CN107770067B

CN107770067B - Message sending method and device

Info

Publication number: CN107770067B
Application number: CN201610708954.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 范军
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2016-08-23
Filing date: 2016-08-23
Publication date: 2021-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 2036-08-23
Also published as: CN107770067A; WO2018036514A1

Abstract

The invention provides a message sending method and device. Wherein, the method comprises the following steps: when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if a communication message of a network element is received, acquiring the message type of the communication message; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending a communication message to the target DEP module. The invention solves the technical problem that the message forwarding can not be correctly carried out due to the flexible capacity-reducing characteristic of the VNF in the related technology.

Description

Message sending method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a message sending method and apparatus.

Background

According to RFC3588(Request For Comments, abbreviated as RFC, which is a series of files that are arranged by number and collect information about the internet, and software files For UNIX and internet communities), and extends related application protocols, Diameter systems are 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP aims to achieve smooth transition from 2G network to 3G network, ensure backward compatibility of future technologies, support easy network establishment and roaming and compatibility among systems, including versions R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, etc.) IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) systems, HSS (Home Subscriber Server), evf (Super Low Frequency, ultra Low Frequency), SPR (Subscription Profile, EPC), and Core network element (e.g. 4G) providing messages, relay, etc.

The system uses the data Transmission service provided by the Transmission layer (i.e. TCP/SCTP layer, Transmission Control Protocol, Stream Control Transmission Protocol) to send the Diameter message to the peer Diameter entity, and sends the received Diameter message to the service layer, thereby providing mechanisms of link management, transaction layer retransmission and the like, and ensuring the reliability of the signaling layer.

According to the Diameter protocol, the main functions of the system include a connection management function, a transaction management function, and a session management function. According to the functional requirements of the system, the system can be divided into the following functional levels:

(1) DAP module (Diameter Access Point) to complete the Access control of adjacent Point in Diameter network and carry management function;

(2) the DEP module (Diameter execution Point) completes the service-related logic execution functions defined in the Diameter protocol, including transaction management, session management, Relay/Redirect, and the like.

The DAP module is used as a connection management module of the Diameter protocol stack and is mainly responsible for completing the access control and bearing management functions of the Diameter adjacent points. The DAP module receives the information from SCTP/TCP layer, if it is the request information, it sends it to the corresponding DEP module according to a certain distribution strategy, if it is the response information, it sends it directly to the DEP module where the request information is located.

After a Virtual Network Feature (VNF) elastic scaling characteristic is introduced in a Virtual Network Function (VNF) in a Virtual environment, when a Diameter service execution module in the VNF shrinks, a DAP module cannot correctly distribute a message due to a change in a state of a DEP module.

Aiming at the technical problem that message forwarding cannot be correctly carried out due to the flexible capacity shrinkage characteristic of the VNF in the related art, an effective solution is not provided at present.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a message sending method and a message sending device, which are used for at least solving the technical problem that message forwarding cannot be correctly carried out due to the flexible capacity-reducing characteristic of a VNF in the related art.

According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a message sending method, including: when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if a communication message of a network element is received, acquiring the message type of the communication message; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending a communication message to the target DEP module.

Further, the obtaining of the message type of the communication message includes: acquiring identification information carried in a communication message; and determining the message type of the communication message through the identification information.

Further, the acquiring the identification information carried in the communication message includes: and acquiring identification information carried by Payload fields in the communication messages.

Further, determining the message type of the communication message by the identification information includes: judging whether session connection corresponding to the identification information exists or not, wherein the session connection corresponding to the identification information is the session connection to which the communication message belongs; if the session connection corresponding to the identification information exists, determining that the message type of the communication message is a non-originating message; and if the session connection corresponding to the identification information does not exist, determining the message type of the communication message as the original message.

Further, determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message comprises: under the condition that the message type of the communication message is a non-originating message, determining a DEP module related to the session connection as a target DEP module; and under the condition that the message type of the communication message is an original message, selecting one of the DEP modules as a target DEP module, wherein the DEP modules are DEP modules which are not allowed to be shrunk within a preset time period.

Further, the identifying information is data information, and selecting one of the plurality of DEP modules as a target DEP module includes: determining the number of modules of a plurality of DEP modules; carrying out remainder operation on the identification information by using the module number to obtain identification data; and acquiring a target DEP module which is sequentially matched with the identification data in the plurality of DEP modules, and associating the target DEP module with the session.

Further, the network element comprises a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a message transmitting apparatus, including: an obtaining unit, configured to obtain a message type of a communication message if the communication message of a network element is received when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction; the communication message processing device comprises a determining unit, a processing unit and a processing unit, wherein the determining unit is used for determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and the sending unit is used for sending the communication message to the target DEP module.

Further, the acquisition unit includes: the acquisition module is used for acquiring the identification information carried in the communication message; and the first determining module is used for determining the message type of the communication message through the identification information.

Further, the obtaining module is further configured to obtain identification information carried in a Payload field in the communication message.

Further, the first determining module includes: the judging submodule is used for judging whether conversation connection corresponding to the identification information exists or not, wherein the conversation connection corresponding to the identification information is the conversation connection to which the communication message belongs; the first determining submodule is used for determining the message type of the communication message as a non-originating message if the session connection corresponding to the identification information exists; and the second determining submodule is used for determining the message type of the communication message as the original message if the session connection corresponding to the identification information does not exist.

Further, the determination unit includes: the second determination module is used for determining that the DEP module related to the session connection is a target DEP module under the condition that the message type of the communication message is a non-original message; the selecting module is used for selecting one of the DEP modules as a target DEP module under the condition that the message type of the communication message is an original message, wherein the DEP modules are DEP modules which are not allowed to be shrunk within a preset time period.

Further, the identification information is data information, and the selecting module includes: a third determining submodule for determining the number of modules of the plurality of DEP modules; the operation submodule is used for carrying out remainder operation on the identification information by utilizing the module number to obtain identification data; and the acquisition sub-module is used for acquiring a target DEP module which is sequentially matched with the identification data in the plurality of DEP modules and associating the target DEP module with the session.

Further, the network element comprises a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium that may be configured to store program code for performing the steps of: when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if a communication message of a network element is received, acquiring the message type of the communication message; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending a communication message to the target DEP module.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if the communication message of the network element is received, the message type of the communication message is obtained; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending the communication message to the target DEP module, thereby solving the technical problem that the message can not be correctly forwarded due to the flexible capacity reduction characteristic of the VNF in the related technology, and realizing the technical effect that the message can still be correctly forwarded during the flexible capacity reduction.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention without limiting the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of message forwarding according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a message transmitting method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a Diameter logic architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a message transmitting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in conjunction with embodiments. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be combined with each other without conflict.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of the present invention and in the drawings described above are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

Example 1

The method provided by the first embodiment of the present application may be executed in a mobile terminal, a computer terminal, or a similar computing device. Taking the example of being run on a computer terminal, as shown in fig. 1, the computer terminal may include one or more (only one shown in the figure) processors 101 (the processors 101 may include, but are not limited to, a processing device such as a microprocessor MCU or a programmable logic device FPGA), a memory 103 for storing data, and a transmission device 105 for communication function. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the structure shown in fig. 1 is only an illustration and is not intended to limit the structure of the electronic device.

The memory 103 may be used to store software programs and modules of application software, such as program instructions/modules corresponding to the control method of the device in the embodiment of the present invention, and the processor 101 executes various functional applications and data processing by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory 103, so as to implement the method described above. The memory may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some examples, the memory may further include memory located remotely from the processor, and these remote memories may be connected to the computer terminal through a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

For example, the memory may store program code for the following steps: when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if a communication message of a network element is received, acquiring the message type of the communication message; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending a communication message to the target DEP module.

The transmission device is used for receiving or transmitting data via a network. Specific examples of the network described above may include a wireless network provided by a communication provider of the computer terminal. In one example, the transmission device includes a Network adapter (NIC) that can be connected to other Network devices through a base station to communicate with the internet. In one example, the transmission device may be a Radio Frequency (RF) module, which is used for communicating with the internet in a wireless manner.

The Non-3GPP access network is not trusted and not the network characteristic, and if the Non-3GPP access network is dynamically determined to be trusted, the Non-3GPP access network is processed during access authentication. The AAA Server issues the indication to the access network, and the DER (Diameter-EAP-Request) flow chart is shown in fig. 2:

step S201, after the UE establishes the association with the Non-3GPP access gateway (access), the UE sends EAPoL-Start to the Non-3GPP access gateway and initiates an authentication request.

Step S202, the Non-3GPP access gateway sends EAP-Request/Identity message to the UE.

Step S203, the UE returns an EAP-Response/Identity message and sends the user Identity information of the UE to the network, wherein the Identity can be a pseudo-random NAI or a permanent NAI (no pseudo-random NAI is available locally).

Step S204, the Non-3GPP access gateway encapsulates the EAP message by using EAP-payload AVP of DIAMETER DER message, puts the Identity in User-Name AVP of DIAMETER DER message, and sends the EAP message to 3GPP AAA Server.

In step S205, after receiving the DEA message, the 3GPP AAA Server needs to perform the following processing:

(1) force to check validity of ANID (neighbor network identifier) in case of non-roaming (within 3GPP defined range) and decide whether to allow the ANID access according to local configuration; and under the roaming condition, whether to check the ANID is determined according to the local configuration, and if the ANID needs to be checked, whether to allow the ANID to be accessed is determined according to the local configuration.

(2) And judging whether the message is trusted or untrusted.

(3) And (4) selecting an authentication algorithm. If DIAMETER DER carries the ANID, the EAP-AKA' algorithm is used, otherwise the EAP-AKA algorithm is used.

At step S206, the 3GPP AAA Server sends DIAMETER DER a message requesting a permanent user ID to the access network.

Step S207, the access network forwards the DER message to the UE.

In step S208, the UE responds with an EAP-Response/AKA-Identity message carrying a permanent NAI (network access identifier).

Step S209, the Non-3GPP access gateway is granted to forward the EAP-Response/AKA-Identity message carrying the permanent NAI to the 3GPP AAA Server, and the EAP message is encapsulated in the EAP-payload AVP of the DER message.

Step S210, the 3GPP AAA Server checks whether the usable authentication vector is cached locally or not according to the NAI, if not, the 3GPP AAA Server sends a MAR (multimedia Auth request) request to the HSS to request to acquire n groups of authentication vectors (n is configurable, and the value range is 1-5).

Step S211, the information processing process between AAA and HSS refers to the related technical description of SWx interface, which is only described functionally here, and the HSS issues n groups of authentication quintuple in response to the authentication request of 3GPP AAA Server.

Step S212, the 3GPP AAA Server checks whether the subscription information of the user exists locally. If not, the AAA initiates a SAR REQUEST (AAA _ USER _ DATA _ REQUEST) to the HSS to acquire the USER subscription information.

In step S213, please refer to SWx interface for processing between AAA and HSS, which is only described functionally herein, and HSS returns SAA response to 3GPP AAA Server.

In step S214, the AAA server needs to perform the following processing:

(1) judging whether the random pseudonym needs to be generated again;

(2) generating TEKs (a master key MK, an authentication password k _ encr, an encapsulation key k _ aut, a master session key MSK and an expanded master session key EMSK) and MAC according to an algorithm;

(3) the EAP payload parameters sent by the 3GPP AAA Server include ANID, RAND, AUTN (ANID, RAND, AUTN are part of authentication quadruplet), a Message Authentication Code (MAC) and 2 user identities to the signaling Non-3GPP access gateway, and the EAP packet is encapsulated in DIAMETER DEA message. If the IP mobility mode needs to be dynamically determined or the notification message is configured to be supported, the AT _ RESULT _ IND attribute is carried in the EAP-Payload AVP, and the AT _ true _ IND attribute value (true) determined in step S205 is sent to the UE.

Step S215, the Non-3GPP access gateway is informed to send an EAP-Request/AKA-Challenge message to the UE.

In step S216, the UE runs a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) algorithm in the USIM (universal subscriber identity card). The USIM verifies the AUTN and authenticates the network accordingly. If the AUTN is verified incorrectly, the terminal rejects authentication (not shown in this example). If the serial number fails to be verified, the terminal initiates a synchronization process.

Step S217, the Non-3GPP access gateway is granted to send an EAP-Response/AKA-Challenge message to the 3GPP AAA Server, and the EAP message is encapsulated in DIAMETER DER message.

At step S218, the 3GPP AAA Server checks the received message authentication code (MAC calculated from the secret key and the transmitted data to prevent the message from being corrupted), compares XRES (Expected user Response) and received RES (actual user Response). If all the checks are successful and the received DER Request carries a result protection indication, the 3GPP AAA Server must send an EAP-Request/AKA-Notification message before sending an EAP Success message, and if the IP mobile mode is dynamically determined, the AT _ IPMS _ RES attribute needs to be sent down. EAP messages are encapsulated in DIAMETER DEA messages and protected with MAC.

Step S219, the Non-3GPP access gateway is informed to forward the EAP message to the UE.

In step S220, the UE sends EAP-Response/AKA-Notification.

Step S221, the Non-3GPP access gateway is informed to send EAP-Response/AKA-Notification message to the 3GPP AAA Server, and the EAP message is encapsulated in DIAMETER DER message. The 3GPP AAA Server must ignore the message content.

Step S222, after the authentication is successful, the key changed in the authentication process needs to be updated. The AAA service module initiates an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) write request to the AAA storage module, updates the MSK, the MSK-Timeout, the re-authentication ID counter, the random pseudonym (if regenerated) and the pseudo-identification ID counter (if changed), and updates the EMSK.

Step S223, after the AAA memory module updates the data, the LDAP response is returned to the AAA service module.

At step S224, the 3GPP AAA Server checks whether the user is allowed to use Non-3GPP access, whether the APN5591055910S signed is allowed, whether the RAT-Type is in the RAT list allowed by the user subscription, whether the user is signed to the APN5591055910 included in the DER request, and if so, sends an EAP Success message to the signaling Non-3GPP access gateway (possibly before sending EAP-Notification, see step 23 for description).

Step S225, the Non-3GPP access gateway is informed that the UE is successfully authenticated through the EAP Success message. To this end, the EAP-AKA' interaction has been successfully completed.

Step S226, the AAA server carries the nai (imsi) and the service allocation type (REGISTRATION) to initiate a REGISTRATION request to the HSS.

Step S227, the HSS sets the user state to register, and then initiates SAA add-down data to the AAA server with the user-related data.

In the above steps, the DER message (i.e., Diameter-EAP-Request Command) mainly includes the following fields, and the meaning of each field is shown in table 1:

{Auth-Request-Type}

{EAP-Payload}

[User-Name]

*[AVP]

TABLE 1

It should be noted that, for the Diameter uplink message, when the DAP module distributes a message to the DEP module, it is determined whether to distribute the message to the DEP module according to the state of the DEP module. After the VNF elastic expansion and contraction characteristic is introduced in a planning manner, when a Diameter service execution module in the VNF is contracted, in order to prevent a DEP module to be contracted from processing a service message newly initiated by an opposite terminal, the DAP module filters the DEP module in advance when the DAP module distributes the message to the DEP module.

And when the DAP module distributes the message, the proper DEP module is selected according to the session (call back connection) carried in the message and the running DEP module. The DER message (communication message) of the 3GPP AAA SERVER network element has a scene of multiple message interactions under the session, if the DEP module is offline (i.e. abbreviated), according to the distribution strategy of the DAP module, the DAP module will not distribute the remaining DER messages under the session to the DEP module which originally processes the message, resulting in call loss of the DER message.

To overcome the above problems, according to the embodiments of the present invention, a method embodiment of a message sending method is provided, it should be noted that the steps shown in the flowchart of the figure can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions, and although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described can be executed in an order different from that here.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a message sending method according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, the method includes the following steps:

step S301, when the VNF is in the flexible capacity reduction, if a communication message of the network element is received, acquiring a message type of the communication message.

Step S302, a target DEP module for processing the communication message is determined based on the message type of the communication message.

Step S303, sending the communication message to the target DEP module.

Through the embodiment, when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if the communication message of the network element is received, the message type of the communication message is obtained; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending the communication message to the target DEP module, thereby solving the technical problem that the message can not be correctly forwarded due to the flexible capacity reduction characteristic of the VNF in the related technology, and realizing the technical effect that the message can still be correctly forwarded during the flexible capacity reduction.

As shown in fig. 4, the architecture of the Operation environment of the method mainly includes, in a Diameter logic architecture diagram, a DEP module (a session and transaction management module and its main/standby module), a DAP module (a connection management module and its main/standby module), a DIM Data transmission module (Diameter Data Transport Point, referred to as DIP module for short), a platform adaptation module, a common module/PARSER module, and an OAM service module (Operation Administration and Maintenance, also called Diameter Operation management Maintenance module).

The DIP module includes an LREG module (Diameter Local Registry, also called Diameter Local registration node) and a preparation module thereof, a DTP module, a GREG module (Diameter Global Registry, also called Diameter Global registration node) and a main/standby module thereof.

Optionally, the executing subject of the above steps may be the bearer adaptation module DAP, etc., but is not limited thereto. The network element comprises a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element; the above communication message may be a DER message (Diameter-EAP-Request) of the 3GPP AAA SERVER network element.

In the above embodiment, in step S301, the acquiring the message type of the communication message includes: acquiring identification information carried in a communication message; and determining the message type of the communication message through the identification information.

Specifically, the obtaining of the identification information carried in the communication message includes: acquiring identification information carried by Payload fields in communication messages; determining the message type of the communication message by the identification information comprises: judging whether session connection corresponding to the identification information exists or not, wherein the session connection corresponding to the identification information is the session connection to which the communication message belongs; if the session connection corresponding to the identification information exists, determining that the message type of the communication message is a non-initial message (namely the Nth message of the session, wherein N is more than 1); and if the session connection corresponding to the identification information does not exist, determining that the message type of the communication message is the original message (the first message of the session).

Optionally, in step S302, determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message includes: under the condition that the message type of the communication message is a non-originating message, determining a DEP module related to the session connection as a target DEP module; and under the condition that the message type of the communication message is an original message, selecting one of the DEP modules as a target DEP module, wherein the DEP modules are DEP modules which are not allowed to be shrunk within a preset time period.

It should be noted that, the selecting one of the multiple DEP modules as the target DEP module includes: determining the number of modules of a plurality of DEP modules; carrying out remainder operation on the identification information by using the module number to obtain identification data; and acquiring a target DEP module which is sequentially matched with the identification data in the plurality of DEP modules, and associating the target DEP module with the session.

Specifically, the method of the present application may be applied to a message distribution policy that DER messages are not interrupted when a VNF of a virtualized 3GPP AAA SERVER network element is elastically scaled, and when a Diameter service execution module is scaled. The process is as follows:

when the DAP module processes the DER message, the DAP module decodes the DER message, determines whether an Eap-identity (response) exists in the DER message, and a distribution policy of the DAP module is as follows:

1, if the Eap-payload in the DER message does not carry Eap-identity (response), the DAP considers that the application is processing the DER message (i.e. the message in the existing session connection), and the DAP distributes the distribution message according to the old DEP modules (including the DEP modules ready to be offline).

And 2, if the Eap-payload in the DER message carries Eap-identity (response), the DAP considers that the message is a new service message initiated by the terminal, and distributes the message according to the new DEP module distribution (the DEP module to be contracted is removed).

In the above embodiment, the DER message is decoded by the DAP module, and it is determined whether the DER message is an originating message of a peer according to whether the Eap-Payload in the DER message has the Eap-identity (i.e., the identification information carried in the Payload field). If the information carries the eap-identity (response), the information is considered as an original information, the information is distributed according to the new DEP module, and the DEP module to be reduced is removed for distribution. If the DEP module does not carry the eap-identity (response), the DER is considered as an intermediate message of the DER, the message is distributed and distributed according to the old DEP module, the DEP module ready for contraction is reserved for distribution, the DEP module ready for contraction can be enabled to process the residual messages of the DER, the DER message newly initiated by the opposite-end network element is not processed, and the requirement that the service message is not interrupted when the DEP module contracts is met. The problems that when DEP modules in a Diameter layer borne by a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element are contracted, call loss exists in DER messages processed by a DAP module, UE attachment flow fails, and a user cannot access a 3GPP network are solved.

In the present application, a DAP module of a Diameter system determines, according to whether an Eap-payload in a DER message carries Eap-identity (response), a message distribution policy flow of the DAP module as shown in fig. 2;

in step S202, the Diameter subsystem carried by the 3GPP AAA Server receives the DER message, and the DAP module of the Diameter decodes the DER message when processing the DER message, determines whether an Eap-payload in the DER message carries an Eap-identity (response), and the distribution policy is as follows:

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method according to the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but the former is a better implementation mode in many cases. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (e.g., ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling a terminal device (e.g., a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

Example 2

The embodiment of the invention also provides a message sending device. The device is used for implementing the above embodiments and preferred embodiments, and the description of the device is omitted. As used below, the term "module" may be a combination of software and/or hardware that implements a predetermined function. Although the means described in the embodiments below are preferably implemented in software, an implementation in hardware, or a combination of software and hardware is also possible and contemplated.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a message transmitting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 5, the apparatus may include: an acquisition unit 51, a determination unit 52, and a transmission unit 53.

An obtaining unit 51, configured to obtain a message type of a communication message if the communication message of the network element is received when the VNF is in the flexible capacity reduction.

A determining unit 52, configured to determine a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message.

And the sending unit 53 is configured to send the communication message to the target DEP module.

Through the embodiment, when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if the communication message of the network element is received, the obtaining unit obtains the message type of the communication message; the determining unit determines a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; the sending unit sends the communication message to the target DEP module. Therefore, the technical problem that the message forwarding cannot be correctly carried out due to the flexible capacity reduction characteristic of the VNF in the related technology is solved, and the technical effect that the message forwarding can still be correctly carried out during flexible capacity reduction is achieved.

The network element comprises a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element; the above communication message may be a DER message (Diameter-EAP-Request) of the 3GPP AAA SERVER network element.

In the above embodiment, the acquiring unit includes: the acquisition module is used for acquiring the identification information carried in the communication message; and the first determining module is used for determining the message type of the communication message through the identification information.

Specifically, the obtaining module is further configured to obtain identification information carried in a Payload field in the communication message. The first determining module includes: the judging submodule is used for judging whether conversation connection corresponding to the identification information exists or not, wherein the conversation connection corresponding to the identification information is the conversation connection to which the communication message belongs; the first determining submodule is used for determining the message type of the communication message as a non-originating message if the session connection corresponding to the identification information exists; and the second determining submodule is used for determining the message type of the communication message as the original message if the session connection corresponding to the identification information does not exist.

Optionally, the determining unit includes: the second determination module is used for determining that the DEP module related to the session connection is a target DEP module under the condition that the message type of the communication message is a non-original message; the selecting module is used for selecting one of the DEP modules as a target DEP module under the condition that the message type of the communication message is an original message, wherein the DEP modules are DEP modules which are not allowed to be shrunk within a preset time period.

It should be noted that, the identification information is data information, and the selecting module includes: a third determining submodule for determining the number of modules of the plurality of DEP modules; the operation submodule is used for carrying out remainder operation on the identification information by utilizing the module number to obtain identification data; and the acquisition sub-module is used for acquiring a target DEP module which is sequentially matched with the identification data in the plurality of DEP modules and associating the target DEP module with the session.

It should be noted that, the above modules may be implemented by software or hardware, and for the latter, the following may be implemented, but not limited to: the modules are all positioned in the same processor; alternatively, the modules are respectively located in different processors in any combination.

Example 3

The embodiment of the invention also provides a storage medium. Alternatively, in the present embodiment, the storage medium may be configured to store program codes for performing the following steps:

s1, when VNF is in elastic capacity reduction, if the communication message of network element is received, then the message type of the communication message is obtained;

s2, determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message;

and S3, sending the communication message to the target DEP module.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may include, but is not limited to: a U-disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a removable hard disk, a magnetic or optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the processor executes, according to a program code stored in the storage medium, that is, when the VNF is in the flexible capacity reduction state, if a communication message of the network element is received, a message type of the communication message is obtained; determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message; and sending a communication message to the target DEP module.

Optionally, the specific examples in this embodiment may refer to the examples described in the above embodiments and optional implementation manners, and this embodiment is not described herein again.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the modules or steps of the present invention described above may be implemented by a general purpose computing device, they may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices, and alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by a computing device, such that they may be stored in a storage device and executed by a computing device, and in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than that described herein, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple ones of them may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for sending a message, comprising:

when the VNF is in the elastic capacity reduction state, if a communication message of a network element is received, acquiring the message type of the communication message, wherein the message type of the communication message is a non-original message or an original message;

determining a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on the message type of the communication message;

and sending the communication message to the target DEP module.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the message type of the communication message comprises:

acquiring identification information carried in the communication message;

and determining the message type of the communication message through the identification information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the identification information carried in the communication message comprises:

and acquiring the identification information carried by Payload fields in the communication message.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the message type of the communication message via the identification information comprises:

judging whether session connection corresponding to the identification information exists or not, wherein the session connection corresponding to the identification information is the session connection to which the communication message belongs;

if the session connection corresponding to the identification information exists, determining that the message type of the communication message is a non-originating message;

and if the session connection corresponding to the identification information does not exist, determining that the message type of the communication message is an original message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a target DEP module for processing the correspondence message based on a message type of the correspondence message comprises:

determining a DEP module associated with the session connection as the target DEP module if the message type of the messaging message is a non-originating message;

and under the condition that the message type of the communication message is an original message, selecting one of a plurality of DEP modules as the target DEP module, wherein the DEP modules are DEP modules which are not allowed to be shrunk within a preset time period.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the identification information is data information, and wherein selecting one of a plurality of DEP modules as the target DEP module comprises:

determining a module number of the plurality of DEP modules;

performing a remainder operation on the identification information by using the module number to obtain identification data;

and acquiring the target DEP module which is sequentially matched with the identification data in the plurality of DEP modules, and associating the target DEP module with the session connection.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the network element comprises a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element.

8. A message transmission apparatus, comprising:

an obtaining unit, configured to obtain a message type of a communication message if the communication message of a network element is received when the VNF is in an elastic capacity reduction state, where the message type of the communication message is a non-origination message or an origination message;

a determining unit, configured to determine a target DEP module for processing the communication message based on a message type of the communication message;

and the sending unit is used for sending the communication message to the target DEP module.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the obtaining unit comprises:

the acquisition module is used for acquiring the identification information carried in the communication message;

and the first determining module is used for determining the message type of the communication message through the identification information.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the obtaining module is further configured to obtain the identification information carried in a Payload field of the communication message.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first determining module comprises:

the judging submodule is used for judging whether conversation connection corresponding to the identification information exists or not, wherein the conversation connection corresponding to the identification information is the conversation connection to which the communication message belongs;

a first determining submodule, configured to determine that the message type of the communication message is a non-originating message if a session connection corresponding to the identification information exists;

and the second determining submodule is used for determining the message type of the communication message as an original message if the session connection corresponding to the identification information does not exist.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the determining unit comprises:

a second determining module, configured to determine, when the message type of the messaging message is a non-origination message, that the DEP module associated with the session connection is the target DEP module;

and the selecting module is used for selecting one of the DEP modules as the target DEP module under the condition that the message type of the communication message is the original message, wherein the DEP modules are DEP modules which are not allowed to be contracted in a preset time period.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the identification information is data information, and the selecting module comprises:

a third determining submodule for determining the number of modules of the plurality of DEP modules;

the operation submodule is used for carrying out remainder operation on the identification information by utilizing the module number to obtain identification data;

and the acquisition sub-module is used for acquiring the target DEP modules which are sequentially matched with the identification data in the plurality of DEP modules and associating the target DEP modules with the session connection.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the network element comprises a 3GPP AAA SERVER network element.