines the corresponding C-RNTI according to the RAN group public identity, and sends a paging message to the MTC terminal on the shared channel in a multicast manner, and sends the C-RNTI on the PDCCH.
[0068] Step 607: The MTC terminal monitors the C-RNTI on the PDCCH.
[0069] Step 608: The MTC terminal receives the paging message after monitoring its corresponding C-RNTI.
[0070] Step 609: The MTC terminal returns a confirmation response message to the eNB. The eNB returns the confirmation response message to the MTC server. If the MTC terminal fails to receive, it returns a failure response message to the eNB. The eNB returns a failure response message to the MTC server.
[0071] When successfully receiving the paging message, the MTC terminal can also parse the paging message to obtain the public message content.
[0072] See Figure 7 In this embodiment, the process of the method for transmitting machine-type communication public messages through MTC P-RNTI is as follows:
[0073] Step 701: The MTC server sends the public message content and the S-TMSI corresponding to the MTC group that needs to receive the message to the PDN GW.
[0074] Step 702: The PDN GW forwards the public message content and S-TMSI to the S-GW.
[0075] Step 703: The S-GW forwards the public message content and S-TMSI to the MME.
[0076] Step 704: The MME determines the MTC P-RNTI corresponding to the S-TMSI and the eNB corresponding to the MTC P-RNTI. The RAN group public identity adopts MTC P-RNTI.
[0077] Step 705: The MME generates a paging message including the public identifier S-TMSI used by the group and the public message content address, and sends the paging message and the MTC P-RNTI to the corresponding eNB.
[0078] Step 706: The eNB sends a paging message to the MTC terminal on the shared channel in a multicast manner, and sends the MTC P-RNTI on the PDCCH.
[0079] Step 707: The MTC terminal monitors the MTC P-RNTI on the shared control channel.
[0080] Step 708: The MTC terminal receives the paging message after monitoring the MTC P-RNTI.
[0081] Step 709: The MTC terminal matches the S-TMSI in the paging message with the local S-TMSI, and if the match is consistent, proceed to step 711, otherwise proceed to step 710.
[0082] Step 710: The MTC terminal discards the paging message.
[0083] Step 711: The MTC terminal obtains the public message content address from the paging message, and receives the public message content according to the public message content address.
[0084] Step 712: The MTC terminal returns a confirmation response message to the eNB. The eNB returns the confirmation response message to the MTC server.
[0085] RNTI is the realization of ordinary P-RNTI and Figure 7 The process shown is similar and can be implemented by reference, so I won't repeat it here.
[0086] The software used to implement the embodiments of the present invention may be stored in storage media such as floppy disks, hard disks, optical disks, and flash memory.
[0087] The embodiment of the present invention realizes information transmission to the MTC terminal by sending a paging message to a group that needs to receive a message. Compared with the traditional paging method, one-to-one transmission is no longer needed, saving network resources. Compared with the MBMS mode, the realization of paging messages is more flexible and is not restricted by fixed format and length. Moreover, the embodiment of the present invention transmits paging messages in the shared channel, avoiding the limitation of the fixed format and length of the control channel. And, in the embodiment of the present invention, the paging message includes public message content, or includes a public message content address, so that it is compatible with the MBMS system. The RNTI in the embodiment of the present invention is a common P-RNTI, a MTC dedicated P-RNTI, or a RAN group dedicated C-RNTI, so that it is compatible with the H2H mode.
[0088] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In this way, if these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalent technologies, the present invention is also intended to include these modifications and variations.
