METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING NETWORK

• US 20130155894A1
• Filed: 02/12/2013
• Published: 06/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: LI, Yue, MA, Jie, ZHANG, Miao, HU, Zhenxing
• Granted Patent: US 9,148,848 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access

Abstract

A method and system for accessing a network are disclosed in the present invention. The method includes that: terminals in a same group execute random number synchronization; when an arbitrary first terminal in the group initiates network access, terminals in the group except the first terminal monitor the access of the first terminal according to the synchronized random number; after monitoring that the first terminal accesses network successfully, the terminals in the group except the first terminal initiate network access by using Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection uplink resources which are allocated to the group by the network. The technical solution of the present invention can reduce the signaling overhead for establishing signaling connection and data bearing.

Claims

1. A method for accessing a network, comprising:

performing, by terminals belonging to a same group, random number synchronization;

when an arbitrary first terminal in the group initiates a first network access, monitoring the first network access of the first terminal by other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, according to a synchronized random number;

after monitoring that the first terminal accesses a network successfully, initiating a second network access by the other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, using radio resource control (RRC) connection uplink (UL) resources allocated to the group by the network.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of the group consisting of:

(a) receiving group information broadcast by the network, wherein the group information comprises terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group, and

calculating, by each terminal, a group ID of the group which the terminal belongs to according to the terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group;

(b) receiving group information broadcast by the network, wherein the group information comprises one of the group consisting of (i) the group ID of the group, (ii) the group ID of the group and terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group; and

(c) providing each terminal with a preset group ID of the group that the terminal belongs to.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the performing, by the terminals belonging to the same group, the random number synchronization comprises:

selecting a same pseudo random number generator according to a group ID and generating a same pseudo random number seed according to the group ID by the terminals in the same group;

selecting, by the terminals in the same group, a same downlink (DL) slot position as an input reference time point; and

determining, by the terminals in the same group, a random number according to the pseudo random number seed and the input reference time point.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, the first terminal is determined according to one of the group consisting of:

(a) the pseudo random number generator, (b) the first terminal is specified by the network, and (c) a predetermined setting.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

calculating random access resources to be used according to the synchronized random number by the other terminals in the group, except the first terminal,

wherein the random access resources comprise one of the group consisting of (a) a random access radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI) and a preamble ID, and (b) preamble ID.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

monitoring a random access response (RAR) to the first terminal according to the RA-RNTI and the preamble ID by the other terminals in the group, except the first terminal;

if it is monitored that the first terminal receives the RAR, acquiring by other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (T-CRNTI) and the RRC connection UL resources allocated by the network from the RAR.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the initiating the first network access by the arbitrary first terminal in the group comprises:

sending a preamble to the network by the first terminal;

after receiving a random access response (RAR) sent from the network, sending one of the group consisting of;

an RRC connection request, a location update request and a schedule request on the allocated RRC connection UL resources by the first terminal, wherein the one of the group consisting of;

the RRC connection request, the location update request and the schedule request carries one of the group consisting of a terminal ID of the first terminal, a group ID of the group that the first terminal belongs to, and the synchronized random number;

receiving, by the first terminal, an acknowledge (ACK) message sent from the network, wherein the ACK message carries one of the group consisting of;

the terminal ID of the first terminal, the group ID of the group that the first terminal belongs to, and the synchronized random number; and

sending by the first terminal an RRC connection established message to the network.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the result that the first terminal successfully accesses the network is monitored, initiating the second network access by the other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, using the synchronized random number specially comprises:

after the result that the first terminal successfully accesses the network is monitored, if it is monitored by the other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, that the RRC connection UL resources to all the terminals in the group are allocated by the network, initiating the second network access using the RRC connection UL resources.

9. A method for accessing a network, comprising:

grouping terminals, wherein terminals belonging to a same group have a synchronized random number;

receiving a first network access initiated by an arbitrary first terminal in the group;

after the first terminal successfully accesses the network, allocating radio resource control (RRC) connection uplink (UL) resources to the terminals of the group the first terminal belongs to; and

receiving a second network access initiated by other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, using the RRC connection UL resources allocated to the group by the network after monitoring that the first terminal accesses network successfully.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

broadcasting group information, wherein the group information comprises one of the group consisting of;

(a) terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group, so that each terminal calculates a group ID of the group that the terminal belongs to according to the terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group, (b) the group ID of the group, and (c) the group ID of the group and the terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the receiving the first network access initiated by the arbitrary first terminal in the group further comprises:

receiving a preamble sent from the first terminal;

sending a random access response (RAR) to the first terminal;

receiving one of the group consisting of;

an RRC connection request, a location update request and a schedule request sent from the first terminal on the allocated RRC connection UL resources, wherein the one of the group consisting of the RRC connection request, the location update request and the schedule request carries one of the group consisting of a terminal ID of the first terminal, a group ID of the group that the first terminal belongs to, and the synchronized random number;

sending an acknowledge (ACK) message to the first terminal, wherein the ACK message carries one of the group consisting of the terminal ID of the first terminal, the group ID of the group that the first terminal belongs to, and the synchronized random number; and

receiving an RRC connection established message sent from the first terminal.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the RAR carries a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (T-CRNTI) and the RRC connection UL resources.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

after the first terminal accesses successfully the network, sending to all the terminals in the group the RRC connection UL resources that are allocated to all the terminals in the group, so that the other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, initiate the second network access using the RRC connection UL resources.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the sending to all the terminals in the group the RRC connection UL resources that are allocated to all the terminals in the group further comprises:

sending one of the group consisting of RRC connection reconfiguration information and broadcast signaling to all the terminals in the group, wherein the RRC connection UL resources are carried by the one of the group consisting of;

the RRC connection reconfiguration information and broadcast signaling.

15. The method according to claim 9, further comprising:

specifying the first terminal; and

sending the terminal ID of the first terminal to the other terminals in the group that the first terminal belongs to, except the first terminal.

16. A terminal, comprising:

a first processor configured to perform random number synchronization with terminals belonging to a same group;

a second processor, configured to, when an arbitrary first terminal in the group initiates a first network access, monitor the first network access of the first terminal according to a synchronized random number;

a third processor, configured to, after a result that the first terminal accesses a network successfully is monitored, access the network using radio resource control (RRC) connection uplink (UL) resources allocated to the group by the network.

17. The terminal according to claim 16, further comprising:

a receiver configured to receive group information broadcast by the network, wherein the group information comprises terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group;

a forth processor configured to calculate a group ID of the group according to the terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group.

18. The terminal according to claim 16, further comprising:

a receiver configured to receive group information broadcast by the network, wherein the group information comprises one of the group consisting of;

(a) a group ID of the group, and (b) the group ID of the group and terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group.

19. The terminal according to claim 16, wherein the first processor is configured to:

select a same pseudo random number generator according to a group ID and generate a same pseudo random number seed according to the group ID;

select a same downlink (DL) slot position as an input reference time point; and

determine the synchronized random number according to the pseudo random number seed and the input reference time point.

20. The terminal according to claim 16, wherein,

the second processor is configured to monitor whether there is a random access response (RAR) to the first terminal and whether there is a result that the RRC connection of the first terminal is successful;

and

the terminal further comprises;

a fifth processor configured to acquire a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (T-CRNTI) and the RRC connection UL resources, after the second processor monitoring one of the group consisting of;

(a) the RAR to the first terminal, and

(b) the result that the RRC connection of the first terminal is successful.

21. A communication network element (NE), comprising:

a processor configured to group terminals, wherein terminals belonging to a same group have a synchronized random number; and

a receiver configured to receive a first network access initiated by an arbitrary first terminal in the group;

wherein the processor is further configured to allocate radio resource control (RRC) connection uplink (UL) resources to all the terminals of the group the first terminal belongs to after the first terminal successfully accesses the network; and

the receiver is further configured to receive a second network access initiated by other terminals in the group, except the first terminal, using the RRC connection UL resources allocated to the group by the network after a result that the first terminal accesses successfully network is monitored.

22. The communication network element according to claim 21, further comprising:

a transmitter configured to broadcast group information, wherein the group information comprises terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group, so that each terminal calculates a group ID of the group that the terminal belongs to according to the terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group.

23. The communication network element according to claim 21, further comprising:

a transmitter configured to broadcast group information, wherein the group information comprises one of the group consisting of (a) a group ID of the group, and (b) the group ID of the group and terminal IDs of all the terminals in the group.

24. The communication network element according to claim 21, further comprising:

a transmitter;

wherein,

the receiver is configured to;

receive a preamble sent from the first terminal;

receive one of the group consisting of;

an RRC connection request, a location update request and a schedule request sent from the first terminal on the allocated RRC connection UL resources, wherein the one of the group consisting of the RRC connection request, the location update request and the schedule request carries one of the group consisting of a terminal ID of the first terminal, a group ID of the group the first terminal belongs to and the synchronized random number; and

receive an RRC connection established message sent from the first terminal;

the transmitter is configured to, after the preamble sent from the first terminal is received;

send a random access response (RAR) to the first terminal;

send an acknowledge (ACK) message to the first terminal, after one of the group consisting of;

the RRC connection request,

the location update request, and

the schedule request sent from the first terminal is received,

wherein the ACK message carries one of the group consisting of the terminal ID of the first terminal, the group ID of the group that the first terminal belongs to, and the synchronized random number.