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BR-112018076018-B1 - SMS processing method in the Internet of Things, a mobile management network element, and a terminal device.

BR112018076018B1BR 112018076018 B1BR112018076018 B1BR 112018076018B1BR-112018076018-B1

Abstract

The present invention describes a method for processing SMS in an Internet of Things, a mobility management network element, and a terminal device, to provide an SMS service to an Internet of Things terminal device. The method includes: receiving (301), by a mobility management network element in a PS packet-switched domain, an unmatched registration request sent by a terminal device, where the unmatched registration request is used to implement the registration of the terminal device with the PS domain, and the unmatched registration request carries only the SMS indication information; and when it determines that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot transfer an SMS to the terminal device through the PS domain, sending (304), by the mobility management network element in the PS domain, a location update request to a mobility management network element in a CS circuit-switched domain, where the location update request is used to implement the registration of the terminal device with the CS domain.

Inventors

  • Lin Shu
  • Caijuan Wang

Assignees

  • HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD

Dates

Publication Date
20260310
Application Date
20170809
Priority Date
20160928

Claims (17)

  1. 1. SMS processing method in an Internet of Things, comprising: receiving (301), by a mobility management network element in a PS packet switching domain, an unmatched registration request from a terminal device, wherein the unmatched registration request carries SMS-only indication information, which indicates that the terminal device supports SMS transfer without matching procedure; In response to the determination, based on the unmatched registration request, that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot transfer an SMS to the terminal device through the PS domain, the mobility management network element in the PS domain sends (304) a location update request to a mobility management network element in a circuit-switched domain CS, wherein the location update request is used to implement registration of the terminal device with the CS domain; CHARACTERIZED by the fact that the mobility management network element in the PS domain receives a location update acceptance message from the mobility management network element in the CS domain, wherein the location update acceptance message is used to indicate that the mobility management network element in the CS domain accepts the registration of the terminal device with the CS domain; wherein the location update acceptance message comprises a CS domain mobility management parameter, and the mobility management network element in the PS domain stores the CS domain mobility management parameter, wherein when the mobility management network element In the PS domain, it is necessary to implement the terminal device registration with the CS domain again; the CS domain mobility management parameter is used to implement the terminal device registration with the CS domain.
  2. 2. Method according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED in that the mobility management network element in the PS domain is a mobility management entity (MME), and in that the mobility management network element in the CS domain is a mobile service switching center (MSC) or a visitor location recorder (VLR).
  3. 3. Method, according to claim 1 or 2, CHARACTERIZED in that the unmatched registration request is an unmatched attachment request.
  4. 4. Method, according to claim 1 or 2, CHARACTERIZED in that the unmatched registration request is an unmatched tracking area update request.
  5. 5. SMS processing method in an Internet of Things, comprising: sending (301), by a terminal device, a first unmatched registration request to a mobility management network element in a PS packet switching domain, wherein the unmatched registration request carries SMS-only indication information; CHARACTERIZED by the fact that the terminal device receives (303), from the mobility management network element in the PS domain, an attachment acceptance message or a location update acceptance message, wherein the attachment acceptance message or the location update acceptance message comprises first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot provide an SMS service to the terminal device, and wherein the attachment acceptance message or the location update acceptance message is sent to the terminal device after the mobility management network element in the PS domain determines, after receiving the first unmatched registration request sent by the terminal device, that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot transfer an SMS to the terminal device through the PS domain and a mobility management network element in a circuit switching domain CS rejects registration of the terminal device with the CS domain.
  6. 6. Method, according to claim 5, CHARACTERIZED in that the method further comprises: initiating, by the terminal device, a timer, and resending a second unmatched registration request to the mobility management network element in the PS domain when the timer expires, wherein the second unmatched registration request carries SMS-only indication information.
  7. 7. Method, according to claim 5, CHARACTERIZED in that the method further comprises: sending, via the terminal device, a combined registration request to the mobility management network element in the PS domain, wherein the combined registration request carries SMS-only indication information.
  8. 8. Method, according to any one of claims 5 to 7, CHARACTERIZED in that the first unmatched record request is either an unmatched attachment request or an unmatched tracking update request.
  9. 9. A method, according to any one of claims 5 to 7, CHARACTERIZED in that the mobility management network element in the PS domain is a mobility management entity (MME).
  10. 10. A method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the mobility management network element in the CS domain is a mobile service switching center (MSC) or a visitor location recorder (VLR).
  11. 11. A method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that the attachment acceptance message carries attachment result information, the attachment result information is “EPS only”, and “EPS only” indicates that the terminal device successfully registers with only the PS domain.
  12. 12. A method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that receiving the attachment acceptance message or the location update acceptance message comprises receiving the location update acceptance message, the location update acceptance message carries update result information, the location update result information is “tracking area update”, and the “tracking area update” indicates that the terminal device successfully completes a location update for the PS domain.
  13. 13. Mobility management network element, comprising: a receiving unit (810), configured to receive an unmatched registration request from a terminal device, wherein the unmatched registration request carries SMS-only indication information, indicating that the terminal device supports SMS transfer without matching procedure; a processing unit (820), configured to determine whether the mobility management network element can transfer an SMS to the terminal device via a PS domain; a sending unit (830), configured to: in response to the determination, based on the unmatched request, that the mobility management network element in a PS domain cannot transfer the SMS to the terminal device through the PS domain, send a location update request to a mobility management network element in a CS circuit-switched domain, wherein the location update request is used to implement registration of the terminal device with the CS domain; CHARACTERIZED in that the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a location update acceptance message from the mobility management network element in the CS domain, wherein the location update acceptance message is used to indicate that the mobility management network element in the CS domain accepts the registration of the terminal device with the CS domain; wherein the location update acceptance message comprises a CS domain mobility management parameter, and the mobility management network element further comprises: a storage unit, wherein the storage unit is configured to store the CS domain mobility management parameter, to implement the registration of the terminal device with the CS domain. Using the CS domain mobility management parameter when the terminal device registration with the CS domain needs to be implemented again.
  14. 14. Terminal device, comprising: a sending unit (910), configured to send a first unmatched registration request to a mobility management network element in a PS packet switching domain, wherein the unmatched registration request carries SMS-only indication information; CHARACTERIZED by the fact that a receiving unit (920), configured to receive an attachment acceptance message or a location update acceptance message, from the mobility management network element in the PS domain, wherein the attachment acceptance message or the location update acceptance message comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used to indicate that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot provide an SMS service to the terminal device, and the attachment acceptance message or the location update acceptance message is sent to the terminal device after the mobility management network element in the PS domain determines, after receiving the first unmatched registration request sent by the terminal device, that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot transfer an SMS to the terminal device through the PS domain and a mobility management network element in a CS circuit switching domain rejects registration of the terminal device with the CS domain.
  15. 15. Terminal device, according to claim 14, CHARACTERIZED in that the terminal device further comprises a first processing unit, and the first processing unit is configured to start a timer; and the sending unit is specifically configured to: when the first processing unit determines that the timer expires, resend a second unmatched registration request to the mobility management network element in the PS domain, wherein the second unmatched registration request carries SMS-only indication information.
  16. 16. Terminal device, according to claim 14 or 15, CHARACTERIZED in that the sending unit is additionally configured to send a combined registration request to the mobility management network element in the PS domain, wherein the combined registration request carries SMS-only indication information.
  17. 17. Non-transient computer-readable storage medium, CHARACTERIZED in that it comprises instructions stored thereon for: performing the method as defined in any one of claims 1 to 4; or in any one of claims 5 to 12.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to the field of the Internet of Things, and more specifically, to a method for processing SMS in an Internet of Things, a mobility management network element, and a terminal device. BACKGROUND [0002] With the evolution of wireless communication technologies and the gradual penetration of mobile broadband internet within different vertical industries, more and more conventional terminal devices need to access the mobile internet to implement interoperability and provide different and more convenient services to the respective vertical industries, so that a requirement for the Internet of Everything is formed, and then an Internet of Things (IoT) emerges. As a branch of the Internet of Things, a Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) is an Internet of Things that implements access from an Internet of Things terminal to a mobile communications network using a narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) access technology. Due to the fact that the Internet of Things terminal has simple functional application aspects, low power consumption, and infrequent user data transfer, many functional characteristics defined in an existing Evolved Packet System (EPS) are extremely complex and unnecessary for the CIoT application scenario. Therefore, an existing EPS network function is optimized in the industry. [0003] For example, a conventional terminal device needs to initiate a combined registration procedure to implement a combined registration of the terminal device with a circuit-switched (CS) domain and a packet-switched (PS) domain, so that it performs an SMS transfer. This is optimized in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 13, and an SMS transfer without a combined procedure aspect is introduced. To be specific, the Internet of Things terminal can obtain an SMS service provided in such a way that the Internet of Things terminal initiates a non-combined registration procedure to implement registration with the PS domain. [0004] In the previous technique, SMS transfer on one side of the network supports two paths. For the other path, an SMS is transferred through an SGs interface in the CS domain (SMS over SGs). For the other path, an SMS is transferred through an SGd interface in the PS domain (SMS over MME). SMS over SGs is a mature SMS transfer mechanism. However, an SMS over MME transfer mechanism is reintroduced in Release 3GPP 11. If the network side needs to support the path to transfer SMS in the PS domain, an additional SMS protocol stack needs to be implemented. However, SMS over MME is rarely deployed on an operator's network side in a live network. [0005] Therefore, how to provide SMS service to the Internet of Things terminal device on an operator network where SMS in MME is not deployed becomes an urgent problem to be solved. SUMMARY [0006] This application provides a method for processing SMS in an Internet of Things, a mobility management network element, and a terminal device, to provide an SMS service to an Internet of Things terminal device. [0007] According to a first aspect, this application provides a Method of SMS processing in an Internet of Things. The method includes: receiving, by a mobility management network element in a PS packet switching domain, an unmatched registration request sent by an end device, where the unmatched registration request is used to implement the registration of the end device with the PS domain, and the unmatched registration request carries the SMS-only indication information; and when it determines that the mobility management network element in the PS domain cannot transfer an SMS to the end device through the PS domain, sending, by the mobility management network element in the PS domain, a location update request to a mobility management network element in a CS circuit switching domain, where the location update request is used to implement the registration of the end device with the CS domain. [0008] SMS-only indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device is requesting to obtain an SMS service. In other words, SMS-only indication information is used to indicate that the terminal device needs to transfer an SMS. [0009] It should be noted that the PS domain mobility management network element can be a mobility management network element in an EPS network, for example, it can be a Mobility Management Entity (MME). Alternatively, the mobility management network element in the PS domain can be a network element in a network core in a future network (e.g., 5G). [0010] It should be further noted that the terminal device in this embodiment of the present invention is an Internet of Things terminal device. For ease of description, the Internet of Things terminal device is referred to as a terminal device below. [0011] It should be understood that an Internet of Things terminal device is a terminal device that can access an Internet of Things network core (e.g., an EPS) using an Interne