Method and apparatus for offloading Internet data in access network

摘要

The present disclosure discloses a method and an apparatus for offloading Internet data in an access network, which are used for solving the technical problems that in a Network Address Translation (NAT) offloading networking solution, the information obtained in a monitor mode is incomplete, offloading characteristics for distinguishing users cannot be provided and offloading strategies are separated from Quality of Service (QoS) strategies of a core network. The solution of the present disclosure includes: an offloading device judges whether a Radio Access Bearer (RAB) data flow needs offloading according to a specific value of a specific parameter in an RAB message; if the offloading is needed, NAT is performed and then the offloaded data is transmitted to the Internet; and if the offloading is not needed, the RAB data flow is transparently transmitted to the core network. In the present disclosure, the offloading judgment condition, which the offloading device is in accordance with, directly originates from the core network, and the core network can proactively obtain required user information, thus offloading judgment can be made correctly and completely as much as possible, and offloading judgment can be implemented with QoS strategies of the core network together, and there is no need to add new QoS management points being independent of the core network.

主权项

1. A method for offloading Internet data in an access network, comprising:
judging, by an offloading device located on an IU interface between a access network and a core network, whether a Radio Access Bearer (RAB) data flow needs offloading according to a value of a specific parameter in an RAB message; when the offloading is needed, then performing Network Address Translation (NAT) and then transmitting offloaded data to the Internet by the offloading device; and when the offloading is not needed, then transparently transmitting the RAB data flow to the core network by the offloading device; wherein the method further comprising a step of setting the specific parameter by the core network and obtaining the specific parameter by the offloading device before offloading judgment, specifically: a User Equipment (UE) initiates a Packet Switched (PS) service, the core network, when performing RAB assignment, sets the value of the specific parameter according to user information and/or Packet Data Protocol (PDP) information; the core network initiates an RAB establishment procedure at the IU interface between the access network and the core network, and the offloading device obtains an RAB establishment message, parses and records the value of the specific parameter included in the RAB establishment message; wherein the value of the specific parameter is set by a network element Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) at the core network, the RAB establishment procedure is initiated from the SGSN to a Radio Network Controller (RNC) at the access network; wherein the value of the specific parameter comprises three value types, respectively indicating that offloading is necessary, offloading is not allowed and offloading is performed dynamically; when the value of the specific parameter is a value indicating that the offloading is performed dynamically, the offloading device dynamically judges whether a corresponding RAB needs offloading according to a system load.