Method for automatically configuring addresses and/or security data between evolved node Bs (eNBs) of a long term evolution (LTE) access network, and associated mobility management entities (MME) and evolved node B (eNB)

The present invention relates to LTE (“Long Term Evolution”) access networks, and more precisely to address configuration within LTE access networks.

One means here by “LTE access network” the E-UTRAN (“Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network”), which is an evolution of the UMTS (“Universal Mobile Telecommunications System”) radio access network towards a high data rate, low latency and packet optimized radio access network, currently specified by the 3GPP (“3 rd Generation Partnership Project”), notably in 3GPP Technical Specification 36.300. As described in this Technical Specification 36.300, the E-UTRAN comprises base stations called eNBs (“evolved Node Bs” or “E-UTRAN Node Bs”). In the control plane, each eNB comprises a S1 interface which is connected to one or several Mobility Management Entities (or MMEs) that belong to a core network called EPC (“Evolved Packet Core”). An eNB is connected to all the MMEs controlling the pool area(s) it serves. A MME is connected to all the eNBs serving a pool area controlled by a MME pool it belongs to. Moreover in a pool area one MME may be designated as master.

As it is known by the man skilled in the art, it has been proposed to introduce a new function related to SON (“Self-Optimizing Networks”) in LTE access networks. This new function is called ANRF (“Automatic Neighbour Relation Function”). It applies when a User Equipment (or UE) informs the eNB to which it is connected, that it has detected a new neighbouring cell. It is recalled that an eNB controls at least one cell (associated to a cell identifier (called “global cell identifier”)), that each eNB belongs to at least one tracking area identified by a code called TAC (“Tracking Area Code”, which is generally a part of a tracking area identifier) and that eNBs may be connected therebetween through X2 connections.

According to ANRF, upon detection and reporting of a new neighbouring cell to a serving eNB, this eNB can ask a user equipment (or UE) to further read, decode and report what is the global cell id of this new neighbouring cell. When this eNB receives the global cell id, it has to derive from the global cell id at least one transport layer address (or TLA) that will enable it to try to dynamically setup an X2 connection with the eNB that controls the corresponding new detected cell.

In order to derive a transport layer address (or TLA) from a global cell id, an eNB must access either a central server of the DNS (“Domain Name Server”) type or a local database that is supposed to have been previously populated by an O&M configuration (which is known to be dull and subject to errors). So, the current ANRF function is not fully automated.

At least two proposals have been made to automate the retrieval of the transport layer addresses.

A first proposal consists in constructing standardized Fully Qualified Domain Names (or FQDN) based on global cell ids in order to resolve the IP addresses by a standardized DNS look-up. However, this proposal has not been retained by 3GPP so far because it puts too much constraint on the global cell ids. Indeed, it requires definition of standardized cross-domain FQDN and associated building rules.

A second proposal consists of using classical vendor DNS look-ups but requires coordination effort to populate and coordinate inter-vendor DNSs and proprietary look-up implementations in order to be able to look-up a global cell id that is unknown in an initial node domain.

Moreover, establishment of X2 connections only based on global cell ids may induce security problems.

A method intended for configuring the address between eNBs of an LTE access network is provided. The method is applicable in multi-vendor LTE networks. Such a method comprises:

transmitting a chosen message to at least one Mobility Management Entity (MME) of an EPC connected to the LTE access network, this chosen message including at least one transport layer address (or TLA) of a first eNB and/or authentication and/or security data of this first eNB for connection to the latter, and relaying within a downlink message an identifier of this first eNB and this at least one transport layer address and/or these authentication and/or security data for the connection of this first eNB to a set of at least one chosen eNB.

Further embodiments of the method according to the invention may include additional characteristics considered separately or combined, and notably:

the chosen message may be a setup request message;

the setup request message may be a S1 SETUP REQUEST message (defined by the S1 Application Protocol (or S1AP)) originating from the first eNB;

in a variant, the chosen message may be a dedicated (uplink) message transmitted by the first eNB, possibly after transmission of a S1 SETUP REQUEST message, and possibly defined by S1AP; the at least one transport layer address and/or the authentication and/or security data may be for X2 establishment of connection to the first eNB; the downlink message may be a MME CONFIGURATION UPDATE message, or a S1 SETUP RESPONSE message towards eNBs that are not connected to the MME at the time the uplink chosen message is received, and which are eligible for being part of the set of chosen eNB(s) when they initiate the S1 Setup procedure towards the MME, or else a dedicated downlink information transfer message (possibly defined by S1AP); the set of chosen eNB(s) may include at least one eNB that belongs to a tracking area to which also belongs the first eNB; the set of chosen eNB(s) may further include at least one eNB that belongs to at least one other tracking area (and up to possibly the full pool area that is served by the first eNB); when a second eNB has received a (global) cell identifier representative of a new cell controlled by the first eNB from a user equipment, this second eNB may apply a fixed mask on this received (global) cell identifier to determine the identifier of this first eNB (possibly in its tracking area) and then initiate a connection establishment with this first eNB by means of transport layer address(es) and/or authentication and/or security data contained into a received downlink message comprising the determined identifier of this first eNB; in a variant, the chosen message may further include a list of identifiers of cells that are controlled by the first eNB. In this case the method may further comprise relaying within the downlink message the list of cell identifiers to the set of chosen eNB(s), and when a second eNB has received a cell identifier representative of a new cell controlled by the first eNB from a user equipment, this second eNB may determine amongst received downlink messages the one comprising the received cell identifier and then initiate a connection establishment with the corresponding first eNB by means of transport layer address(es) and/or authentication and/or security data contained into the determined downlink message.

The invention also offers a Mobility Management Entity (or MME), for an EPC connected to an LTE access network comprising eNBs, arranged, when it receives a chosen message including at least one transport layer address of a first eNB and/or authentication and/or security data of this first eNB, for relaying within a downlink message, an identifier of this first eNB and this at least one transport layer address and/or these authentication and/or security data for the connection of this first eNB to a set of at least one chosen eNB.

An embodiment of an MME according to the invention may include additional characteristics considered separately or combined, and notably:

it may be arranged for transmitting the downlink messages in the form of a MME CONFIGURATION UPDATE message or a S1 SETUP RESPONSE message or a downlink information transfer message; it may be arranged for defining the set of chosen eNB(s) from eNBs belonging to a tracking area to which also belongs the first eNB;

it may be arranged for defining a set of chosen eNB(s) from eNBs belonging to a tracking area to which also belongs the first eNB and to at least one other tracking area; it may be arranged for defining the set of chosen eNB(s) from eNBs belonging to a pool area to which also belongs the first eNB; it may be arranged, when a chosen message further includes a list of identifiers of cells, for relaying within a downlink message this list of cell identifiers to the set of chosen eNB(s).

Further embodiments of the invention also offer an evolved Node B (or eNB), for an LTE access network, arranged, when it receives at least one transport layer address and/or authentication and/or security data and/or a list of cell identifiers and an associated first eNB identifier within a message, to locally store them for at least a limited duration of time in order to use them to establish a connection towards this first eNB.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent on examining the detailed specifications hereafter and the appended drawing of FIG. 1 , wherein the unique FIGURE schematically illustrates a part of an example of network configuration comprising a MME according to the invention controlling three tracking areas.

The appended drawing may serve not only to complete the invention, but also to contribute to its definition, if need be.

The invention offers methods and associated Mobility Management Entities (or MMEs) for automatically configuring addresses between (evolved) Node Bs (or eNBs) of an LTE access network.

The unique FIGURE schematically illustrates a part of an LTE access network (also called E-UTRAN) comprising several base stations called eNBs (evolved Node Bs) NBi (i>0). Each eNB NBi controls at least one cell Ck (k>0) associated to a cell identifier called “global cell id”, and each belonging to a tracking area TAj (here j=1 to 3, but j can take any value greater than 0) associated to a tracking area code (or TAC). In the control plane, each eNB NBi is connected to at least one MME of a core network, called EPC (“Evolved Packet Core”) and connected to the E-UTRAN.

A Mobility Management Entity (or MME) of the EPC controls at least one tracking area TAj of a pool area. In the non limiting unique FIGURE only one MME has been illustrated, but an EPC may comprise several MMEs, and one of these MMEs may be a master. The user plane is not shown in the unique FIGURE.

At least one Mobility Management Entity (or MME) of the EPC is used to relay (or deliver) chosen configuration information (for configuring addresses) between its eNBs, NBi.

One embodiment of a method according to invention comprises two main steps.

A first step comprises receiving a chosen message concerning at least one new cell Ck at at least one Mobility Management Entity (or MME). One means here by “new cell” a cell Ck which has been newly defined or introduced or else started in an E-UTRAN, and which is controlled by a eNB hereafter called first eNB NB 1 .

According to an embodiment of the invention a chosen message includes at least one (i.e. one or several) transport layer address (or TLA) of a first eNB NB 1 (controlling at least one new cell Ck) and/or authentication and/or security data of this first eNB NB 1 for (SCTP) connection to the latter (NB 1 ). So, a chosen message comprises either at least one transport layer address of a first eNB NB 1 , or authentication and/or security data of a first eNB NB 1 , or else both at least one transport layer address of a first eNB NB 1 and authentication and/or security data of this first eNB NB 1 .

A transport layer address of a first eNB NB 1 is a mandatory information when another node of an LTE access network wants to establish a (SCTP) connection with this first eNB NB 1 .

Authentication and/or security data are new configuration information which may be contained for security purpose into a message that an LTE access network node transmits to a first eNB, NB 1 , when the LTE access network node wants to establish a (SCTP) connection with it. Indeed this new configuration information could be indispensable for a first eNB NB 1 for authorizing a new (SCTP) connection establishment with it. More precisely, this configuration information could be transmitted to a eNB NB 1 by a second eNB NB 2 , and locally used by this first eNB NB 1 for comparison with locally stored corresponding data or for computing auxiliary data to be compared with locally stored data, in order to decide if a new (SCTP) connection can be authorized.

The configuration information contained into a chosen message may be dedicated to X2 establishment of connection to the corresponding first eNB NB 1 .

It is important to note that an eNB could be associated to a single or to several (at least two) transport layer addresses intended for (X2) connection with several eNBs NBi or in case it would be temporarily impossible to establish a (X2) connection with a first address of a first eNB NB 1 , for instance. So, it may be of interest to include several transport layer addresses of a first eNB NB 1 within a chosen message.

For instance a chosen message can be generated by a first eNB NB 1 once at least one cell Ck it controls has been newly defined or introduced or else started. In this case the chosen message is an uplink message that is transmitted by the first eNB NB 1 to at least one MME of the EPC connected to its E-UTRAN (see arrow F 1 in the non limiting unique FIGURE).

A chosen message is preferably a setup request message. For instance, a chosen message can be the S1 SETUP REQUEST message (defined by the S1 Application Protocol (or S1AP)) originating from a first eNB NB 1 . It is recalled that the S1 SETUP REQUEST message is an uplink message that is generated by an eNB when it is started with at least one cell in operation in order that the tracking area code (or TAC) supported by this cell be declared and then registered in the MME. It is also recalled that the S1 SETUP REQUEST message normally require an acknowledge receipt.

A chosen message may be also a so-called S1AP ENB CONFIGURATION UPDATE message (which also may require acknowledgement).

It is important to note that in case where a S1 SETUP REQUEST (or an ENB CONFIGURATION UPDATE) message is used as chosen message, such messages include at least one additional (and new) field dedicated to the transport layer address(es) and/or authentication and/or security data concerning a first eNB NB 1 .

But, to avoid format and service modifications of S1 SETUP REQUEST (or ENB CONFIGURATION UPDATE) message and/or an unnecessary acknowledge receipt, a chosen message may be also a dedicated (uplink) message which is transmitted by a first eNB NB 1 , possibly after itransmission of a S1 SETUP REQUEST message for registering new cell(s) Ck. This dedicated message is an uplink message of a new type (possibly a S1 uplink message) which may be called uplink information transfer message, for instance.

It is also important to note that a transmitted chosen message further contains an identifier of the first corresponding eNB NB 1 .

A second method step of an exemplary embodiment comprises relaying (or distributing) within a downlink message an identifier of a first eNB NB 1 (that is identified by a transmitted chosen message) and the configuration information relative to this first eNB NB 1 (contained into this transmitted chosen message) for (X2) connection to this first eNB NB 1 to a set of at least one chosen eNB NBi.

In other words the Mobility Management Entity (or MME) is modified so that each time it receives a chosen message, such as the one described above (i.e. including at least one transport layer address of a first eNB NB 1 and/or authentication and/or security data of this first eNB NB 1 ), it relays within a downlink message an identifier of this first eNB NB 1 and the transport layer address(es) and/or authentication and/or security data contained into the received chosen message to one or more chosen eNBs NBi.

This downlink message can be a S1AP MME CONFIGURATION UPDATE message transmitted through a secure S1 connection, for instance. The downlink message could be also a dedicated downlink message of a new type which may be called downlink information transfer message, for instance.

It is important to note that in case where a MME CONFIGURATION UPDATE message is used as downlink message it needs to include at least one additional (and new) field dedicated to the first eNB identifier and its transport layer address(es) and/or authentication and/or security data.

It may be left up to the MME to decide the range of surrounding eNBs NBi to which it must transmit a downlink message. Such range may be to every eNB serving the tracking areas controlled by the MME (or the MME pool to which the MME belongs), or to one or more (possibly every except NB 1 ) eNBs belonging to a tracking area TA 1 to which also belongs the concerned first eNB NB 1 , or else to one or more (possibly every except NB 1 ) eNBs belonging to the first eNB tracking area TA 1 and to every eNB of at least one other tracking area TAj (with j≠1).

Another tracking area TAj (with j≠1) may be a neighbouring tracking area TAj of the first eNB NB 1 .

It is important to note that the set of chosen eNB(s) may possibly include the full pool area that is served by the first eNB NB 1 .

The smaller the range (e.g. only the first eNB tracking area TA 1 ), the lower the signalling involved. This situation, where the set of addressees of a downlink message concerning a first eNB NB 1 only comprises eNB NBi belonging to the tracking area TA 1 of this first eNB NB 1 , corresponds to a majority of cases.

In the non limiting unique FIGURE, arrows F 2 represent the transmission of a downlink message between the MME and several eNBs NBi of the first eNB tracking area TA 1 , and arrows F 2 ′ represent the transmission of a downlink message between the MME and several eNBs NBi of tracking areas TA 2 and TA 3 surrounding the first eNB tracking area TA 1 .

When the MME must transmit a downlink message to eNBs NBi belonging to another tracking area TAj (j≠1) which is a neighbouring tracking area of a first eNB tracking area TA 1 , it needs to know the identifier (and more precisely the Tracking Area Code (or TAC)) of this neighbouring tracking area TAj. This code (TAC), identifying a neighbouring tracking area TAj (j≠1) of a first eNB tracking area TA 1 , can be deduced by the MME from the code (TAC) of this first eNB tracking area TA 1 received during the S1 setup procedure or can be contained in a chosen message.

The MME may not store the configuration information received within the chosen messages. In such an instance, the MME aims mainly at relaying (or distributing) this received configuration information to a set of chosen eNBs NBi. However, the use of the downlink S1 SETUP RESPONSE message may allow the MME to report to an eNB NBi (i≠1) all the first eNB transport layer addresses for which that eNB NBi should be part of the set of chosen eNB NBi, in which case the configuration information received in the chosen message would need to be stored in the MME to be used during subsequent S1 Setup procedures. In the case where the S1 SETUP RESPONSE message is used as downlink message, it needs to include at least one additional (and new) field dedicated to each first eNB identifier and its transport layer address(es) and/or authentication and/or security data.

Each eNB NBi receiving a downlink message may store the configuration information relative to a first eNB NB 1 contained/identified in the downlink message. Depending on the configuration of a receiving eNB NBi, this configuration information may or may not be stored for further use. The duration of the configuration information storage can also depend on the eNB configuration (it can be only for a limited duration during which the new cell(s) Ck concerned by a chosen message and the corresponding downlink message is (are) likely to be detected by an user equipment UE after a corresponding S1 Setup procedure).

If a (second) eNB NB 2 is informed by a user equipment UE of the existence of a new cell Ck, it has at its disposal the cell identifier (global cell id) of this new cell Ck, but it does not know a transport layer address of the first eNB controlling this new cell Ck. So, two situations may occur.

In a first situation, the second eNB NB 2 does not store any configuration information relative to the first eNB NB 1 controlling this new cell Ck. This may occur if the second eNB NB 2 has not received this configuration information in a downlink message or if the configuration information is no longer locally stored because its storage duration has expired, for instance. In this situation an existing default mechanism can be used. Such existing default mechanism may consist in a DNS look-up or in another proprietary look-up.

In a second situation, the second eNB NB 2 stores configuration information relative notably to the first eNB NB 1 controlling the new cell Ck. So the second eNB NB 2 has to find this configuration information from the received cell identifier. For this purpose, the second eNB NB 2 can be configured in order to apply a fixed mask on the received cell identifier in order to determine the identifier of the corresponding first eNB NB 1 , which may possibly be in its tracking area TA 1 . For instance, in case where the global cell id comprises 28 bits, the corresponding (first) eNB identifier (or global eNB id) may comprise the first 24 bits of this global cell id. So, once the second eNB NB 2 has deduced a first eNB identifier from a received cell identifier it can determine a transport layer address of the corresponding first eNB NB 1 , which is locally stored. It is recalled that the second eNB NB 2 locally stores first eNB identifiers in correspondence with transport layer address(es) and possible authentication and/or security data. Then, the second eNb NB 2 can initiate a connection establishment with this first eNB NB 1 by means of one of its transport layer addresses and possibly the corresponding authentication and/or security data.

If there is no direct correspondence between first eNB identifiers and received cell identifiers, then each chosen message must further include the list of identifiers of the cells that are controlled by the concerned first eNB NB 1 , and such a list must be relayed by the MME within the corresponding downlink message to the set of chosen eNB(s) NBi. So, when a second eNB NB 2 has received a cell identifier representative of a new cell Ck controlled by a first eNB NB 1 from a user equipment UE, it has to determine amongst the locally stored configuration information (initially contained into the received downlink messages) the one comprising this received cell identifier. Then, the second eNB NB 2 can determine a transport layer address of the corresponding first eNB NB 1 which is locally stored in correspondence with this cell identifier. Then, a connection establishment can be initiated with this first eNB NB 1 by means of one of its transport layer addresses and possibly the corresponding authentication and/or security data.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments of method and Mobility Management Entity described above, which are provided only as examples, but encompasses all alternative embodiments which may be considered by one skilled in the art within the scope of the claims hereafter.