Smart Edge Device Routing S1AP Signaling for Multi-Operator Small Cells
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Solution Overview
Problem
In existing small cell network deployments, a small cell can only be accessed by users of a single operator, limiting its ability to serve users from multiple operators and causing interference and management challenges due to overlapping networks and shared device configurations.
Innovation Solution
A smart edge device sets up IPSec tunnels with security gateways of multiple operators and uses S1AP ID mapping to route S1AP signaling, allowing a small cell to access and communicate with networks of multiple operators, enabling it to provide service to terminals of different operators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a small cell is configured to serve users of multiple operators through shared access, then the service coverage and user accessibility are improved, but the device complexity and management difficulty increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the small cell's service capability by operator, using separate IPSec tunnels for each operator's core network. This allows the small cell to serve multiple operators while maintaining independent management planes for each, reducing the complexity of unified multi-operator management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (SE-GW and He-GW) that mediates between the small cell and multiple operator core networks. These intermediary elements handle the complexity of multi-operator authentication and signaling, shielding the small cell from direct management complexity while enabling versatile service coverage.
2Reliability
If multiple separate operator networks are deployed in the same area to serve different operators' users, then each operator's service reliability is improved, but the network interference and deployment complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple operator networks into a single small cell infrastructure, allowing one small cell to serve users from multiple operators simultaneously. This consolidation eliminates the physical overlap of multiple networks in the same area, reducing deployment complexity and minimizing network interference while maintaining service reliability through logical separation via IPSec tunnels.
3Productivity
If a shared small cell device is leased to multiple operators, then the resource utilization and cost efficiency are improved, but the processing capacity for security tunnels drops seriously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the security tunnel processing by creating dedicated IPSec tunnels for each operator through the SE-GW and He-GW. This segmentation allows the shared small cell to maintain multiple independent security channels without overwhelming the processing capacity, as each tunnel is managed separately through the intermediary gateways rather than requiring direct peer-to-peer encryption/decryption at the small cell.
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed are an S1AP signaling transmission method and apparatus. The method comprises: an intelligent mobile edge device receives an SCTP message carrying uplink S1AP signaling of a terminal sent by a Small Cell, determines an operator network corresponding to the terminal according to an S1AP ID carried in the uplink S1AP signaling, and sends the SCTP message carrying the uplink S1AP signaling to the He-GW of the operator network; the intelligent mobile edge device receives an SCTP message carrying downlink S1AP signaling of the terminal sent by the He-GW of the operator network, determines the Small Cell corresponding to the terminal according to an S1AP ID carried in the downlink S1AP signaling, and sends the SCTP message carrying the downlink S1AP signaling to the Small Cell. In this way, a Small Cell may access networks of multiple operators to provide network services for terminals of different operators.