CN101588325B

CN101588325B - Disaster recovery method, device and system based on wireless packet gateways

Info

Publication number: CN101588325B
Application number: CN2008101608574A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙晓姬; 张进; 袁立平
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-05-20
Filing date: 2008-09-12
Publication date: 2013-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2028-09-12
Also published as: WO2009140919A1; CN101588325A

Abstract

The invention provides a disaster recovery method based on wireless packet gateways. The method specifically comprises: choosing a standby wireless packet gateway of a master wireless packet gateway according to acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway when the master wireless packet gateway is unavailable, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the master wireless packet gateway have a section of the same address pool; and establishing path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway. The invention also provides a packet data network gateway device and a disaster recovery system based on the wireless packet gateways. Through the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the invention gives a specific proposal for realizing disaster recovery based on the wireless packet gateways, thereby reducing network risk and improving service quality.

Description

Disaster recovery method, equipment and system based on wireless packet gateway

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a disaster recovery method, device, and system based on a wireless packet gateway.

Background

In order to enhance the competitive power of future networks, 3GPP (third Generation Partnership Project) is studying a completely new evolved network. In order to reduce service interruption caused by natural disasters and provide users with high-quality and stable services, the brand new evolution Network provides a concept of a PGW POOL (Packet Data Network gateway POOL).

In the process of implementing the invention, the inventor finds that at least the following problems exist in the prior art:

a specific implementation manner of the PGW POOL is not given in the 3GPP protocol, and further, a specific implementation manner of implementing disaster tolerance based on the PGW POOL is not given.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method, equipment and a system for realizing disaster tolerance based on a wireless packet gateway, which are used for reducing network risks caused by the unavailability of the current wireless packet gateway.

The embodiment of the invention provides a disaster recovery method based on a wireless packet gateway, which comprises the following steps:

when the main wireless packet gateway is unavailable, selecting a standby wireless packet gateway of the main wireless packet gateway according to the acquired standby wireless packet gateway information, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of same address pool;

establishing a path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway;

wherein the process of selecting the standby wireless packet gateway of the active wireless packet gateway specifically includes:

and selecting the standby wireless packet gateway of the address pool where the user equipment address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a packet data network gateway device, configured to access a user equipment to a packet data network, including:

a wireless packet gateway selection module, configured to select a standby wireless packet gateway in an address pool where a user equipment address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway when a primary wireless packet gateway is unavailable, where the standby wireless packet gateway and the primary wireless packet gateway have a same address pool;

and the path establishing module is used for establishing path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway selected by the wireless packet gateway selecting module.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a mobility management network element or a serving gateway entity, including:

the receiving module is used for receiving standby wireless packet gateway information sent by the main wireless packet data network gateway equipment;

and the mobility management network element or the service gateway entity is used for selecting the standby wireless packet gateway of the address pool where the user equipment address is located according to the information of the standby wireless packet gateway and establishing path connection with the selected standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of the same address pool.

An embodiment of the present invention provides another disaster recovery system based on a wireless packet gateway, including:

the packet data network gateway equipment is used for selecting a standby wireless packet gateway of an address pool where a user equipment address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway when the packet data network gateway equipment is unavailable, and sending the selected information of the standby wireless packet gateway to a mobility management network element or a service gateway entity, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and a main wireless packet gateway have a same address pool;

and the mobile management network element or the service gateway entity is used for establishing path connection with the selected standby wireless packet gateway.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a disaster recovery system based on a wireless packet gateway, including:

the packet data network gateway equipment is used for sending standby wireless packet gateway information to a mobility management network element or a service gateway entity when the packet data network gateway equipment is unavailable;

and the mobility management network element or the service gateway entity is used for selecting the standby wireless packet gateway of the address pool where the user equipment address is located according to the information of the standby wireless packet gateway, and establishing path connection with the selected standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have the same address pool.

It can be seen from the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present invention that a specific implementation manner of disaster recovery based on a wireless packet gateway is provided in the embodiments of the present invention, so that network risk can be reduced, and service quality can be improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a process of acquiring information of a standby wireless packet gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another process for acquiring information of a standby wireless packet gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a third processing procedure for acquiring information of a standby wireless packet gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a processing procedure for switching a PGW according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another processing procedure for switching a PGW according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a processing procedure of a third PGW handover according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a processing procedure for deleting a bearer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a processing procedure for switching an access network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a tracking area/routing area update process according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a packet data network gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a disaster recovery system based on a wireless packet gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic diagram of a processing procedure of a fourth PGW switching according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In the embodiment of the invention, when a main wireless packet gateway is unavailable (such as the main wireless packet gateway is in fault, load balance, overload, maintenance, load migration or path fault), a standby wireless packet gateway of the main wireless packet gateway is selected, and the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of same address pool; the address pool comprises more than one address information, such as an IP address, etc., which is used for allocating to a network device, such as a user equipment UE, for communication. A path connection is then established with the standby wireless packet gateway.

The embodiment of the present invention further includes a process of acquiring information of a standby wireless packet gateway of the active wireless packet gateway, where the process may specifically include: in a user equipment attaching process, or in a process of establishing a PDN (Packet Data Network) connection between a user equipment and a Network side, or in a process of activating a PDP (Packet Data Protocol) by a user, obtaining information of a standby wireless Packet gateway (the standby wireless Packet gateway may be a standby wireless Packet gateway corresponding to an address pool where a user address is located, or may be all standby wireless Packet gateways of a primary wireless Packet gateway), where the standby wireless Packet gateway is selected by the primary wireless Packet gateway, specifically, the primary wireless Packet gateway is selected in a wireless Packet gateway resource pool, the wireless Packet gateway resource pool is composed of a plurality of independent wireless Packet gateways, and the wireless Packet gateways having a same address pool are mutually active and standby; or, obtaining information indicating a correspondence between an address pool and a standby wireless packet gateway sent by the primary wireless packet gateway, and obtaining information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the information indicating the correspondence, where the information indicating the correspondence between the address pool and the standby wireless packet gateway may specifically be correspondence information between the address pool and the standby wireless packet gateway, or correspondence information between an Access Point Name (APN) and the standby wireless packet gateway, or correspondence information between a PDN and the standby wireless packet gateway, or the like; or, when the service mobility management network element of the user equipment is changed, acquiring the information of the standby wireless packet gateway sent by the source mobility management network element; or, the standby wireless packet gateway of the primary wireless packet gateway is obtained through a standby relationship between the configured wireless packet gateways, or the information related to the primary wireless packet gateway is obtained by analyzing the information related to the primary wireless packet gateway through a Domain Name System (DNS), where the information related to the primary wireless packet gateway may specifically include an APN containing information (such as address information, alias, and the like) of the primary wireless packet gateway, or an APN + address of the primary wireless packet gateway, or an alias of the primary wireless packet gateway. The information of the standby wireless packet gateway may specifically be an address, an alias, or the like of the standby wireless packet gateway, which may be used to identify the wireless packet gateway.

The information of the standby wireless packet gateway of the primary wireless packet gateway may be specifically obtained by a mobility management network element or a serving gateway entity that currently provides a service for a user.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, the process of selecting the standby wireless packet gateway of the active wireless packet gateway specifically may include: and selecting the standby wireless packet gateway of the address pool where the user address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway. For example, if the information of the standby wireless packet gateway is obtained from the information indicating the correspondence between the address pool and the standby wireless packet gateway, the standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the address pool where the address of the user equipment is located may be selected for the user equipment according to the correspondence between the address pool and the standby wireless packet gateway; and if the information of the standby wireless packet gateway is acquired in other modes, selecting the standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the address pool where the address of the user equipment is located for the user equipment according to the information of the standby wireless packet gateway.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, after the path with the standby wireless packet gateway is established, the standby wireless packet gateway updates the downlink route of the user by issuing the dynamic routing segment information, so that it is possible to prevent each user from issuing a host route.

In order to return the IP address in time and prevent the primary and standby wireless packet gateways from repeatedly allocating the IP address, in the embodiment of the present invention, after the primary wireless packet gateway is recovered to be available, the bearer of the same address pool of the primary wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway is released. After the operation is completed, the standby wireless packet gateway sends the address pool information released by the standby wireless packet gateway to the main wireless packet gateway, and the main wireless packet gateway activates the address pool.

The process of releasing the bearer of the same address pool of the active wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway specifically includes:

acquiring the address of the master wireless packet gateway and the address of the standby wireless packet gateway; releasing the PDN bearer of the main wireless packet gateway according to the address of the main wireless packet gateway; releasing the PDN bearer of the standby wireless packet gateway according to the address of the standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the PDN bearer is the PDN bearer of the same address pool of the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway;

or (II) releasing the address pool in the standby wireless packet gateway, which is the same as the address pool in the main wireless packet gateway;

or (iii) deactivating the standby wireless packet gateway.

In order to return the worker P address in time and prevent the master and standby wireless packet gateways from repeatedly allocating the worker P address, another solution is provided, which specifically may be: when the main wireless packet gateway is recovered to be available, the main wireless packet gateway sends an address pool use query request to the standby wireless packet gateway; and the standby wireless packet gateway sends idle address information to the main wireless packet gateway.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the wireless Packet Gateway may specifically be a PGW, a GGSN (Gateway GPRS support Node, Gateway GPRS, General Packet Radio Service), a PDSN (Packet Data Serving Node), an ASN-GW (Access Service network Gateway), a PDG (Packet Data Gateway), and the like.

The following detailed description of specific implementations of embodiments of the invention in practical applications will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Application embodiment 1

In the system shown in fig. 1, a PGW POOL (PGW resource POOL) includes a plurality of PGWs, each PGW divides a plurality of address POOLs, and PGWs having a same address POOL are backup to each other, for example, PGW1 and PGW2 share address POOL 1, so that PGW1 and PGW2 share backup PGWs, and PGW2 and PGW3 share address POOL 2, so that PGW2 and PGW3 share backup PGWs.

In an attach process of a UE (User Equipment), when a PDN connection is established, an active PGW searches for a corresponding standby PGW or a standby PGW list in a PGW POOL (PGW resource POOL), and notifies a mobility management network element of information of the standby PGW or the standby PGW list in a default bearer establishment response. The specific implementation process is shown in fig. 2, and may include the following steps:

step 11, the UE sends an attach request message to a Mobility Management element, where for a GERAN/UTRAN (GSM/EDGE radio access network/universal terrestrial radio access network) network, the Mobility Management element is an SGSN (Serving GPRS support Node), and for an EUTRAN (evolved UMTS radio access network, UMTS universal mobile Telecommunications System) network, the Mobility Management element is an MME (Mobility Management Entity);

step 12, the UE executes authentication operation with a mobility management network element and an HSS (Home Subscriber Server);

step 13, executing location updating and signature data inserting processes between the mobility management network element and the HSS, wherein the specific operation mode may be that the address of the mobility management network element is registered in the HSS, and the HSS inserts the signature data of the UE into the mobility management network element;

step 14, the mobility management network element obtains subscription data of the UE, selects a primary PGW according to a default APN subscribed by the UE (in this application embodiment, the PGW2 in the system shown in fig. 1 is selected as the primary PGW), obtains an address of the PGW2, and then sends a default bearer creation request message to the SGW to create a default PDN connection, where the default bearer creation request message sent by the mobility management network element carries information such as a PGW2 address, an EPS bearer id (Evolved Packet system bearer Identity), and the like;

step 15, the SGW creates a new context for the UE in the EPS bearer table, and sends a request message for creating a default bearer to the PGW2 according to the PGW2 address in the request message for creating a default bearer sent by the mobility management network element, where the request message for creating a default bearer sent by the SGW carries information such as the SGW address, the SGW user plane TEID (Tunnel endpoint identifier), and the SGW control plane TEID;

step 16, the PGW2 returns a create default bearer response message to the SGW, where the create default bearer response message sent by the PGW2 carries information such as a PGW2 address, a PGW2 control plane TEID, a PGW2 user plane TEID, an EPS bearer id, standby PGW information, or standby PGW list information, where the standby PGW information or the standby PGW list information may be an address or an alias of a standby PGW used for identifying identification information of the standby PGW, and is obtained by the PGW2 (primary PGW) in the PGW resource pool;

step 17, the SGW returns a response message for creating the default bearer to the mobility management network element, where the corresponding message for creating the default bearer sent by the SGW carries the SGW address, the SGW user plane TEID, the SGW control plane TEID, and the standby PGW information or the standby PGW list information;

step 18, the mobility management network element obtains the information of the standby PGW or the information of the standby PGW list according to the default bearer creation response message sent by the SGW, and sends an attach accept message to the UE;

if the subscription data of the UE allows interworking with non-3 GPP, the following operations are continuously performed: a mobility management network element sends a location updating request message to an HSS, wherein the message carries APN of default PDN connection used by the UE and address information of PGW2 (primary PGW); and the HSS stores the APN and PGW2 address information used by the UE and returns a location update response message to the mobility management network element.

In the above processing procedure, if a Policy and Charging Rule Function (Policy and Charging Rule Function) in the network needs to interactively acquire a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) Rule, the following steps may be further included between step 15 and step 16: the PGW2 obtains default PCC rules through the PCRF.

The obtained information of the standby PGW may be information of all standby PGWs corresponding to the active PGW, or information of the standby PGW corresponding to an address pool where the UE address is located.

After the operation process of UE attachment, the mobility management entity obtains the standby PGW information or the standby PGW list information corresponding to the PGW2 (primary PGW), and in a subsequent operation process, if the PGW2 fails or a link path with the PGW2 is unavailable, the mobility management entity may correctly select a standby PGW for the UE according to the obtained standby PGW information. For example, in the system shown in fig. 1, an address pool where a UE address is located is an address pool 1, if the obtained information of the standby PGW is only the information of the PGW1 corresponding to the address pool 1, the PGW1 is selected as the standby PGW, if the obtained information of the standby PGW is the information of the PGW1 and the PGW3, it needs to further determine whether the PGW1 and the PGW3 include the address pool 1, because the PGW1 includes the address pool 1, the PGW1 is selected as the standby PGW, and the user is switched to the standby PGW to continue to serve the UE (the IP address of the UE is not changed), and subsequently, when the PGW2 returns to be used normally, the PGW2 is still adjusted to serve the current PGW serving the UE, and the PGW1 is still adjusted to be the standby PGW.

As can be seen from the above description, the first application embodiment provides a method for acquiring a standby PGW or a standby PGW list and switching between a main PGW and a standby PGW in a UE attachment process, so that device redundancy and PGW POOL-based disaster recovery are achieved, and service stability is improved.

Application example two

An embodiment of the present invention provides an implementation manner for acquiring standby PGW information or standby PGW list information in a PDN connection establishment procedure, where a specific implementation manner of the implementation manner is shown in fig. 3, and may include the following steps:

step 21, the UE initiates a PDN connection request message to the mobility management network element, where the PDN connection request message carries information such as an APN and a PDN Address Allocation.

Step 22, the mobility management network element selects a main PGW according to the APN carried in the PDN connection request message, acquires an address of the main PGW, and then sends a default bearer creation request message to the SGW to create a default PDN connection, where the default bearer creation request message sent by the mobility management network element carries information such as the address of the main PGW and the EPS bearer ID;

step 23, the SGW creates a new context for the UE in the EPS bearer table, and sends a default bearer creation request message to the primary PGW according to the primary PGW address in the default bearer creation request message sent by the mobility management network element, where the default bearer creation request message sent by the SGW carries information such as the SGW address, the SGW user plane TEID, and the SGW control plane TEID;

step 24, the active PGW returns a create default bearer response message to the SGW, where the create default bearer response message sent by the active PGW carries information such as an address of the active PGW, a TEID of a control plane of the active PGW, a TEID of a user plane of the active PGW, an epsipearer ID, and information of a standby PGW or information of a list of standby PGWs, where the information of the standby PGW or the information of the list of standby PGWs may be an address or an alias of the standby PGW, and is obtained by the active PGW in a PGW resource pool;

step 25, the SGW returns a response message for creating the default bearer to the mobility management network element, where the corresponding message for creating the default bearer sent by the SGW carries the SGW address, the SGW user plane TEID, the SGW control plane TEID, and the standby PGW information or the standby PGW list information;

step 26, the mobility management network element sends a bearer establishment request message to the eNodeB, where the bearer establishment request message further includes a PDN connection acceptance message;

step 27, performing RRC (Radio Resource Control, Radio Resource Control protocol) connection reconfiguration between the eNodeB and the UE, and forwarding the received PDN connection acceptance message to the UE by the eNodeB in the RRC connection reconfiguration process;

and step 28, the eNodeB sends a bearer establishment response message to the mobility management network element, wherein the bearer establishment response message sent by the eNodeB comprises an eNodeB address, a user plane TEID of the eNodeB and a control plane TEID of the eNodeB.

Step 29, the mobility management network element adds the eNodeB address and the user plane TEID of the eNodeB to the SGW to update the information.

If the subscription data of the UE allows interworking with non-3 GPP, the following operations are continuously performed: a mobile management network element sends a position updating request message to an HSS, wherein the message carries APN (access point name) of default PDN (public data network) connection used by UE (user equipment) and address information of a main PGW (packet data network); and the HSS stores the APN used by the UE and the address information of the main PGW and returns a position updating response message to the mobility management network element.

In the above processing procedure, if the PCC rule needs to be interactively acquired from the PCRF, the following steps may be further included between step 23 and step 24: and the main PGW acquires the default PCC rule through the PCRF.

After the operation process of establishing the PDN connection, the mobility management entity obtains the standby PGW or the standby PGW list of the active PGW, and in a subsequent operation process, if the active PGW fails or a link path with the active PGW is unavailable, the mobility management entity may select a standby PGW for the active PGW according to an address pool where a UE address is located, and switch to the standby PGW to continue to serve the UE (the IP address of the UE is not changed), where the standby PGW may be the standby PGW obtained by the mobility management entity, or the mobility management entity may select one standby PGW from the obtained standby PGW list. If the acquired information of the standby PGW is only the information of the standby PGW corresponding to the address pool where the UE address is located, selecting the standby PGW, and if the acquired information of the standby PGW is the information of all the standby PGWs corresponding to the active PGW, further determining whether the standby PGW includes the address pool, and selecting the standby PGW including the address pool.

In addition, in step 25 of the above processing procedure, the created default bearer response message sent by the SGW to the MME may not include the information of the standby PGW or the standby PGW list, that is, the SGW obtains the information of the standby PGW or the standby PGW list, when the active PGW fails or a link path with the active PGW is unavailable, the SGW selects the standby PGW for the active PGW according to an address pool where the UE address is located, switches to the standby PGW to continue to serve the UE (the IP address of the UE is unchanged), and adjusts the standby PGW to the active PGW.

As can be seen from the above description, the second application embodiment provides a specific implementation manner for acquiring the standby PGW information in the PDN connection establishment process based on the PGW POOL, and the mobility management network element or the SGW acquires the standby PGW information or the standby PGW list information in this process, so that when the active PGW fails, disaster recovery can be achieved by switching to the standby PGW, and the stability of the system is improved.

Application example three

The embodiment of the present application describes a method for acquiring a standby GGSN or a standby GGSN list in a PDP activation process of a Mobile Station (MS), and a specific implementation manner of the method is shown in fig. 3, which may include the following steps:

step 31, the MS initiates a PDP activation request message to the SGSN, wherein the PDP activation request message comprises information such as PDP type, PDP address, APN and QoS (Quality of Service);

step 32, SGSN sends a request message for creating PDP context to the primary GGSN, wherein the PDP context request message comprises information such as PDP type, PDP address, APN and the like;

step 33, the main GGSN returns a create PDP context response message to the SGSN, where the corresponding message for creating the PDP context includes a PDP address, a TEID of a user plane of the main GGSN, a TEID of a control plane of the main GGSN, a negotiated Qos, and standby GGSN information or standby GGSN list information, where the main GGSN acquires the standby GGSN or the standby GGSN list in the GGSN POOL, the main GGSN and the standby GGSN share a same address POOL, and the SGSN receives a message sent by the main GGSN to obtain the standby GGSN information of the main GGSN;

step 34, the UE establishes a Radio bearer with a RAN (Radio Access Network ), and establishes an Iu bearer between the RAN side and the SGSN, thereby completing RAB bearer establishment;

step 35, the SGSN sends an activated PDP receiving message to the MS, wherein the activated PDP receiving message comprises parameters such as PDP type, PDP address, Qos and the like;

if the Qos is found to change in step 34, the following steps are further included between step 34 and step 35:

SGSN needs to send a request message for updating PDP context to GGSN to update Qos; the GGSN sends an update PDP context response message to the SGSN confirming the new Qos parameters.

The obtained information of the standby GGSN may be information of all standby GGSNs corresponding to the active GGSN, or information of the standby GGSN corresponding to an address pool where the MS address is located. If the acquired information of the standby GGSN is only the information of the standby GGSN corresponding to the address pool where the MS address is located, selecting the standby GGSN when switching the main GGSN and the standby GGSN, and if the acquired information of the standby GGSN is the information of all standby GGSNs corresponding to the main GGSN, further judging whether the standby GGSN comprises the address pool or not when switching the main GGSN and the standby GGSN and selecting the standby GGSN comprising the address pool.

After the PDP activation processing, when the SGSN detects that the primary GGSN has failed or the path connected to the primary GGSN is unavailable through path detection, the service of the MS can be immediately switched to the standby GGSN, thereby implementing disaster recovery protection. Because the selected standby GGSN and the main GGSN share one section of address pool (the address pool is the address pool where the MS address is located), the IP address of the MS can be ensured not to be changed, so that compared with the technical scheme of GGSN disaster recovery in the prior art, the MS for processing dynamic IP address distribution does not need to carry out the activating process again in the GGSN switching process, the routing oscillation can be reduced, and the time delay caused by service interruption can be shortened.

Application example four

In the application embodiment of the present invention, the active/standby PGW lists are configured on the mobility management network element or the SGW in advance, or the active/standby GGSN lists are configured on the SGSN in advance. The active and standby PGW (or active and standby GGSN) lists are used to describe a corresponding relationship between PGWs (or GGSNs), and specifically, the PGWs (or GGSNs) sharing a section of address pool may be active and standby, the active PGW (or active GGSN) and the standby PGW (or standby GGSN) share a section of address pool, if the active PGW divides a plurality of address sections, different address sections may correspond to different standby PGWs, and in addition, the same address section may also correspond to a plurality of standby PGWs. When the primary PGW (or primary GGSN) fails, the mobility management network element or SGW (or SGSN) may select a standby PGW (or standby GGSN) corresponding to the address pool where the user address is located according to the configured primary and standby PGW (or primary and standby GGSN) list, switch a path to continue providing services for the user, and simultaneously the standby PGW (or GGSN) issues a host route to the bearer network to update the downlink route of the user. In the foregoing process, if the SGW configures the active/standby PGW list, after the switching path is ended, the SGW further needs to notify the mobility management network element of the updated PGW address or alias.

The fourth application embodiment provides another implementation way for obtaining the standby PGW information or the standby GGSN information to implement disaster recovery. As can be seen from the above description, since the standby PGW (or the standby GGSN) and the active PGW (or the active GGSN) share one segment of address pool, it is ensured that the IP address of the user is not changed in the process of switching the PGW (or the GGSN), i.e., the user does not need to be reactivated, so that the time delay caused by service interruption can be reduced, and the network risk is reduced.

Application example five

The application embodiment of the invention provides a specific implementation mode for switching PGW. When the PGW needs to be maintained or a failure is about to occur, notifying all associated mobility management network elements to perform a redirection operation of the PGW, specifically, the PGW notifies the mobility management network element of correspondence information between an address pool and a standby PGW (or a correspondence between an APN and the standby PGW, or a correspondence between a PDN connection number and the standby PGW, or the like, which may represent correspondence information between a segment of the address pool and the standby PGW), and the mobility management network element selects, according to the correspondence information, the standby PGW corresponding to the address pool where the address of the UE is located, and completes a redirection operation of the PGW, that is, the UE activated on the failed PGW is migrated to the standby PGW, thereby implementing disaster tolerance and load sharing. The specific implementation of the above processing procedure is shown in fig. 5, and may include the following steps:

step 51, the active PGW sends a Redirect Command to the associated SGW, where the Redirect Command includes a relationship table (or other relationship table representing an address pool and a standby PGW) between the APN and the standby PGW;

step 52, after receiving the redirection command of the PGW, the SGW forwards the command to the associated MME;

step 53, The mobility management element selects a new SGW for The UE, sends a request message for creating a default bearer to The new SGW, requests to create a default bearer, and selects a standby PGW corresponding to an address pool where The UE address is located according to a relationship table included in a redirection command sent by an original SGW, where The request message for creating a default bearer sent by The mobility management element carries information such as The standby PGW address, IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), MSISDN (Mobile Station ISDN number, Mobile Subscriber International number), EPS bearer ID, PDN address, and The like, where The request message for creating a default bearer carries The PDN address in order to ensure that The PDN address is consistent with The original PDN address of The UE;

step 54, the new SGW creates a bearer with the standby PGW according to the standby PGW address;

step 55, the new SGW sends a create default bearer response message to the mobility management network element, where the create default bearer response message sent by the new SGW carries a tunnel identifier, the new SGW address, the TEID of the new SGW user plane, the TEID of the new SGW control plane, and an EPS bearer ID;

step 56, because the serving SGW of the UE changes, the MME deletes the resource of the UE on the original SGW, and in addition, may also delete the resource of the UE on the primary PGW;

if the subscription data of the user allows the user to interwork with the non-3 GPP, the following operations can be further continuously executed: and updating PGW and APN information of the UE in the HSS.

The process from the step 53 to the step of updating the PGW and APN information of the UE in the HSS may be repeatedly executed until all the users in the same address pool complete the PGW switching operation.

After the above processing procedure is completed, the following operations are also required: the standby PGW issues a host route segment to the service gateway, which can prevent each UE from issuing a host route.

In step 53 of the above processing procedure, if the bearer creation request message sent by the mobility management network element does not include a PDN address, in order to ensure that the PDN address is consistent with the original PDN address of the UE, the primary PGW serves as a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) client to request a DHCP server to obtain the PDN address through a user identifier.

The fifth application embodiment of the present invention provides a specific implementation process for implementing disaster recovery by switching PGWs, and as can be seen from the above description, since it is ensured that the address pool where the UE address is located is unchanged in the PGW switching process, the UE does not need to change the IP address when changing the PGW, i.e., does not need to perform a reactivation process, thereby reducing network risks and reducing time delay caused by service interruption.

Application example six

The sixth application embodiment of the present invention provides another specific implementation manner for switching the PGW. When the PGW needs to be maintained or a failure is about to occur, notifying all associated mobility management network elements to perform a redirection operation of the PGW, specifically, the PGW notifies the mobility management network element of correspondence information between an address pool and a standby PGW (or a correspondence between an APN and the standby PGW, or a correspondence between a PDN connection number and the standby PGW, or the like, which may represent correspondence information between a segment of the address pool and the standby PGW), and the mobility management network element selects, according to the correspondence information, the standby PGW corresponding to the address pool where the address of the UE is located, and completes a redirection operation of the PGW, that is, a user activated on the failed PGW is migrated to the standby PGW, thereby implementing disaster tolerance and load sharing. The specific implementation of the above processing procedure is shown in fig. 6, and may specifically include the following steps:

step 61, the active PGW sends a Redirect Command to the associated SGW, where the Redirect Command carries a relationship table of the APN and the standby PGW (or other relationship tables representing a segment of the address pool and the standby PGW);

step 62, after receiving the redirection command of the PGW, the SGW forwards the command to all associated mobility management network elements;

step 63, the mobility management network element sends a bearer update request message to the SGW, and selects a standby PGW according to the redirection command sent by the SGW, where a specific method for selecting the standby PGW is the same as the method in step 53 in the application embodiment five, and the bearer update request message carries the user identifier, the standby PGW address, the APN, and the EPS bearer ID;

step 64, the SGW creates and updates the bearer with the standby PGW according to the bearer update request message sent by the mobility management network element in step 63;

step 65, the SGW sends a bearer update response to the mobility management element, and notifies the mobility management element that the path switching is completed;

if the subscription data of the user allows the user to interwork with the non-3 GPP, the following operations are continuously executed: and updating PGW and APN information of the user in the HSS.

The operations from the step 63 to the step of updating the PGW and APN information of the user in the HSS may be repeated multiple times until all users in the same address pool complete the PGW handover.

After the processing procedure is completed, the standby PGW issues a host routing segment or a host route to the service gateway.

The sixth application embodiment of the present invention provides another specific implementation process for implementing disaster recovery by switching PGWs, and compared with the implementation scheme provided in the fifth application embodiment, the technical scheme provided in the sixth application embodiment of the present invention can complete the PGW switching process without selecting a new SGW for the user.

Application example seven

A seventh implementation manner of switching the PGW is provided in the application embodiment of the present invention. When the active PGW needs maintenance or fails, the active PGW informs the SGW of redirection operation, and after the SGW switching path is finished, the standby PGW address is informed to the MME. As shown in fig. 7, a specific implementation manner thereof may include the following steps:

step 71, the active PGW sends a Redirect Command to the associated SGW, where the Redirect Command includes a relationship table between the APN and the standby PGW (or other relationship tables indicating an address segment and the standby PGW);

step 72, the SGW selects a standby PGW corresponding to the address pool where the UE address is located according to the correspondence table, and establishes a bearer with the standby PGW;

step 73, the SGW sends an update context message to the MME to complete context update, where the update context message includes information such as the standby PGW address, APN, EPS Bearer ID, and user identifier;

if the subscription data of the user allows the user to interwork with the non-3 GPP, the following operations are continued: and updating PGW and APN information of the user in the HSS.

The operations from step 72 to the step of updating the PGW and APN information of the user in the HSS may be repeatedly performed until all users in the same address pool complete the PGW handover.

After the processing procedure is completed, the standby PGW issues a host route segment or a host route to the service gateway, so that each user can be prevented from issuing a host route.

The seventh application embodiment of the present invention provides a specific implementation process for implementing disaster recovery by switching PGWs, and as can be seen from the above description, it is ensured that the standby PGW has an address pool where the UE address is located in the process of switching PGWs, so that the UE does not need to change the IP address when changing the PGW, that is, does not need to perform a reactivation process, thereby reducing network risks and reducing time delay caused by service interruption.

Application example eight

When the main wireless packet gateway is recovered to be usable, the standby wireless packet gateway also needs to return the IP address, so that the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway are ensured not to repeatedly allocate the IP address. An eighth application embodiment of the present invention provides an implementation method by taking PGW as an example, where a specific implementation manner of the implementation method can be divided into two processes of deleting PDN bearer and returning an IP address, where the process of deleting PDN bearer is shown in fig. 8, and may include the following steps:

step 81, UE sends a PDN release request message, where the PDN release request message carries LBI (Linked epsiperarer ID, associated EPS bearer ID), where LBI is a default bearer parameter associated with the PDN;

step 82, the MME sends a request message for deleting the load to the SGW, wherein the request message for deleting the load carries the TEID of the MME user plane, the TEID and the LBI of the MME control plane;

step 83, the SGW sends a bearer deletion request message to the active PGW according to the TEID identifier and the LBI parameter, where the bearer deletion request message includes the TEID of the SGW user plane, the TEID of the SGW control plane, and the LBI;

step 84, interacting the primary PGW with the PCRF, wherein the primary PGW informs the PCRF that the EPS bearer responded by the PCRF is deleted;

step 85, the primary PGW replies a delete bearer response message to the SGW;

step 86, the SGW interacts with the standby PGW (i.e. the active PGW before switching) and the PCRF, and deletes the bearer of the corresponding PDN connection on the standby PGW, specifically, the SGW sends a bearer deletion request message to the standby PGW, where the bearer deletion request message includes the TEID of the SGW user plane, the TEID of the SGW control plane, and the LBI; the standby PGW interacts with the PCRF and informs the PCRF that the corresponding EPS bearing is deleted; the standby PGW replies a delete bearer response message to the SGW; the standby PGW issues a host route and updates a downlink route;

step 87, the SGW replies a delete bearer response message to the MME;

and step 88, the MME initiates a message of deleting the bearing resources to the eNodeB, deletes the radio bearing resources related to the PDN on the eNodeB, wherein the message of deleting the bearing resources also carries a PDN disconnection response, and the eNodeB forwards the message of deleting the bearing resources to the UE and carries the PDN disconnection response to the UE.

If the subscription data of the user allows the user to interwork with the non-3 GPP, the PGW and APN information of the user in the HSS needs to be updated.

In the above processing procedure, there is no time sequence between steps 83 to 85 and 86, that is, there is no time sequence between the procedures of deleting the bearer of the active PGW and deleting the bearer of the standby PGW.

In step 82, the bearer deletion request message may also carry an address of the active PGW and an address of the standby PGW, and the SGW is notified of the need to delete the bearer corresponding to the corresponding PDN connection on the active PGW through the address of the active PGW. In addition, if the SGWs corresponding to the active PGW and the standby PGW are different, the MME sends a delete bearer request message to the two SGWs, respectively.

After the PDN bearer deletion process is completed, the originally activated address or address pool on the standby PGW is deactivated, and at this time, the released address or address pool is notified to the active PGW to implement the return of the IP address, which specifically implements the following process: the standby PGW sends an address (or address pool) release notification to the active PGW, where the message carries the released address (or address pool). The address (or pool of addresses) is available on the active PGW and not available on the standby PGW.

As can be seen from the above description, the embodiment of the present invention provides a specific implementation scheme for returning an IP address and ensuring that the IP address is not repeatedly allocated, and for a user with dynamic address allocation, the IP address does not need to be changed after a wireless packet gateway is switched, thereby reducing network risk and avoiding time delay caused by service interruption.

Application example nine

When a user needs to switch MME or SGSN due to position change, the new MME or SGSN acquires a wireless packet gateway active/standby relation list. Taking PGW as an example, the handover process is shown in fig. 9, and may specifically include the following steps:

step 91, the UE reports a measurement report to the source access network, and the source access network determines to initiate a handover procedure according to the measurement report of the UE, that is, sends a handover request message to the source MME (or the source SGSN);

step 92, the source MME (or source SGSN) selects a target MME (or target SGSN), and sends a forward handover request message to the target MME (or SGSN), where the forward handover request message sent by the source MME (or source SGSN) carries context information of the UE, including a primary PGW address, a primary PGW user plane TEID, a primary PGW control plane TEID, an SGW address, an SGW user plane TEID, and an SGW control plane TEID, and further includes standby PGW information (address or alias), so that disaster tolerance can be achieved after the failure of the primary PGW.

Step 93, a target MME (or a target SGSN) allocates context for a user and sends a switching request message to a target access network, wherein the switching request message sent by the target MME (or the target SGSN) carries a user plane TEID of uplink data, a control plane TEID of the uplink data and an uplink data address;

step 94, the target access network sends a handover request response message to the target MME (or target SGSN);

step 95, the target MME (or SGSN) sends a forward handover request response message to the source MME (or SGSN);

step 96, the source MME (or SGSN) sends a switching command to the source access network;

step 97, the source access network sends the switching command to the UE, and instructs the UE to access to the target access network;

step 98, the UE switches to the target access network and updates the corresponding bearing context to continue the original service;

step 99, the tracking area changes, and the UE initiates a tracking area update procedure to allocate a new GUTI (global unique Temporary Identity) to the UE.

As can be seen from the above description, when the MME or SGSN is switched, the target MME or SGSN may obtain the information of the primary wireless packet gateway and the corresponding information of the standby wireless packet gateway, and when the primary wireless packet gateway fails, the disaster tolerance may still be achieved by switching the wireless packet gateway.

Application example ten

An application embodiment of the present invention provides a processing procedure based on a master/standby wireless packet gateway when a user enters a new tracking area or routing area, where a specific implementation manner of the processing procedure is shown in fig. 10, and specifically includes the following steps:

step 101, UE initiates a tracking area update (or routing area update) request message to an access network where the UE is located, wherein the tracking area update (or routing area update) request message carries a global temporary identifier of a user;

step 102, the access network selects a new MME (or new SGSN) for the UE, and forwards a TAU (or RAU) request message sent by the UE to the new MME (or new SGSN) and a target MME (or target SGSN);

step 103, the target MME (or target SGSN) obtains a source MME (or source SGSN) according to the global temporary identity value of the UE, and sends a context request message to the source MME (or source SGSN) to obtain context information of the UE;

step 104, the source MME (or source SGSN) sends a context response message to the target MME (or target SGSN), where the context response message includes context information of the UE, and the UE context information includes: the method comprises the steps that a bearer context, a mobility management context, a user plane TEID of SGW signaling address UE, a control plane TEID of the UE and related standby PGW information or PGW list information are provided, so that disaster tolerance can be achieved after a main PGW fails;

step 105, the target MME (or target SGSN) performs an authentication procedure;

step 106, the target MME (or the target SGSN) sends a context response message to the source MME (or the source SGSN);

step 107, the target MME (or target SGSN) updates the UE context information in the SGW;

step 108, the target MME (or target SGSN) updates the MME (or SGSN) information of the UE in the HSS;

step 109, the target MME (or target SGSN) sends a TAU (or RAU) accept message to the UE;

in step 1010, the UE sends a TAU (or RAU) complete message to the target MME (or target SGSN).

As can be seen from the above description, when a user enters a new TA area or RA area, MME or SGSN handover is performed for the user, and the target MME or SGSN obtains information of the primary wireless packet gateway and information of the corresponding standby wireless packet gateway.

Practical example thirteen

The application embodiment thirteen of the invention provides a process for transferring the user equipment on the main P-GW to the standby P-GW, when the main wireless packet gateway is unavailable, for example, when the main wireless packet gateway has faults, load balance, overload, maintenance, load transfer or path faults, the user equipment on the main P-GW needs to be transferred to the standby P-GW, the main P-GW sends a redirection request to the S-GW, and the S-GW sends the redirection request to the MME. The MME initiates the establishment of a backup bearer between the S-GW and the standby P-GW, and does not forward data at this time. When the last UE in the primary P-GW address pool is redirected, the end identifier is carried in the redirection request message, and all related MME and S-GW are informed of the completion of redirection. The MME upgrades the standby bearer to the primary bearer, deletes the information of the primary bearer, and updates the information of the P-GW on the HSS to the backup P-GW on a user-by-user basis. And the S-GW initiates all backup bearers for activating and connecting the standby P-GW and deletes the bearer for connecting the main P-GW. The P-GW issues a host routing update to the external PDN and starts to forward data and update P-GW information on the PCRF. Referring to fig. 13, the details are as follows:

step 131, the primary P-GW sends a redirection request message to the S-GW, where the redirection request message includes a standby P-GW address and a bearer context container, and the redirection request message may also include a user identifier and/or a redirection identifier, and the bearer context container is mainly used for the standby P-GW to reuse bearer context information of the primary P-GW, and the container includes Qos, PCC rules, charging information, DHCP information, and the like, so that the standby P-GW creates a backup bearer by using information of the primary PGW, thereby saving network resources and reducing bearer switching time; the redirection identification indicates that the UE on the main P-GW is being redirected to the backup P-GW; the subscriber identity may be an IMSI; in the redirection request message in this embodiment, the backup P-GW address, the bearer context container, and the user identifier are included as an example;

step 132, the S-GW learns the migration of the P-GW according to the redirection request message, stores the address information of the standby P-GW, and sends the redirection request message to the MME where the UE is located;

step 133, the MME saves context information related to the user and the standby P-GW address information according to the redirection request message, creates a backup bearer context, and sends a create backup bearer request message to the S-GW, where the create backup bearer request message includes the standby P-GW address, the user identifier, and a bearer context container;

step 134, the S-GW creates a backup bearer context, allocates a new TEID for the backup bearer, and sends a request message for creating the backup bearer to the standby P-GW;

step 135, the standby P-GW creates a backup bearer context, allocates a TEID for the backup bearer, and sends a create backup bearer response message to the S-GW, where the create backup bearer response message includes a control plane address, a user plane address, and TEID information of the bearer of the standby P-GW, and at this time, the user plane data of the UE is still transmitted on the primary bearer;

step 136, the S-GW sends a create backup bearer response message to the MME, and the MME maintains the bearer context information related to the backup P-GW, where the create backup bearer response message includes the user identifier, the backup P-GW address information, and the TEID, specifically: the user identification, the control plane address and the control plane TEID of the standby P-GW, and the user plane address and the user plane TEID of the standby P-GW;

step 137, the MME sends a redirection completion message to the S-GW, notifying the S-GW of completion of redirection, where the redirection completion message includes a user identifier to notify the S-GW of which UEs have completed redirection;

step 138, the S-GW sends a redirection completion message to the P-GW to notify the P-GW of completion of redirection;

and step 139, the P-GW repeatedly executes steps 131 to 138 for the remaining UEs in the same address field until the bearers of all the UEs in the same address field are backed up to the standby P-GW.

Step 1310, the P-GW sends a redirection request message to all relevant S-GWs, and the P-GW deletes information of all UEs in the address field, where the redirection request message includes a redirection completion identifier indicating that the last UE on the primary P-GW will complete redirection to the standby P-GW;

step 1311, the S-GW forwards a redirection request message to all relevant MMEs, where the redirection request message includes the primary P-GW address, the standby P-GW address, and a redirection completion identifier;

step 1312, after the MME obtains the redirection completion identifier, switching the backup bearer context associated with the standby P-GW to the primary bearer context, and deleting the bearer context associated with the primary P-GW;

step 1313, the S-GW sends an activate backup bearer request message to the standby P-GW, where the activate backup bearer request message includes the address of the primary P-GW;

step 1314, after receiving the message, the standby P-GW issues host routing update in the PDN, that is, updates the host routing network segment information;

step 1315, the P-GW returns an activate backup bearer response message to the S-GW, and at this time, the S-GW and the standby P-GW start transmitting user plane data on the bearer;

step 1316, the MME sends a redirection completion message to the S-GW.

Step 1317, the S-GW sends a redirection completion message to the P-GW.

Step 1318, the MME starts updating the P-GW information of the bearer of each user on the HSS.

Step 1319, the standby P-GW updates P-GW information in the PCC rules of the bearer on the PCRF, and when the PCC rules need to be issued in subsequent service interaction, the PCRF issues the latest PCC rules to the standby PGW to complete bearer establishment or modification.

When the redirection request message in the above flow does not include the user identifier, the MME may decide to migrate those users according to a preset policy, where the preset policy may include parameters such as a user state, a user priority, a service priority, and the like.

Application example eleven

When the primary wireless packet gateway fails, the information (such as address information) of the standby wireless packet gateway can be obtained by a DNS query method, and the specific query method may be to analyze the APN to obtain the information of the standby wireless packet gateway, or analyze the APN + the address of the primary wireless packet gateway to obtain the information of the standby wireless packet gateway, or analyze the alias of the primary wireless packet gateway to obtain the information of the standby wireless packet gateway.

All or part of the steps for implementing the method embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to program instructions, and the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when executed, the program performs the steps including the method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Application example twelve

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a packet data network gateway device, configured to access a user equipment to a packet data network, where the structure of the gateway device is as shown in fig. 11, and a specific implementation structure of the gateway device may include:

a wireless packet gateway selection module 111, configured to select a standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to a primary wireless packet gateway when the primary wireless packet gateway is unavailable (for example, the primary wireless packet gateway has a fault, a load balance, an overload, needs to be maintained, or has a path fault), where the standby wireless packet gateway and the primary wireless packet gateway have a same address pool;

a path establishing module 112, configured to establish a path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway selected by the wireless packet gateway selecting module 111, where the specific path establishing module 112 includes a module for acquiring a bearer context container of the active wireless packet gateway and sending the bearer context container to the standby wireless packet gateway, so that the standby wireless packet gateway creates a context according to the bearer context container, and the path establishing module 112 may further include a module for acquiring a redirection completion identifier, so that the standby wireless packet gateway updates the host route according to the redirection completion identifier.

The apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a wireless packet gateway obtaining module 113, where the wireless packet gateway obtaining module 113 specifically may include: a first obtaining module 1131, configured to obtain information of one or more standby wireless packet gateways in a user equipment attachment process, or in a process of establishing a packet data network PDN connection between the user equipment and a network side, or in a process of performing packet data protocol PDP activation on the user equipment, where the standby wireless packet gateway is selected by a primary wireless packet gateway according to the user equipment; or, the second obtaining module 1132 is configured to obtain information, which is sent by the primary wireless packet gateway and indicates a correspondence between an address pool and a standby wireless packet gateway, and obtain information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the information of the correspondence; or, the third obtaining module 1133 is configured to obtain, when a serving mobility management network element of the user equipment changes, information of one or more standby radio packet gateways sent by the source mobility management network element; or, the fourth obtaining module 1134 is configured to obtain, through a backup relationship between configured wireless packet gateways, a backup wireless packet gateway corresponding to the primary wireless packet gateway; or, the fifth obtaining module 1135 is configured to analyze, by using a domain name management system DNS, information related to the primary radio packet gateway to obtain information of the standby radio packet gateway; or, the sixth obtaining module is configured to receive a response message for creating a default bearer, or a response message for creating a PDP context, or a redirection request message, and obtain information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the response message for creating a default bearer, or the response message for creating a PDP context, or the redirection request message.

In the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the wireless packet gateway selection module is specifically configured to, when the primary wireless packet gateway is unavailable, select the standby wireless packet gateway in the address pool where the user address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway. For example, if the information of the standby wireless packet gateway is obtained from the information indicating the correspondence between the address pool and the standby wireless packet gateway, the standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the address pool where the address of the user equipment is located may be selected for the user equipment according to the correspondence between the address pool and the standby wireless packet gateway; and if the information of the standby wireless packet gateway is acquired in other modes, selecting the standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the address pool where the address of the user equipment is located for the user equipment according to the information of the standby wireless packet gateway.

In order to prevent the primary and standby wireless packet gateways from repeatedly allocating IP addresses, the device provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes a release module, which may be specifically configured to release the bearer in the same address pool of the primary wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway after the primary wireless packet gateway resumes being available. The operation of releasing the bearer of the same address pool of the active wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway may specifically be: acquiring the address of the master wireless packet gateway and the address of the standby wireless packet gateway; releasing the PDN bearer of the main wireless packet gateway according to the address of the main wireless packet gateway; releasing the PDN bearer of the standby wireless packet gateway according to the address of the standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the PDN bearer is the PDN bearer of the same address pool of the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway; or (II) releasing the address pool in the standby wireless packet gateway, which is the same as the address pool in the main wireless packet gateway; or (iii) deactivating the standby wireless packet gateway.

The device provided by the embodiment of the invention can switch the service to the corresponding standby wireless packet gateway in time when the main wireless packet gateway is unavailable according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway, thereby reducing the network risk and providing better service for users. And because the address pool resource of the standby wireless packet gateway can be released in time, the situation that the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway repeatedly allocate IP addresses is effectively prevented.

Application example fourteen

An embodiment of the present invention provides a mobility management network element or a serving gateway entity, including: the receiving module is used for receiving standby wireless packet gateway information sent by the main wireless packet data network gateway equipment; and the mobility management network element or the service gateway entity is used for selecting the standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the main wireless packet gateway according to the standby wireless packet gateway information and establishing path connection with the selected standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of same address pool.

Application example fifteen

The embodiment of the invention provides a disaster recovery system based on a wireless packet gateway, which comprises: the packet data network gateway equipment is used for selecting a standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the main wireless packet gateway according to the acquired standby wireless packet gateway information and sending the selected standby wireless packet gateway information to a mobility management network element or a service gateway entity when the packet data network gateway equipment is unavailable, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of same address pool; and the mobile management network element or the service gateway entity is used for establishing path connection with the selected standby wireless packet gateway.

Application example sixteen

The embodiment of the invention provides a disaster recovery system based on a wireless packet gateway, which comprises: the packet data network gateway equipment is used for sending standby wireless packet gateway information to a mobility management network element or a service gateway entity when the packet data network gateway equipment is unavailable; and the mobility management network element or the service gateway entity is used for selecting the standby wireless packet gateway corresponding to the main wireless packet gateway according to the standby wireless packet gateway information and establishing path connection with the selected standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of same address pool.

Practical example seventeen

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a disaster recovery system based on a wireless packet gateway, where the structure of the disaster recovery system is shown in fig. 12, and the specific implementation structure may include:

a wireless packet gateway selecting device 121, configured to select a standby wireless packet gateway of a primary wireless packet gateway when the primary wireless packet gateway is unavailable (e.g., the primary wireless packet gateway has a fault, is load balanced, is overloaded, needs to be maintained, or has a path fault), where the standby wireless packet gateway and the primary wireless packet gateway have a same address pool;

path establishing means 122 for establishing a path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway selected by the wireless packet gateway selecting means 121.

In the system provided in the embodiment of the present invention, the wireless packet gateway selection device 121 is specifically configured to, when the active wireless packet gateway is unavailable, select a standby wireless packet gateway in an address pool where a user address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway.

In order to prevent the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway from repeatedly allocating IP addresses, the system provided in the embodiment of the present invention may further include a releasing device 123, where the releasing device 123 may be specifically configured to release the bearer in the same address pool of the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway after the main wireless packet gateway recovers to be available. The operation of releasing the bearer of the same address pool of the active wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway specifically includes: acquiring the address of the master wireless packet gateway and the address of the standby wireless packet gateway; releasing the PDN bearer of the main wireless packet gateway according to the address of the main wireless packet gateway; releasing the PDN bearer of the standby wireless packet gateway according to the address of the standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the PDN bearer is the PDN bearer of the same address pool of the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway; or (II) releasing the address pool in the standby wireless packet gateway, which is the same as the address pool in the main wireless packet gateway; or (iii) deactivating the standby wireless packet gateway. Correspondingly, after the releasing device 123 completes the operation, the standby wireless packet gateway sends the information of the address pool released by the standby wireless packet gateway to the active wireless packet gateway, and the active wireless packet gateway activates the address pool.

In addition, in the system provided in the above embodiment of the present invention, when the unavailable primary wireless packet gateway recovers to be available, the primary wireless packet gateway sends an address pool use query request to the standby wireless packet gateway; and the standby wireless packet gateway sends idle address information to the main wireless packet gateway.

In the system provided by the embodiment of the present invention, since the service can be switched to the corresponding standby wireless packet gateway in time when the primary wireless packet gateway is unavailable according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway, the network risk can be reduced, and better service can be provided for the user. And because the address pool resource of the standby wireless packet gateway can be released in time, the situation that the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway repeatedly allocate IP addresses is effectively prevented.

The above description is only for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A disaster recovery method based on a wireless packet gateway is characterized by comprising the following steps:

when the main wireless packet gateway is unavailable, a mobility management network element or a service gateway entity selects a standby wireless packet gateway of the main wireless packet gateway according to the acquired standby wireless packet gateway information, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and the main wireless packet gateway have a section of same address pool;

a mobile management network element or a service gateway entity establishes path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway;

a standby wireless packet gateway for an address pool in which the user equipment address is located is selected.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining information of a standby wireless packet gateway of the active wireless packet gateway by:

acquiring information of a standby wireless packet gateway in the process of attaching user equipment, or in the process of establishing Packet Data Network (PDN) connection between the user equipment and a network side, or in the process of activating a Packet Data Protocol (PDP) by the user equipment, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway is selected by a main wireless packet gateway;

or,

receiving a response message for creating a default bearer or a response message for creating a PDP context or a redirection request message, and acquiring the information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the response message for creating the default bearer or the response message for creating the PDP context or the redirection request message; acquiring information which is sent by the main wireless packet gateway and represents the corresponding relation between an address pool and a standby wireless packet gateway, and acquiring the information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the information of the corresponding relation;

or,

when a service mobility management network element of user equipment changes, acquiring information of the standby wireless packet gateway sent by a source mobility management network element;

or,

acquiring information of a standby wireless packet gateway of the main wireless packet gateway through a standby relationship between the configured wireless packet gateways;

or,

and analyzing the information related to the main wireless packet gateway through a domain name management system (DNS) to acquire the information of the standby wireless packet gateway.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the information of the standby wireless packet gateway of the active wireless packet gateway is obtained by a mobility management network element or a serving gateway entity currently providing services for users.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

after the main wireless packet gateway is recovered to be available, releasing the load of the same address pool of the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway;

the standby wireless packet gateway sends the address pool information released by the standby wireless packet gateway to the main wireless packet gateway;

and the primary wireless packet gateway activates the address pool.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the releasing the bearer of the same address pool of the active wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway specifically comprises:

acquiring the address of the main wireless packet gateway and the address of the standby wireless packet gateway;

releasing the PDN bearer of the main wireless packet gateway according to the address of the main wireless packet gateway;

and releasing the PDN bearer of the standby wireless packet gateway according to the address of the standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the PDN bearer is the PDN bearer of the same address pool of the main wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

when the main wireless packet gateway is recovered to be available, the main wireless packet gateway sends an address pool use query request to the standby wireless packet gateway;

and the standby wireless packet gateway sends idle address information to the main wireless packet gateway.

7. The method according to claims 1 to 3, wherein the establishing the path connection with the standby wireless packet gateway specifically comprises:

and acquiring a bearer context container of the main wireless packet gateway, and sending the bearer context container to the standby wireless packet gateway, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway creates a context according to the bearer context container.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein establishing a path connection with a standby wireless packet gateway further comprises:

and acquiring a redirection completion identifier, and issuing host routing update by the standby wireless packet gateway according to the redirection completion identifier.

9. The method of claims 1-3, further comprising:

and the standby wireless packet gateway updates the wireless packet gateway information in the policy and charging rule function device.

10. A packet data network gateway device for accessing a user equipment to a packet data network, comprising:

a wireless packet gateway selection module, configured to select a standby wireless packet gateway in an address pool where a user equipment address is located according to acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway when a primary wireless packet gateway is unavailable, where the standby wireless packet gateway and the primary wireless packet gateway have a same address pool;

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the device further comprises a wireless packet gateway acquisition module, and the wireless packet gateway acquisition module specifically comprises:

a first obtaining module, configured to obtain information of a standby wireless packet gateway in a user equipment attachment process, or in a process of establishing a packet data network PDN connection between the user equipment and a network side, or in a process of performing packet data protocol PDP activation on the user equipment, where the standby wireless packet gateway is selected by a primary wireless packet gateway according to the user equipment;

or,

a second obtaining module, configured to obtain information indicating a correspondence between an address pool and a standby wireless packet gateway, where the information is sent by the primary wireless packet gateway, and obtain information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the information of the correspondence;

or,

a third obtaining module, configured to obtain, when a serving mobility management network element of the user equipment changes, information of the standby wireless packet gateway sent by a source mobility management network element;

or,

a fourth obtaining module, configured to obtain, through a backup relationship between the configured wireless packet gateways, a backup wireless packet gateway corresponding to the primary wireless packet gateway;

or,

a fifth obtaining module, configured to analyze, by using a domain name management system DNS, information related to the primary wireless packet gateway to obtain information of the standby wireless packet gateway;

or,

a sixth obtaining module, configured to receive a response message for creating a default bearer, or a response message for creating a PDP context, or a redirection request message, and obtain information of the standby wireless packet gateway from the response message for creating the default bearer, or the response message for creating the PDP context, or the redirection request message.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 or 12, further comprising a release module:

and the method is used for releasing the load of the same address pool of the active wireless packet gateway and the standby wireless packet gateway after the active wireless packet gateway is recovered to be available.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the path establishing module includes a module for obtaining a bearer context container of the active wireless packet gateway and sending the bearer context container to the standby wireless packet gateway.

14. A mobility management network element or a serving gateway entity, comprising:

the receiving module is used for receiving the information of the standby wireless packet gateway sent by the main wireless packet data network gateway equipment;

15. A wireless packet gateway based disaster recovery system, comprising:

the packet data network gateway equipment is used for selecting a standby wireless packet gateway of an address pool where a user equipment address is located according to the acquired information of the standby wireless packet gateway when the packet data network gateway equipment is unavailable, and sending the selected standby wireless packet gateway information to a mobility management network element or a service gateway entity, wherein the standby wireless packet gateway and a main wireless packet gateway have a section of the same address pool;

16. A wireless packet gateway based disaster recovery system, comprising: