CN108337705B

CN108337705B - User plane reselection method and device

Info

Publication number: CN108337705B
Application number: CN201810098369.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马泽芳; 马瑞涛; 谭蓓; 石乐; 邢向晖
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd; China Information Technology Designing and Consulting Institute Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd; China Information Technology Designing and Consulting Institute Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-01-31
Filing date: 2018-01-31
Publication date: 2020-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2038-01-31
Also published as: CN108337705A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a user plane reselection method and device, relates to the technical field of communication, and aims to optimize a user plane path, reduce UE service delay and ensure UE service bandwidth, so that user experience is improved. The method comprises the following steps: SMF sends service flow information inquiry request to current UPF; the SMF receives the current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF; and under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE.

Description

User plane reselection method and device

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a user plane reselection method and device.

Background

In a communication system, interworking of various network elements may accomplish User Equipment (UE) accessing a network and establishing a session with the network.

In Long Term Evolution (LTE), the user plane network element (such as Gateway (GW)) is responsible for both the signaling service flow (belonging to the control plane) of session management, policy control, charging, etc., and the data packet forwarding flow (belonging to the user plane), i.e. the control plane and the user plane, are integrated, when the UE establishes a session with the network, once the user plane for the service provided by the UE is determined, during the subsequent session, the user plane is not changed any more, in the above LTE system, if the service accessed by the UE changes after the UE establishes a session with the network, for example, when the service is switched from the service in access area 1 to the service in access area 2, since the user plane serving the UE cannot be changed, in the process of the UE accessing the service of the region 2 through the user plane, network latency may be large and the UE may occupy more network resources due to the roundabout path.

In the 5G communication system, a control plane network element and a user plane network element are completely separated, and after a session is established between a UE and a network, a user plane network element (e.g., a User Plane Function (UPF)) providing a service for the UE may be changed, that is, the UPF may be reselected.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a user plane reselection method and device, which can optimize a user plane path, reduce UE service delay and ensure UE service bandwidth, thereby improving user experience.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, a method for user plane reselection is provided, the method including: SMF sends service flow information inquiry request to current UPF; the SMF receives the current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF, and under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE.

In a second aspect, an SMF is provided that includes a transmitting module, a receiving module, and a determining module. The sending module is used for sending a service flow information query request to the current UPF; the receiving module is used for receiving the current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF; and the determining module is used for re-determining the UPF for providing the service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the receiving module.

In a third aspect, an SMF is provided that may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory may be used to store computer instructions. When the SMF is running, the processor executes the computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the SMF to perform the user plane reselection method of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on an SMF, cause the SMF to perform the user plane reselection method of the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising computer instructions which, when run on an SMF, cause the SMF to perform the user plane reselection method of the first aspect.

According to the user plane reselection method provided by the application, the SMF can send a service flow information query request to the current UPF, and after receiving the current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF. Compared with the prior art, the SMF can determine whether to re-determine the UPF providing service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE, and re-determine one UPF according to the current service flow information of the UE under the condition that the UPF needs to be re-determined, so that a user plane path can be optimized, the service delay of the UE is reduced, the service bandwidth of the UE is ensured, and the user experience is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a hardware schematic diagram of a server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a first schematic diagram illustrating a user plane reselection method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user plane reselection method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a third schematic diagram of a user plane reselection method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a first schematic structural diagram of a UPF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a UPF according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following describes a method and an apparatus for user plane reselection according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms "first" and "second," and the like, in the description and in the claims of embodiments of the present invention are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order of the objects. For example, the first session and the second session, etc. are used to distinguish between different sessions, rather than to describe a particular order of sessions.

In the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "e.g.," an embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified. For example, a plurality of processing units refers to two or more processing units; the plurality of systems refers to two or more systems.

Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having" and any variations thereof as referred to in the description of the invention are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements but may alternatively include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

First, some concepts related to the embodiments of the present invention will be explained.

Session service continuity mode of UE: in a 5G system, for different applications or different continuity requirements of a UE, session service continuity is divided into a mode one, a mode two and a mode three in a related protocol in the 5G system, which is specifically as follows:

the first mode is as follows: the PDU session anchor (UPF in the embodiment of the present invention) is used as a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session anchor (UPF) at the time of PDU session establishment), and the PDU session anchor, i.e., UPF, remains unchanged for the duration of the PDU session regardless of which access technology (such as access type and cell) the UE successfully accesses the network.

And a second mode: the UE does not require to ensure session continuity (e.g. download service), when the PDU session anchor point changes (i.e. session anchor point relocation), the network triggers PDU session release, instructing the UE to initiate a new PDU session establishment procedure to the same data network, and when a new session is established, a new UPF may be selected as the PDU session anchor point.

And a third mode: the UE is required to ensure session continuity (e.g., talk traffic), in which case the UE's connection to the same data network is established via a new PDU session anchor before the connection between the UE and the current PDU session anchor (i.e., the session established based on the current PDU session anchor) is released, and then the previous session is released under certain conditions.

Based on the problems existing in the background art, embodiments of the present invention provide a user plane reselection method and apparatus, where the method and apparatus are applied to a 5G system, a Session Management Function (SMF) may determine whether to reselect an UPF according to service flow information of a UE, and in a case that the UPF needs to be reselected, the SMF re-determines the UPF for the UE, which may optimize a user plane path, reduce a UE service delay, and ensure a UE service bandwidth, thereby improving user experience.

The user plane reselection method provided by the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a wireless communication system, which may be a system (hereinafter, referred to as a 5G system) that employs a fifth generation mobile communication technology, and the like, and as shown in fig. 1, is an architecture diagram of the 5G system provided by the embodiment of the present invention. In fig. 1, the 5G system may include: UE 10, Radio Access Network (RAN) or Access Network (AN) 11 (which may be referred to as (R) AN11), UPF 12, access and mobility management function (AMF) 13, SMF 14, Policy Control Function (PCF) 15, authentication service function (AUSF) 16, network storage function (NF) 17 (where NF is a Network Function (NF)), Application Function (AF) 18, capability opening function (NEF) 19, Unified Data Management (UDM) 20, and network slice selection function (sf) 21, and the like. In general, in practical applications, the connections between the above-mentioned devices or service functions may be wireless connections or wired connections, and for convenience, the connections between the devices are shown by solid lines in fig. 1.

(R) AN 11: for the UE 10 to access the network, the (R) AN11 may include a base station, AN evolved node base (eNB), a next generation base station (gNB), a new radio base station (new radio eNB), a macro base station, a micro base station, a high frequency base station or a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), a non-3GPP access network (e.g., WiFi), and/or a non-3GPP interworking function (N3 IWF).

UPF 12: for handling events related to the user plane, such as forwarding or routing packets, detecting packets, reporting traffic, handling quality of service (QoS), lawful interception, storing downlink packets, etc.

AMF 13: for connection management, mobility management, registration management, access authentication and authorization, reachability management, security context management, and the like.

SMF 14: for session management (e.g., establishment, modification, and release of sessions), selection and control of the UPF 12, selection of a service and session continuity (service and session continuity) mode, and roaming services, etc.

PCF 15: the method is used for making a strategy, providing a strategy control service, acquiring subscription information related to strategy decision and the like.

AUSF 16: for interacting with the UDM 20 to obtain user information and perform authentication related functions, such as generating intermediate keys and the like.

NRF 17: network function text for service discovery, maintaining available network function instances, and services supported by those network functions.

AF 18: interacting with the 3GPP core network, providing services or servers, for example, may interact with the NEF 19.

NEF 19: various services and capabilities provided by the secure open 3GPP network function (including content opening or opening to a third party, etc.), information for converting or translating information interacting with the AF 18 and information interacting with the internal network function, such as AF service identification and content, 5G core network information (such as network slice selection assistance information, etc.), and the like.

UDM 20: processing authentication information in a 3GPP authentication and key agreement mechanism, processing user identity information, access authorization, registration and mobility management, subscription management, short message management and the like.

NSSF 21: for selecting a set of network slices for the UE 10, determining network slice selection assistance information, and determining an AMF set to serve the UE 10 (an AMF set refers to a set of multiple AMFs that may serve the UE 10).

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, each of the functional modules (i.e., UPF 12, AMF 13, SMF 14, PCF 15, AUSF 16, NRF 17, AF 18, NEF 19, UDM 20, and NSSF 21) may be integrated on a server to implement the functions thereof.

In the embodiment of the invention, the SMF can be integrated on a server to realize the functions of the SMF. The following describes each component of the SMF integrated server according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to fig. 2. As shown in fig. 2, the server may include: processor 101, memory 102, and communication interface 103, among others.

The processor 101: is the core component of the server and is used for running the operating system of the server and the application programs (including the system application program and the third party application program) on the server.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the processor 101 may specifically be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof, which may implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure of the embodiment of the present invention; a processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, a DSP and a microprocessor, or the like.

The memory 102: may be used to store software programs and modules, and the processor 101 executes various functional applications of the server and data processing by operating the software programs and modules stored in the memory 102. Memory 102 may include one or more computer-readable storage media. The memory 102 includes a program storage area and a data storage area, where the program storage area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function, and the like, and the data storage area may store data created by a server, and the like.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the memory 102 may specifically include a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM); the memory may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory (flash memory), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD); the memory may also comprise a combination of memories of the kind described above.

The communication interface 103: the interface circuit is used for the server to communicate with other devices, the communication interface can be a transceiver, a transceiving circuit and other structures with transceiving functions, and the communication interface comprises a serial communication interface and a parallel communication interface.

After the UE establishes a session with the network, referring to fig. 1, as shown in fig. 3, a method for reselecting a user plane according to an embodiment of the present invention may include S101 to S103:

s101, the SMF sends a service flow information query request to the current UPF.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the current UPF is a UPF that provides a service for the UE in a current session established between the UE and the network. The traffic flow information of the UE may include at least one of: a destination Internet Protocol (IP) address of the UE, a port of the destination IP address, an application layer protocol of an IP stream of the UE, a media type of the UE, and uplink and downlink bandwidths of the UE.

Wherein, the application layer protocol of the IP flow of the UE can comprise an HTTP protocol used by web browsing; real-time transport protocol (RTP), real-time transport control protocol (RTCP), real-time streaming protocol (RTSP), etc. used for streaming media services; a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), a Session Description Protocol (SDP), and the like, which are used for the voice service; a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) used for file transfer, and the like; the media type of the UE is a coding format of a service currently operated by the UE, for example, if the service of the UE is a video service, the encoding format of the video may be an encoding format specified by Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), for example, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, or the like; the encoding format of the video data may be h.26x series encoding format, or the like.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, the SMF may periodically send a service flow information query request to the current UPF, so as to obtain a change condition of the service flow information of the UE, so as to select a UPF suitable for the current actual condition of the UE for the UE in time.

S102, the SMF receives the current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF.

S103, under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the SMF acquires the current service flow information of the UE, the SMF firstly determines whether the current service flow information of the UE is the same as the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, and then determines whether to re-determine the UPF providing service for the UE according to the judgment result.

In the embodiment of the invention, after the UE establishes a session with the network, if the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, namely the service flow information of the UE is changed, the UPF of the service provided for the UE currently is not suitable for providing the service for the UE any more, under the condition, the SMF reselects the UPF for the UE, establishes a new session according to the re-UPF, and switches the current session into the new session, namely, the service of the UE in the current session of the UE is switched into the new session established based on the re-determined UPF, so that the user plane path of the UE can be optimized, the smooth operation of the service of the UE can be ensured, the user experience can be improved, for example, after the service of the UE is switched into the session established based on the re-determined UPF, the network delay of the service of the UE can be reduced or the network resources occupied.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the session service continuity mode (referred to as mode two and mode three) of the UE is different, the SMF has different occasions for re-determining the UPF for the UE, and the two cases are specifically (respectively denoted as location-a and location-B):

Situation-A：

the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode two, and the method for the SMF to re-determine the UPF of the service provided for the UE according to the current traffic flow information of the UE may include: after the network releases the current session, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE.

Wherein the UPF re-determined by the SMF is used for the next session for establishing the current session between the UE and the network.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode two, the UE does not require session continuity, so the network may release the current session (i.e. release the IP address or prefix that the network has allocated to the UE), then establish a new session (i.e. allocate a new IP address or prefix to the UE), and in the process of establishing a new session, the SMF may re-determine a UPF providing service for the UE.

Situation-B：

The session service continuity mode of the UE is mode three, and the method for the SMF to re-determine the UPF of the service provided for the UE according to the current traffic flow information of the UE may include: before the network releases the current session, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode three, the UE requires that the session has continuity, so the network first establishes a new session (i.e. allocates a new IP address or prefix to the UE), and in the process of establishing the new session, the SMF may re-determine a UPF providing service for the UE, and then release the current session (i.e. release the IP address or prefix that the network has allocated to the UE).

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, the IP address may include the IPv4 address (i.e., the fourth version of the IP address) or the IPv6 address (i.e., the sixth version of the IP address), and the IP prefix may be a prefix of the IPv6 address.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present invention, with reference to fig. 3, as shown in fig. 4, the foregoing S103 may specifically be implemented by S103 a:

s103a, if the current traffic information of the UE is different from the traffic information of the UE received last time by the SMF, the SMF re-determines the UPF providing service for the UE from the UPFs corresponding to the current traffic information of the UE.

The UPFs deployed in the 5G system and providing the server for the UE may include multiple UPFs, and specifically, the multiple UPFs may be deployed according to different characteristics of some attribute information of the UE (for example, a type of the UE, a mobile phone, a notebook, and the like), a location where the UE is located, a service of the UE, and the like. That is, when the current traffic flow information of the UE is different from the traffic flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, the SMF re-determines the UPF providing the service for the UE according to the current traffic flow information of the UE.

For example, assume that different UPFs are deployed according to a destination IP address of the UE, a port of the destination IP address, an application layer protocol of an IP stream of the UE, a media type of the UE, and an uplink and downlink bandwidth of the UE, respectively, as shown in table 1 below, an example of a corresponding relationship between service flow information of the UE and the UPF is shown.

TABLE 1

Traffic flow information	UPF
		Destination IP Address 1	UPF 1、UPF 2
Port 1 of destination IP address	UPF 3
		Application layer protocol for IP flows of a UE	UPF 4
Media type 1	UPF 5、UPF 6
		Uplink and downlink bandwidth 1	UPF 7、UPF 8

With reference to table 1, if the service flow information of the UE is the destination IP address of the UE, the destination IP address 1 in table 1 is the current destination IP address of the UE, and if the current destination IP address of the UE is different from the destination IP address of the UE received last time by the SMF, the UE determines the UPF providing service for the UE from the UPF 1 and the UPF 2 corresponding to the destination IP address 1 again, for example, determines the UPF 1 as a new UPF.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present invention, if there are multiple UPFs corresponding to the current service flow information of the UE, the SMF may select one UPF from the multiple UPFs as a new UPF providing services for the UE, and the SMF may also select one UPF from the multiple UPFs as a new UPF according to another policy.

In the following embodiments, a PDU session established by the UE and the network based on the current UPF (hereinafter, referred to as a first UPF) is referred to as a current PDU session (hereinafter, referred to as a first session), a PDU session established by the UE and the network based on the newly determined UPF (hereinafter, referred to as a second UPF) is referred to as a next session (hereinafter, referred to as a second session) of the current PDU session, and a service of the UE in the first session is switched to the second session, that is, it can be understood that the UE needs to release the first session and establish the second session when the first session is switched to the second session.

The following describes in detail a method for reselecting a user plane (i.e., UPF) in the process of establishing a first session from the UE to the network and switching the first session to a second session.

As shown in fig. 5, a method for reselecting a user plane according to an embodiment of the present invention may include S201 to S213:

s201, UE initiates a request for establishing a first session.

In the embodiment of the invention, when UE initiates a session to a certain data network, the UE carries the Data Network Name (DNN) of the DN in a request for establishing a first session and sends the DNN to the AMF in the network, after the AMF completes authentication on the UE, the AMF selects an SMF which can provide service for the UE, and then the AMF forwards the request for establishing the first session to the SMF.

S202, the SMF determines a first UPF for providing service for the UE.

In the embodiment of the invention, the SMF can select one UPF for the UE according to the local configuration or the external policy. The SMF can select a UPF specified in the protocol for the UE as the UPF for providing service for the UE in the session process; the external policy may be a requirement of the user, such as a grouping characteristic of the user, such as an industry characteristic of the user (e.g., electric power industry, water conservancy industry, etc.).

S203, the SMF interacts with the first UPF to establish a first session.

S204, the SMF sends a first session establishment completion message to the AMF, and the AMF forwards the first session establishment completion message to the UE.

S205, the UE sends uplink or downlink data with the data network through the first UPF.

S206, the SMF inquires the current service flow information of the UE to the first UPF.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the method for the SMF to query the first UPF for the current service flow information of the UE may include S206a-S206 d:

s206a, the SMF sends a traffic flow information query request to the first UPF.

S206b, the first UPF receives the service flow information query request sent by the SMF.

S206c, the first UPF sends the current traffic flow information of the UE to the SMF.

S206d, the SMF receives the current traffic flow information of the UE sent by the first UPF.

S207, the SMF starts a UPF relocation process according to the current service flow information of the UE and the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF.

In the embodiment of the invention, the SMF compares the current service flow information of the UE with the service flow information of the UE received by the SMF last time, and under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received by the SMF last time, the SMF starts a UPF relocation process, namely the SMF starts to re-determine the UPF providing service for the UE (namely, determines the second UPF).

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode two, the request for releasing the first session is first initiated, and then after the second session is established, the following S208a-S208b are performed after S207:

s208a, SMF initiates a first session release request.

In the embodiment of the invention, the SMF firstly sends a session release request to the AMF, and then the AMF sends the session release request to the UE, thereby triggering the network to release the first session.

And S208b, the SMF and the first UPF interact to release the first session.

When the session service continuity mode of the UE is the mode three, first initiating a request for establishing the second session, then releasing the first session, and after the above S207, performing the following S208c-S208 d:

s208c, the SMF initiates a second session establishment request.

S208d, the interaction between the SMF and the first UPF sets a timer for releasing the first session.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the session service continuity mode of the UE is the mode three, the SMF initiates a second session establishment request to indicate the UE to initiate a second session process for the same data network, continuously maintains the first session, sets the timer, and releases the first session when the timer finishes the timing time.

S209, the UE initiates a request for establishing the second session.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the UE initiates a second session establishment request to the same data network as the first session, and after receiving the session establishment request, the AMF selects the same SMF as in S201 for the UE, and then forwards the session establishment request to the SMF.

For other descriptions of S209, reference may be made to the detailed description of S201 in the foregoing embodiments, and details are not described here.

S210, the SMF determines a second UPF for providing service for the UE according to the service flow information of the UE.

For a specific description of S210, reference may be made to the related description of S103 (including S103a) in the foregoing embodiment, and details are not repeated here.

S211, the SMF interacts with the second UPF, and a second session is established.

S212, the SMF sends a second session setup complete message to the AMF, and the AMF forwards the second session setup complete message to the UE.

And S213, the UE sends uplink or downlink data with the data network through the second UPF.

To this end, the reselection of the UPF is completed and the switching from the first session to the second session is performed.

In the user plane reselection method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, after receiving the current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF, the SMF determines again the UPF providing the service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE when the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF. Compared with the prior art, the SMF can determine whether to re-determine the UPF providing service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE, and re-determine one UPF according to the current service flow information of the UE under the condition that the UPF needs to be re-determined, so that a user plane path can be optimized, the service delay of the UE is reduced, the service bandwidth of the UE is ensured, and the user experience is improved.

In the case of dividing the functional modules by corresponding functions, fig. 6 shows a possible structural diagram of the SMF involved in the above embodiments, and as shown in fig. 6, the SMF may include a sending module 200, a receiving module 201, and a determining module 202.

A sending module 200, configured to send a service flow information query request to a current UPF, for example, the sending module 200 may be configured to support the SMF to perform S101, S204, S206a, S208a, S208c, and S212 in the foregoing method embodiments; a receiving module 201, configured to receive current traffic flow information of the UE sent by a current UPF, where for example, the receiving module 201 may be configured to support the SMF to perform S102 and S206d in the foregoing method embodiment; a determining module 202, configured to re-determine, according to the current traffic flow information of the UE, a UPF providing services for the UE when the current traffic flow information of the UE is different from the traffic flow information of the UE received last time by the receiving module 201, where, for example, the determining module 202 may be configured to support the SMF to perform S103 (including S103a), S202, S207, and S210 in the foregoing method embodiment.

Optionally, the determining module 202 is specifically configured to re-determine, in the UPF corresponding to the current service flow information of the UE, a UPF providing a service for the UE.

Optionally, when the session service continuity mode of the UE is the mode two, the determining module 202 is specifically configured to re-determine, according to current service flow information of the UE, the UPF providing service for the UE after the network releases the current session, where the UPF re-determined by the determining module 202 is used for establishing a next session of the current session between the UE and the network.

Optionally, when the session service continuity mode of the UE is the mode three, the determining module 202 is specifically configured to re-determine, before the network releases the current session, the UPF providing the service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE, where the UPF re-determined by the determining module 202 is used for establishing a next session of the current session between the UE and the network.

Fig. 7 shows a possible structural diagram of the SMF involved in the above-described embodiment, in the case of an integrated unit. As shown in fig. 7, the SMF may include: a processing module 300 and a communication module 301. Processing module 300 may be used to control and manage the actions of the SMF, for example processing module 300 may be used to support SMF in performing S103 (including S103a), S202, S207, and S210 in the above-described method embodiments, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. The communication module 301 may be configured to support communication of the SMF with other network entities, for example, the communication module 301 may be configured to support the SMF to perform S101, S102, S204, S206a, S206d, S208a, S208c and S212 in the above-described method embodiments. Optionally, as shown in fig. 7, the SMF may further include a storage module 302 for storing program codes and data of the SMF.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the flow or functions according to embodiments of the invention, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Drive (SSD)), among others.

Through the above description of the embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the above function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device may be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions. For the specific working processes of the system, the apparatus and the unit described above, reference may be made to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described here again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules or units is only one logical division, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed to by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) or a processor to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: flash memory, removable hard drive, read only memory, random access memory, magnetic or optical disk, and the like.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for user plane reselection, comprising:

a Session Management Function (SMF) sends a service flow information query request to a current User Plane Function (UPF);

the SMF receives the current service flow information of the user equipment UE sent by the current UPF;

under the condition that the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the SMF, the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again according to the current service flow information of the UE;

the traffic flow information of the UE comprises at least one of the following items: a destination Internet Protocol (IP) address of the UE, a port of the destination IP address, an application layer protocol of an IP stream of the UE, a media type of the UE and uplink and downlink bandwidths of the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the SMF re-determines the UPF serving the UE according to the current traffic flow information of the UE, and comprises:

and the SMF determines the UPF providing service for the UE again in the UPF corresponding to the current service flow information of the UE.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode two, and wherein the SMF re-determines the UPF serving the UE according to current traffic flow information of the UE, comprising:

after the network releases the current session, the SMF re-determines the UPF for providing service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE, and the UPF re-determined by the SMF is used for establishing the next session of the current session between the UE and the network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode three, and wherein the SMF re-determines the UPF serving the UE according to current traffic flow information of the UE, comprising:

before the network releases the current session, the SMF re-determines the UPF for providing service for the UE according to the current service flow information of the UE, and the UPF re-determined by the SMF is used for establishing the next session of the current session between the UE and the network.

5. A Session Management Function (SMF) is characterized by comprising a sending module, a receiving module and a determining module;

the sending module is used for sending a service flow information query request to a current user plane function UPF;

the receiving module is configured to receive current service flow information of the UE sent by the current UPF;

the determining module is configured to re-determine, according to the current service flow information of the UE, a UPF providing a service for the UE when the current service flow information of the UE is different from the service flow information of the UE received last time by the receiving module;

6. The SMF of claim 5,

the determining module is specifically configured to re-determine, in the UPF corresponding to the current service flow information of the UE, a UPF that provides a service for the UE.

7. The SMF of claim 5, wherein the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode two;

the determining module is specifically configured to re-determine, after the network releases the current session, the UPF that provides service for the UE according to the current traffic information of the UE, where the UPF re-determined by the determining module is used for establishing, with the network, a next session of the current session by the UE.

8. The SMF of claim 5, wherein the session service continuity mode of the UE is mode three;

the determining module is specifically configured to re-determine, before the network releases the current session, the UPF that provides the service for the UE according to the current traffic information of the UE, where the UPF re-determined by the determining module is used for establishing, with the network, a next session of the current session by the UE.