Security processing method and system in network handover process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9681339-B2
Application number	US-201414526205-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 28, 2014
Priority date	May 4, 2012
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a security processing method and system in a network handover process. The method includes: generating, by a network switching node, a target key after receiving a handover request; sending, by the network switching node, security information including the target key to a target network node, and receiving a handover response message sent by the target network node; and sending, by the network switching node, a handover command to a mobile terminal, so that the mobile terminal accesses a target network. By adopting the present invention, security processing in handover of a mobile terminal from a 3G network to an HSPA network or an LTE network may be completed in a case that the network switching node currently used in the network is not changed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A security processing method in a network handover process of a mobile terminal from a source network to a target network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a mobile switching center (MSC) server in the source network, a handover request message;
generating, by the MSC server, a random value;
generating, by the MSC server based on the random value, a target key in the target network, wherein the target network is any one of a high speed packet access (HSPA) network or a long term evolution (LTE) network;
sending, by the MSC server, security information comprising the target key to a target network node regardless of whether the target network is the HSPA network or the LTE network, wherein the target key is used for a target access network node to perform, according to the target key, secure communication processing on a mobile terminal handed over to the target network;
receiving, by the MSC server, a handover response message sent by the target network node, wherein the handover response message carries a transparent container which is generated by the target access network node; and
sending, by the MSC server, a handover command to the mobile terminal for the mobile terminal to access the target network, wherein the handover command carriers the random value and the transparent container.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the generating the target key comprises:
generating, by MSC server, the target key according to the random value and a local key of the MSC server, wherein the local key comprises a local cipher key and a local integrity protection key, and the target key comprises a target cipher key and a target integrity protection key.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein,
the target network node is a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) and the target network is the HSPA network, wherein before the receiving the handover response message, the method further comprises:
sending, by the SGSN, the target key to the target access network node;
receiving, by the SGSN, the transparent container from the target access network node.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sending, by the MSC server, the handover command to the mobile terminal comprises:
sending, by the MSC server, the random value and the transparent container to a source access network node, wherein the random value and the transparent container are sent to the mobile terminal by the source access network node through the handover command.

5. A security processing method in a network handover process of a mobile terminal from a source network to a target network, comprising:
receiving, by a mobile switching center (MSC) server in the source network, a handover request message;
generating, by the MSC server, a random value;
generating, by the MSC server based on the random value, a target key in the target network, wherein the target network is a high speed packet access (HSPA) network or a long term evolution (LTE) network;
sending, by the MSC server, security information comprising the target key to a target network node regardless of whether the target network is the HSPA network or the LTE network, wherein the target key is used for a target access network node to perform, according to the target key, secure communication processing on the mobile terminal handed over to the target network;
receiving, by a mobility management entity (MME), the security information which is sent by the MSC server;
sending, by the MME, the target access network node;
receiving, by the MME, a transparent container from the target access network node; and
sending, by the MME, a handover response message to the MSC server;
sending, by the MSC server, a handover command to the mobile terminal for accessing the target network, wherein the handover command carriers the transparent container and the random value.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the target key is generated by the MSC server according to the random value, and a local key of the MSC server, wherein the local key comprises a local cipher key and a local integrity protection key, and the target key comprises a target cipher key and a target integrity protection key.

7. A mobile switching center (MSC) server comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a handover request message generated by a target access network node and also configured to receive a handover response message carrying a transparent container sent by a target network node;
a processor configured to generate a target key in a target network based on a random value, wherein the target network is a high speed packet access (HSPA) network or a long term evolution (LTE) network;
a transmitter configured to send security information comprising the target key to the target network node regardless of whether the target network is the HSPA network or the LTE network, wherein the target key is used for the target access network node to perform, according to the target key, secure communication processing on a mobile terminal handed over to the target network; and
the transmitter is further configured to send a handover command to the mobile terminal for the mobile terminal to access the target network, wherein the handover command carriers the random value and the transparent container.

8. The MSC server according to claim 7 , wherein the processor in generating the target key is configured to:
generate the target key according to the random value and a local key of the MSC server, wherein the local key comprises a local cipher key and a local integrity protection key, and the target key comprises a target cipher key and a target integrity protection key.

9. The MSC server according to claim 8 , wherein,
the target network node is a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN), and when receiving the handover response message sent by the target network node, the transmitter is configured to: receive the handover response message which is sent by the SGSN.

10. The MSC server according to claim 8 , wherein,
the target network node is a mobility management entity (MME), the receiver in receiving the handover response message is configured to: receive the handover response message which is sent by the MME.

11. The MSC server according to claim 7 , wherein,
the target network node is a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN) and the target network is the HSPA network, the receiver in receiving the handover response message is configured to:
receive the handover response message which is sent by the SGSN and carries a transparent container, wherein the transparent container is generated by the target access network node after the SGSN sends the target key to the target access network node.

12. The MSC server according to claim 7 , wherein,
when sending the handover command to the mobile terminal, the transmitter is configured to: send the random value and the transparent container to a source access network node, wherein the random value and the transparent container are sent to the mobile terminal by the source access network node through the handover command.

13. A communication system comprising a mobile switching center (MSC) server and a mobility management entity (MME), wherein in a network handover process of a mobile terminal from a source network to a target network,
the MSC server is configured to:
receive a handover request message;
generate a random value;
generate, based on the random value, a target key in the target network, wherein the target network is any one of a high speed packet access (HSPA) network or

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chen Jing
• Zhang Dongmei
• Xu Xiaoying

Classifications

• H04W36/0038 Primary

  of security context information · CPC title

• H04W12/04

  Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA] · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W36/14

  Reselecting a network or an air interface · CPC title

• H04W36/1443

  between licensed networks · CPC title