System and method for controlling network, network controlling apparatus, and mobile terminal used in network control system

• US 20040252696A1
• Filed: 02/17/2004
• Published: 12/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Kakishima, Jun, Hirata, Shoichi, Ihara, Takeshi, Sawada, Masahiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,613,143 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/248 Connectivity information update
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/085 involving hierarchical organized mobility servers, e.g. hierarchical mobile IP [HMIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/18 Service support devices; Network management devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A network control system, which controls connections between a mobile terminal and multiple types of wireless systems accommodated in a network, includes a prescribed node provided on the network. The node comprises signal transmitting/receiving means that transmits and receives a control signal defined by each of the wireless systems, protocol converting means that converts the control signal to a common protocol independent of each of the wireless systems, and entity communication controlling means that communicates with multiple functional entities provided on the network, using the common protocol, to implement network control.

Claims

1. A network control system for controlling connection of a mobile terminal to a network that accommodates a plurality of wireless systems, the network control system including a prescribed node provided on the network, the node comprising:

signal transmitting/receiving means that transmits and receives a control signal defined by each of the wireless systems;

protocol converting means that converts the control signal to a common protocol independent of each of the wireless systems; and

entity communication controlling means that communicates with a plurality of functional entities provided on the network, using the common protocol, to implement network control using the common protocol.

2. The network control system of claim 1, wherein the functional entities are software entities providing at least one of a mobile manager, a routing manager, a session manager, a QoS manager, a security manager, an authentication manager, a link control manager, and a location registration manager.

3. A network control apparatus provided on a network to control connection of a mobile terminal that moves across multiple types of wireless systems, comprising:

signal transmitting/receiving means that transmits and receives a control signal defined by each of the wireless systems;

protocol converting means that converts the control signal to a common protocol independent of each of the wireless systems; and

entity communication controlling means that communicates with a plurality of functional entities provided on the network to implement network control using the common protocol.

4. The network control apparatus of claim 3, wherein the protocol converting means analyzes the received control signal and converts the signal format of the control signal according to a prescribed rule.

5. The network control apparatus of claim 4, wherein the protocol converting means further converts a value set in the received control signal into a predetermined value according to the prescribed rule.

6. The network control apparatus of claim 3, wherein the entity communication controlling means assigns and transmits the protocol-converted control signal to one of the functional entities according to a prescribed rule.

7. The network control apparatus of claim 3, wherein the entity communication controlling means receives the control signal containing information about wireless quality of a downlink signal from the mobile terminal, the downlink signal being transmitted from a wireless access point of each of the wireless systems to the mobile terminal, and wherein the entity communication controlling means selects one of the functional entities that implements routing management based on information, and communicates with the selected functional entity using the common protocol.

8. The network control apparatus of claim 3, further comprising:

location registration ID managing means that manages a common location registration ID allocated in common to service areas defined by wireless access points of the multiple types of wireless systems;

broadcasting means that causes the wireless access points to broadcast the common location registration ID; and

location registration means that carries out location registration using the common location registration ID upon receiving a location registration request from the mobile terminal currently located in one of the service areas.

9. The network control apparatus of claim 3, further comprising:

location registration ID converting means that converts a location registration ID contained in a location registration request transmitted from the mobile terminal into a common location registration ID that is common to service areas defined by wireless access points of the multiple types of wireless systems, wherein the entity communication controlling means assigns and transmits the common location registration ID to one of the functional entities that has a location registration managing function.

10. The network control apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

location registration ID converting means that converts a location registration ID contained in the location registration request into the common location registration ID, wherein the entity communication control means assigns and transmits the common location registration ID to one of the functional entities that has a location registration managing function.

11. The network control apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

location registration managing means that manages a local location registration area of an existing wireless system in association with a location registration area having the common location registration ID.

12. The network control apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

paging control means that detects a call to the mobile terminal, determine whether the mobile terminal is located in a new wireless system, and pages directly to the wireless access point of the new wireless system when it is determined that the mobile terminal is located in the new wireless system.

13. The network control apparatus of claim 8, further comprising:

paging control means that detects a call to the mobile terminal, refers to a user preference database provided on the network for storing user priority information about the wireless systems, and determines one of the wireless systems to be paged based on the user priority information.

14. A mobile terminal connected to a network and capable of communicating with multiple types of wireless systems, each wireless system having a wireless access point, the mobile terminal comprising:

receiving means that receives a downlink signal from the wireless access point; and

radio resource information reporting means that reports information about wireless quality of the downlink signal of the wireless access point, as radio resource information, to a prescribed node on the network.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 14, further comprising:

location registration status managing means that manages information about whether location registration process has been conducted; and

location registration request terminating means that terminates a location registration request generated for one of the wireless systems to which the mobile terminal is moving when the location registration process has been conducted.

16. A network control method for controlling connection between a mobile terminal and multiple types of wireless systems accommodated in a network, each of the wireless systems having a wireless access point, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving at a prescribed node on the network a control signal defined by each of the wireless systems;

converting at the prescribed node the control signal to a common protocol having a common format independent of the wireless systems; and

carrying out communications between the prescribed node and functional entities provided on the network using the common protocol to implement network control.