CN110278584B

CN110278584B - Method, device and system for switching user plane network element

Info

Publication number: CN110278584B
Application number: CN201810208474.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙德奎
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-03-14
Filing date: 2018-03-14
Publication date: 2020-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 2038-03-14
Also published as: CN110278584A; WO2019174440A1

Abstract

The application provides a method, a device and a system for switching user plane network elements, wherein the method is applied to an Ethernet session scene and comprises the following steps: the session management network element determines that a user plane network element of the Ethernet session needs to be reselected, wherein the user plane network element needing to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the Ethernet session; the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to a first network element, wherein the message detection instruction is used for indicating the first network element to inform the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the Ethernet session, and the first network element comprises a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element; the session management network element receives first notification information from the first network element; the session management network element sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, wherein the second notification information is used for indicating the source user plane network element to release resources, and switching of the user plane network element in an Ethernet session scene can be realized.

Description

Method, device and system for switching user plane network element

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for switching a user plane network element.

Background

In a fifth Generation (5th Generation, 5G) network, an ethernet type session is supported in addition to a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session of an Internet Protocol (IP) type. Where ethernet is a protocol layer below the IP layer. For IP type PDU session, IP message is transmitted in mobile network. For an ethernet type session, ethernet messages are transported in the mobile network.

Due to the mobility of the terminal, the 5G network switches an anchor User Plane Function (UPF) for the terminal. In an IP session scenario, the control plane gateway realizes the switching of the anchor UPF by allocating different IP addresses to the terminal equipment. However, in the ethernet type session scenario, the Media Access Control (MAC) address of the terminal remains unchanged, and if the method of allocating addresses in the IP session scenario is used, the switching of the anchor UPF in the ethernet session scenario cannot be realized. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a scheme for implementing the switching of the anchor UPF in the ethernet session scenario.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method, a device and a system for switching user plane network elements, which can realize the switching of the user plane network elements in an Ethernet session scene.

In a first aspect, a method for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the method is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the method includes: the session management network element determines that a user plane network element of the ethernet session needs to be reselected, wherein the user plane network element needing to be reselected can be understood as a source user plane network element of the ethernet session; then, the session management network element sends a message detection indication to the first network element, so that the first network element notifies the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session. Optionally, the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for an ethernet session. Then, the session management network element receives the first notification information sent by the first network element, so as to know that the first network element has detected the downlink packet of the ethernet session. And finally, the session management network element sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, so that the source user plane network element releases resources, namely, the subsequent service message is transmitted through the target user plane network element. In the method for realizing switching of IP address allocation in the IP session scene, the terminal needs to sense the change of the IP address, but in the embodiment of the application, the method for realizing switching of the IP address allocation in the IP session scene does not need to be adopted, the whole process does not need the cooperation of the terminal, the seamless switching of the user plane network element can be realized, and the continuity of the service can be ensured.

Optionally, if the ethernet session corresponds to multiple MAC addresses, the message detection instruction is specifically configured to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting downlink messages corresponding to the multiple MAC addresses.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first network element is the target user plane network element, where the packet detection indication is specifically configured to indicate the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session. Therefore, the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to the target user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element notifies the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the session management network element determines a target user plane network element. Thus, the session management network element may select a suitable target user plane network element for the terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and the session management network element sends a first routing rule to a target user plane network element, wherein the first routing rule is used for indicating the target user plane network element to send the uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network. Further, the first routing rule is further configured to instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element. Therefore, the session management network element transmits the first routing rule to the target user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element can transmit the uplink and downlink messages of the ethernet session based on the content of the first routing rule.

Optionally, the method further comprises: a session management network element sends first tunnel information to an access network node, wherein the first tunnel information is used for the access network node to establish a tunnel with a target user plane network element; and the session management network element sends second tunnel information to the source user plane network element, wherein the second tunnel information is used for establishing a tunnel from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element. Therefore, the session management network element enables the access network node to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element by sending the first tunnel information to the access network node, and enables the source user plane network element to establish a tunnel from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element by sending the second tunnel information to the source user plane network element.

With reference to the first aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, where the packet detection indication is specifically configured to indicate the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element. Therefore, the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to the middle user plane network element, so that the middle user plane network element notifies the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the session management network element determines an intermediate user plane network element. Therefore, the session management network element can select an appropriate intermediate user plane network element according to the location of the terminal.

Optionally, the method further comprises: and the session management network element sends a second routing rule to the intermediate user plane network element, wherein the second routing rule is used for instructing the intermediate user plane network element to send the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element. Further, the second routing rule is further configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element. Therefore, the session management network element transmits the second routing rule to the middle user plane network element, so that the middle user plane network element can transmit the uplink and downlink messages of the ethernet session based on the content of the second routing rule.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the session management network element sends tunnel information to the intermediate user plane network element, where the tunnel information includes information required for the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required for the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required for the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the access network node. Therefore, the session management network element enables the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and a tunnel with the access network node by sending tunnel information to the intermediate user plane network element.

In a second aspect, a method for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the method is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the method includes: the session management network element determines that a user plane network element of the Ethernet session needs to be reselected, wherein the user plane network element needing to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the Ethernet session; then, the session management network element determines an intermediate user plane network element, and sends a routing rule to the intermediate user plane network element, so that the intermediate user plane network element sends an uplink message of the ethernet session to a target user plane network element, and receives a downlink message of the ethernet session from a source user plane network element and the target user plane network element, wherein the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session. In the embodiment of the application, the session management network element issues the routing rule to the middle user plane network element, so that the middle user plane network element performs corresponding uplink and downlink operations based on the routing rule, and the switching of the user plane network element in an ethernet session scene is facilitated.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to the intermediate user plane network element so that the intermediate network element can inform the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the Ethernet session.

Optionally, if the ethernet session corresponds to multiple MAC addresses, the message detection instruction is specifically configured to instruct the middle user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting downlink messages corresponding to the multiple MAC addresses.

In a third aspect, a method for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the method is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the method includes: the session management network element determines that a user plane network element of the Ethernet session needs to be reselected, wherein the user plane network element needing to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the Ethernet session; and then, the session management network element determines a target user plane network element, wherein the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the Ethernet session, and sends a routing rule to the target user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element sends an uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network, and receives a downlink message from the data network and an Ethernet session of the source user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element performs corresponding uplink and downlink operations based on the routing rule, and the switching of the user plane network element in the Ethernet session scene is facilitated.

With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to the target user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element informs the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the Ethernet session.

Optionally, if the ethernet session corresponds to multiple MAC addresses, the message detection instruction is specifically configured to instruct the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting downlink messages corresponding to the multiple MAC addresses.

In a fourth aspect, a method for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the method is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the method includes: a first network element receives a message detection instruction from a session management network element, wherein the message detection instruction is used for indicating the first network element to inform the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of an Ethernet session; then, the first network element sends the first notification information to the session management network element when detecting the downlink packet of the ethernet session, so that the session management network element knows that the first network element has detected the downlink packet of the ethernet session, and thus the session management network element can notify the source user plane network element to release resources, so as to implement switching of the user plane network element of the ethernet session.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first network element is the target user plane network element, where the packet detection indication is specifically used to indicate the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session. Therefore, the target user plane network element receives the message detection indication sent by the session management network element, so as to notify the session management network element when the downlink message of the ethernet session is detected.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the target user plane network element receives a first routing rule from the session management network element, wherein the first routing rule is used for indicating the target user plane network element to send an uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network; and the target user plane network element sends the uplink message from the Ethernet session to the data network based on the first routing rule. Therefore, the target user plane network element may execute the processing method for the uplink packet of the ethernet session based on the first routing rule.

Further, the first routing rule is further configured to instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element; and the target user plane network element receives the downlink messages of the Ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element based on the first routing rule. Therefore, the target user plane network element may execute the processing method for the downlink packet of the ethernet session based on the first routing rule.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in another possible implementation manner, the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, where the message detection indication is specifically configured to indicate the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element. Therefore, the intermediate user plane network element receives the message detection indication sent by the session management network element, so as to notify the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the middle user plane network element receives a second routing rule from the session management network element, wherein the second routing rule is used for indicating the middle user plane network element to send an uplink message from the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element; and the intermediate user plane network element sends the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element based on the second routing rule. Therefore, the intermediate user plane network element may execute the processing manner on the uplink packet of the ethernet session based on the second routing rule.

Further, the second routing rule is further configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element. Therefore, the intermediate user plane network element may execute the processing method for the downlink packet of the ethernet session based on the second routing rule.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the intermediate user plane network element receives tunnel information from the session management network element, wherein the tunnel information comprises information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the access network node; and the intermediate user plane network element establishes a tunnel with the source user plane network element, establishes a tunnel with the target user plane network element and establishes a tunnel with the access network node according to the tunnel information. Thus. The intermediate user plane network element can establish a tunnel with a source user plane network element, a tunnel with the target user plane network element and a tunnel with an access network node through the tunnel information sent by the session management network element.

In a fifth aspect, a method for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the method is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the method includes: the middle user plane network element receives the routing rule from the session management network element, and then based on the content of the routing rule, executes the uplink and downlink operations of the ethernet session, specifically, for the uplink: sending the uplink message of the Ethernet session to a target user plane network element; for the downlink: and receiving downlink messages of the Ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element, which is beneficial to realizing the switching of the user plane network elements in the Ethernet session scene.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the intermediate user plane network element receives tunnel information from a session management network element, wherein the tunnel information includes information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the access network node. Therefore, the intermediate user plane network element may establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and a tunnel with the access network node based on the tunnel information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the intermediate user plane network element receives the message detection indication from the session management network element, and then informs the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the Ethernet session based on the message detection indication.

In a sixth aspect, a method for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the method is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the method includes: the target user plane network element receives the routing rule from the session management network element, and then executes uplink and downlink operations of the Ethernet session based on the content of the routing rule, specifically, for the uplink: sending an uplink message of the Ethernet session from an access network node to a data network; for the downlink: and receiving the downlink messages of the Ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element, which is beneficial to realizing the switching of the user plane network element in the Ethernet session scene.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the target user plane network element receives a message detection instruction from the session management network element, and then notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the Ethernet session based on the message detection instruction.

A seventh aspect provides an apparatus for switching a user plane network element, where the apparatus may be a session management network element or a chip. The apparatus has the functionality to implement the session management network element in any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In an eighth aspect, an apparatus for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the apparatus may be an intermediate user plane network element or a chip. The apparatus has the functionality to implement the intermediate user plane network element in any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a ninth aspect, a device for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the device may be a target user plane network element or a chip. The apparatus has the functionality to implement a target user plane network element in any aspect or any possible implementation of any aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a tenth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor is coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The memory is for storing instructions, the processor is for executing the instructions, and the transceiver is for communicating with other network elements under control of the processor. The processor, when executing the instructions stored by the memory, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the session management network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any of the above aspects. It should be noted that the memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent from the processor.

In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor is coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The memory is for storing instructions, the processor is for executing the instructions, and the transceiver is for communicating with other network elements under control of the processor. The processor, when executing the instructions stored by the memory, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the middle user plane network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any of the above aspects. It should be noted that the memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent from the processor.

In a twelfth aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor is coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The memory is for storing instructions, the processor is for executing the instructions, and the transceiver is for communicating with other network elements under control of the processor. The processor, when executing the instructions stored in the memory, causes the apparatus to perform the method of the target user plane network element in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any of the above aspects. It should be noted that the memory may be integrated into the processor or may be independent from the processor.

In a thirteenth aspect, a system for switching a user plane network element is provided, where the system is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the system includes: a session management network element, configured to determine that a user plane network element of an ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session; the session management network element is further configured to send a message detection instruction to a first network element, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session; the first network element is configured to send first notification information to the session management network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session; the session management network element is further configured to send second notification information to the source user plane network element, where the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the session management network element may be the session management network element in the seventh aspect or the tenth aspect. Accordingly, the first network element may be the intermediate user plane network element in the eighth aspect or the eleventh aspect, or the first network element may also be the target user plane network element in the ninth aspect or the twelfth aspect.

In a fourteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program that causes a session management network element to perform the method of the session management network element in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects.

In a fifteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program that causes an intermediate user plane network element to perform the method of the intermediate user plane network element in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects.

In a sixteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program for causing a target user plane network element to perform the method of the target user plane network element in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects.

A seventeenth aspect provides a communication chip having instructions stored therein, which when run on a computer device, cause the communication chip to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of any of the above aspects.

In an eighteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which an embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 2 is a scene diagram to which the embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device to which an embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a method for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the MAC learning principle.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of a method for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another example of a method for switching a user plane network element to which the embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for switching a user plane network element to which another embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for switching a user plane network element according to still another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for switching a user plane network element to which another embodiment of the present application is applied.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) System, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) System, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) System, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long Term Evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) System, a LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) System, a LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) System, a Universal Mobile telecommunications System (Universal Mobile telecommunications System, UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication System, a fifth Generation (5G) System in the future, a wireless Radio Access (NR 2) System, a Radio Access (NR 25) System, and so on.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. As shown in fig. 1, the system 100 includes: a session management network element 101 and a first network element 102. Optionally, the first network element 102 includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element. The system 100 may be configured to execute the method for switching the user plane network element in the embodiment of the present application.

In a possible implementation manner, the session management network element 101 is configured to determine that a user plane network element of an ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session; the session management network element 101 is further configured to send a message detection instruction to the first network element 102, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first packet includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session; the first network element 102 sends first notification information to the session management network element 101, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element 101 that the first network element 102 detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session; and the session management network element 101 sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, where the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.

Or, in another possible implementation manner, the session management network element 101 determines that a user plane network element of the ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session; the session management network element 101 determines a target user plane network element, which is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session; the session management network element 101 sends a routing rule to the target user plane network element, where the routing rule is used to instruct the target user plane network element to send an uplink packet from the ethernet session to a data network, and to instruct the target user plane network element to receive packets from the data network and the source user plane network element.

Or, in another possible implementation manner, the session management network element 101 determines that a user plane network element of the ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session; the session management network element 101 determines a target user plane network element, which is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session; the session management network element 101 sends a routing rule to the target user plane network element, where the routing rule is used to instruct the target user plane network element to send a message from the terminal to a data network, and is used to instruct the target user plane network element to receive messages from the data network and the source user plane network element.

It should be noted that the session management network element 101, the first network element 102, and the like in fig. 1 are only names, and the names do not limit the network elements or the devices themselves. In the 5G network and other future networks (e.g. 6G network), the devices or the apparatuses corresponding to the session management network element 101 and the first network element 102 may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the session management Network element 101 may be replaced by an SMF functional entity, the first Network element may be replaced by an UPF functional entity, a Radio Access Network (RAN) device, or a Branch node (Branch Point, BP), and the source user plane Network element may be replaced by an UPF functional entity, which is described herein in a unified manner and is not described in detail below.

Optionally, the session management network element 101 and the first network element 102 in the system 100 may be respectively a single network element, or may be implemented by multiple network elements together, or may be used as a functional module in a network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It is understood that the above functions may be network elements in a hardware device, software functions allowed on specialized hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

A Terminal (Terminal) in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a User Equipment (UE), an access Terminal, a Terminal in V2X communication, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote Terminal, a mobile device, a User Terminal, a Terminal device, a wireless communication device, a User agent, or a User Equipment. The terminal may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with Wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a Wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G Network or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and the like, which are not limited in this embodiment. The terminal may also include a V2X device, such as a vehicle or an On Board Unit (OBU) in a vehicle.

The terminal in the embodiment of the application is connected with the RAN equipment in a wireless mode, and the RAN equipment is connected with the core network equipment in a wireless or wired mode. The core network device and the radio access network device may be separate physical devices, or the function of the core network device and the logical function of the radio access network device may be integrated on the same physical device, or a physical device may be integrated with a part of the function of the core network device and a part of the function of the radio access network device. The terminals may be fixed or mobile.

The Radio Access Network device is an Access device in which a terminal is accessed into the mobile communication system in a Wireless manner, and may be a base station NodeB, an evolved node b, a base station (gbnodeb, gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, an Access node in a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) system, or the like, and may also be a Wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or the Access Network device may be a relay station, an Access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a Network device in a future 5G Network, a Network device in a future evolved PLMN Network, or the like.

The core network device includes, for example, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BMSC), etc., or may also include corresponding functional entities in the 5G system, such as a core network Control Plane (CP) or a User Plane (UP) network Function, etc., for example, a Session Management network Function (SMF), an Access and Mobility Management Function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF), etc. The core network control plane may also be understood as a core network Control Plane Function (CPF) entity.

V2X communication means: the Vehicle can timely acquire road condition information or receive information through Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure communication (V2I), Vehicle-to-Pedestrian communication (V2P), Vehicle-to-Network communication (V2N), and the like. Take the most common V2V and V2I as examples: the vehicle can broadcast the information such as the speed, the driving direction and the specific position of the vehicle or whether the vehicle steps on an emergency brake or not to surrounding vehicles through V2V communication, and the surrounding vehicles can better sense the traffic condition by acquiring the information, so that the driver can judge the dangerous condition in advance and then make avoidance in time. Optionally, for V2I communication, in addition to the above-mentioned interaction of security information, the roadside infrastructure may also provide various service information for vehicles and access to data networks, and the functions of charging without parking, entertainment in vehicles, and the like, greatly improve traffic intelligence. The network used for V2X communication is commonly referred to as the internet of vehicles.

The wireless access network equipment and the terminal can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, and can be handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface; it may also be deployed on airborne airplanes, balloons and satellite vehicles. The embodiment of the application does not limit the application scenarios of the wireless access network equipment and the terminal.

The embodiments of the present application may be applicable to downlink message transmission, may also be applicable to uplink message transmission, and may also be applicable to Device (D2D) message transmission. What needs to be uniformly stated here is: the message may be data or may also be a signal, which is not limited to this. For downlink message transmission, the sending device is a radio access network device or a relay device (the relay device is used for forwarding the downlink message to the radio access network device, so that the radio access network device sends the downlink message to the terminal), and the corresponding receiving device is the terminal. For uplink message transmission, the sending device is a terminal, and the corresponding receiving device may be a radio access network device or a relay device (the relay device is configured to forward an uplink message to the radio access network device). For D2D messaging, the sending device is a terminal and the corresponding receiving device is also a terminal. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the transmission direction of the packet.

The radio access network device and the terminal, and the terminal may communicate through a licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum), may communicate through an unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum), and may communicate through both the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum. The radio access network device and the terminal may communicate with each other through a frequency spectrum of 6 gigahertz (GHz) or less, may communicate through a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more, and may communicate using both a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or less and a frequency spectrum of 6GHz or more. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the spectrum resources used between the radio access network device and the terminal.

Alternatively, the system 100 shown in fig. 1 may be applied to a 5G network and other possible networks in the future, and the embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

Where the system 100 shown in fig. 1 is applied to a 5G network, as shown in fig. 2, for example, the session management network element 101 may be an SMF 202 in 5G, and the first network element 102 may be a UPF208 in 5G. Alternatively, the terminal appearing in the foregoing may be UE 209 in 5G, and the data network may be DN 207 in 5G.

Fig. 2 shows a scene diagram to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. As shown in fig. 2, the system 200 includes: a Session Management Function (SMF) 202 (which may correspond to the Session Management network element 101 in fig. 1), and a User Plane Function (UPF) 208 (which may correspond to the first network element 102 in fig. 1). Optionally, the system 200 further comprises: AMF 201, radio access Network RAN203, Authentication Server Function (AUSF) 204, Unified Data Management (UDM) 205, Policy Control Function (PCF) 206, Data Network (DN) 207, User Equipment (User Equipment) 209, and Application Function (AF) 210. Wherein, the UE 209 is connected to the AMF 201 through an N1 interface, and the UE 209 is connected to the RAN203 through a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol; the RAN203 is connected with the AMF 201 through an N2 interface, and the RAN203 is connected with the UPF208 through an N3 interface; a plurality of UPFs 208 are connected through an N9 interface, the UPFs 208 are connected with DN 207 through an N6 interface, and meanwhile, the UPFs 208 are connected with SMF 202 through an N4 interface; the SMF 202 is connected with the PCF 206 through an N7 interface, the SMF 202 is connected with the UDM 205 through an N20 interface, and meanwhile, the SMF 202 is connected with the AMF 201 through an N11 interface; a plurality of AMFs 201 are connected through an N14 interface, the AMFs 201 are connected with a UDM 205 through an N8 interface, the AMFs 201 are connected with an AUSF 204 through an N12 interface, and meanwhile, the AMFs 201 are connected with a PCF 206 through an N15 interface; AUSF 204 interfaces with UDM 205 through an N13 interface. AMF 201 and SMF 202 acquire user subscription data from UDM 205 through N8 and N20 interfaces, and acquire policy data from PCF 206 through N15 and N7 interfaces, respectively; AF210 connects with PCF 206 via an N5 interface. The SMF 202 controls the UPF208 via the N4 interface. In particular, data network DN 207 may include switching networks and servers.

Optionally, the UE 209 in fig. 2 may also be adapted for a Relay UE scenario. For example, if the UE 209 is a Relay UE, the UE 209 may be followed by one or more Remote UEs (including the Remote UE1, the Remote UE2, and the Remote UE … in fig. 2), that is, the one or more Remote UEs have a communication connection relationship with the Relay UE.

It should be noted that the interface name between each network element in fig. 2 is only an example, and the interface name may be other names in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the name of each network element (such as the SMF 202, the AF210, the UPF208, etc.) included in fig. 2 is only a name, and the name does not limit the function of the network element itself. In the 5G network and other networks in the future, the network elements may also be given other names, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application. For example, in a 6G network, some or all of the above network elements may use the terminology in 5G, or may use other nomenclature, and so on, which are described herein in a unified manner and will not be described again below.

The specific operation and beneficial effects of the network elements in the systems of fig. 1 and fig. 2 can be referred to the description of the method embodiments below.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 300 (or an apparatus for switching a user plane network element) to which an embodiment of the present application is applied. The session management network element 101, the first network element 102 (including the target user plane network element or the intermediate user plane network element) or the source user plane network element in fig. 1 described above may be implemented by the communication device in fig. 3.

As shown in fig. 3, the communication device 300 includes: a processor 301, a memory 302, and a transceiver 303. Optionally, the transceiver 303 may also include a receiver for implementing a receiving function and a transmitter for implementing a transmitting function, which is not limited herein.

The processor 301, the memory 302 and the transceiver 303 communicate with each other, control and/or messages, via internal connection paths.

It will be appreciated that although not shown, the computer apparatus 300 may also include other devices, such as input devices, output devices, batteries, etc.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the memory 302 may store execution instructions for performing the methods of embodiments of the present application. The processor 301 may execute the instructions stored in the memory 302 to perform the steps of the method described below in combination with other hardware (e.g., the transceiver 303), and the specific working process and beneficial effects can be seen from the description of the method embodiment below.

The method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to a processor, or may be implemented by a processor. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The Processor may be 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 discrete Gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, a system on chip (SoC), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Microcontroller (MCU), a Programmable logic controller (PLD), or other Integrated chip. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced Synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous link SDRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The communication device 300 described above may be a general purpose computer device or a special purpose computer device. In a specific implementation, the communication device 300 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 3. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the communication device 300.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method 400 for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application. The method 400 is applied to an ethernet session scenario, and as shown in fig. 4, the method 400 includes:

s410, the session management network element determines that the user plane network element of the Ethernet session needs to be reselected, wherein the user plane network element needing to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the Ethernet session.

Specifically, for a scenario in which the session type is an ethernet session, the session management network element may decide that a user plane network element (such as an anchor UPF) of the ethernet session needs to be reselected. There are many reasons why the session management network element reselects the user plane network element for the ethernet session, and may be, for example, one or more of the following: the terminal moves, optimizes the transmission path of the message, and reselects the instruction sent by the application side network element or PCF, but is not limited to these. For example, in the moving process of the terminal, in order to optimize a transmission path and overcome a problem of a path detour caused by a large-range movement, the session management network element may decide to switch the user plane network element of the ethernet session of the terminal from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element, so as to adapt to a communication requirement of the terminal.

Here, in the ethernet session scenario, the terminal uses the MAC address to enable communication with a server in the data network through the source user plane network element.

S420, the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to the first network element, so that the first network element receives the message detection instruction from the session management network element. The message detection indication is used to indicate the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session.

Optionally, the first network element may be a target user plane network element, or may be an intermediate user plane network element. Optionally, in case the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, the intermediate user plane network element may be a binding node (such as a RAN device) or a branch node BP.

Optionally, if the first network element is a target user plane network element, the target user plane network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session based on the packet detection indication.

Optionally, if the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, the intermediate user plane network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session based on the packet detection indication.

S430, the first network element sends first notification information to the session management network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session. Correspondingly, the session management network element receives the first notification information from the first network element.

For example, the target user plane network element sends the first notification information to the session management network element when detecting that there is a downlink packet of the ethernet session addressed to the terminal. For another example, the intermediate user plane network element sends the first notification information to the session management network element when detecting the downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element.

Further, after receiving the first notification message, the session management network element determines that the layer two switching of the data network has converged to the target user plane network element, and then sends a second notification message to the source user plane network element.

Or, optionally, the session management element does not issue the detection instruction to the first element, but starts the first timer, and issues the second notification information to the source user plane element when the first timer expires, so that the source user plane element releases the resource.

S440, the session management network element sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, where the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources. Correspondingly, the source user plane network element receives the second notification information from the session management network element and releases resources. Optionally, the resource released by the source user plane network element includes information such as a tunnel resource or a routing rule, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Or, optionally, the session management network element does not need to send the second notification information to the source user plane network element, and starts a timer (for example, a second timer) when receiving the first notification information, and releases the resource of the source user plane network element when the second timer expires. Here, the purpose of turning on the second timer is to: and reserving time for the terminal switching user plane network element so as to realize seamless switching of the Ethernet session.

Specifically, the session management network element determines that a user plane network element of the ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session, and then sends a message detection indication to the first network element, so that the first network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session. And the first network element sends first notification information to the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the Ethernet session. After receiving the first notification message, the session management network element may send a second notification message to the source user plane network element, so that the source user plane network element releases resources as soon as possible. In this way, in the method for switching the user plane network element of the embodiment of the application, the session management network element does not need to follow the scheme for switching the user plane network element in the IP session scene through the MAC address of the ethernet session, but sends the message detection indication and sends the second notification information to the source user plane network element when receiving the first notification information from the first network element, so as to implement the switching of the user plane network element in the ethernet session scene. In the method for realizing switching of the IP address allocated in the IP session scene, the terminal and the server need to sense the change of the IP address. The session management network element sends a message detection instruction to the target user plane network element or the middle user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element or the middle user plane network element reports first notification information to the session management network element after detecting a downlink message of the Ethernet session, and the session management network element sends information for releasing resources to the source user plane network element; on the other hand, the service is continuous in the process of switching the user plane network element, and the normal communication of the service is not influenced.

The case where the first network element is a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element will be described in detail below.

The first condition is as follows:

the first network element is the target user plane network element, wherein the packet detection indication is specifically used to indicate the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

In case one, the target user plane network element plays a key role in the process of switching the user plane network element in the ethernet session scenario. In other words, in the first case, an intermediate user plane network element may not be needed (the case that the intermediate user plane network element is not needed may also be understood as a case that the target user plane network element and the intermediate user plane network element are set together), and the session management network element issues the message detection indication to the target user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element reports the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session.

Optionally, in a first case, the method 400 further includes: and the session management network element determines the target user plane network element.

For example, the session management network element may select the target user plane network according to the location of the terminal. For example, if the terminal is still in communication with the server through the source user plane network element after moving, which may cause a detour of a path, the session management network element may select a target user plane network element for the terminal nearby, so as to implement communication between the terminal and the server. Alternatively, the session management network element may select the target user plane network element based on other factors, such as a load of the source user plane network element, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Further, the session management network element may inform the target user plane network element to establish the user plane resource. Specifically, for example, the session management element issues a user plane establishment message to a target user plane network element, where the user plane establishment message is used to instruct the target user plane network element to establish a user plane resource; correspondingly, the target user plane network element sends a response message to the session management network element, and the response message indicates that the target user plane network element completes the user plane establishment. Optionally, the message detection indication may be carried in the user plane establishment message or may be issued separately, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the user plane establishment message may also carry information required by the target user plane network element to establish a tunnel, and specifically may include: and establishing information required by a tunnel between the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element, and establishing information required by a tunnel between the target user plane network element and the access network equipment. Optionally, the user plane setup message may further include other contents, for example, Quality of Service (Qos) rules, charging rules, and other information, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in a first case, the method 400 further includes:

and the session management network element sends a first routing rule to the target user plane network element, wherein the first routing rule is used for indicating the target user plane network element to send the uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network. Optionally, the first routing rule is further configured to instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element. Optionally, the first routing rule may be carried in the user plane establishment message or may be issued separately, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Correspondingly, the target user plane network element receives the first routing rule from the session management network element. And the target user plane network element sends the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the data network according to the first routing rule and receives the downlink messages of the Ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element.

It should be noted that the uplink packet of the ethernet session is: an uplink message of an ethernet session of the terminal. Further, for the case where there are multiple MAC addresses for the ethernet session, the terminal is a Relay terminal. That is, the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to the Relay UE scenario in fig. 2. Specifically, a plurality of Remote UEs access the network through the PDU session of the Remote UE, and therefore, for the PDU session of the Remote UE, a plurality of corresponding MAC addresses are the MAC addresses of each Remote UE.

Specifically, the session management network element may issue a first routing rule to the target user plane network element, where the first routing rule indicates a processing principle of the target user plane network element on an uplink packet and a downlink packet of the ethernet session. For the uplink, the target user plane network element may send an uplink message of the ethernet session of the terminal to the data network; for downlink, the target user plane network element receives downlink packets of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element, and further, may send the received downlink packets of the ethernet session to a terminal.

Optionally, the data network may be DN 207 in fig. 2 in 5G. The data network is a public network other than the mobile network, such as a server communicating with the UE, and the like, and is located in the data network. The data network is connected to the user plane network element through an N6 interface (for example, DN 207 is connected to UPF208 in fig. 2), it may be considered that the N6 interface at the user plane network element has corresponding forwarding rule information, and when the uplink packet of the ethernet session reaches the user plane network element, the user plane network element may send the packet to the data network according to the forwarding rule, and specifically may send the packet to a certain server in the data network. It should be understood that the data network may be changed into other terms with similar functions or functions in the future (such as 6G), but the data network is also applicable to the scheme of the embodiment of the present application, and the scheme is not limited to this. Optionally, the data network may include a switching network and a server, which are not limited thereto.

Optionally, the first routing rule may be implemented in various ways in specific implementations. For example, the first routing rule may include a filtering rule and a forwarding rule, where the filtering rule is used to filter the received packet, and the forwarding rule is used to forward the filtered packet. That is, the filtering rule is used to specify an object to which the forwarding rule is applicable, for example, the filtering rule indicates that a corresponding packet is an uplink packet of the ethernet session sent from an access network node (e.g., RAN), and the forwarding rule is to forward the packet corresponding to the filtering rule to a data network. It should be understood that, as long as the rule issued by the session management network element has the function or function of the first routing rule, the rule falls into the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in a first case, the method 400 further includes:

and the session management network element sends first tunnel information to an access network node, wherein the first tunnel information is used for the access network node to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element. Correspondingly, the access network node establishes a tunnel (bidirectional tunnel) with the target user plane network element according to the first tunnel information. Thus, the target user plane network element can receive the uplink message of the Ethernet session from the terminal of the access network node through the tunnel between the access network node and the target user plane network element.

And the session management network element sends second tunnel information to the source user plane network element, wherein the second tunnel information is used for establishing a tunnel from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element. Correspondingly, the source user plane network element establishes a tunnel (unidirectional tunnel) from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element according to the second tunnel information. Here, the target user plane network element may receive the downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element through the tunnel from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element.

Further, the session management network element may update the packet transmission path of the ethernet session based on the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information.

Therefore, in the first case, the session management network element sends the message detection instruction to the target user plane network element, so that the target user plane network element reports the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session, which is beneficial to implementing the switching or reselection of the user plane network element in the ethernet session scene.

Case two:

the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, wherein the packet detection indication has a function of indicating the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element.

In case two, the intermediate user plane network element plays a key role in the process of switching the user plane network element in the ethernet session scenario. The intermediate user plane network element and the target user plane network element may coexist (or, it may be understood that the target user plane network element and the intermediate user plane network element are not co-located). And the session management network element issues the message detection indication to the middle user plane network element, so that the middle user plane network element reports the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the Ethernet session.

Optionally, in the second case, the session management network element may determine the target user plane network element. For brevity, details are not described herein.

Optionally, the session management network element may further determine an intermediate user plane network element based on the terminal position, which may specifically refer to a method for determining an intermediate user plane network element in the prior art.

Optionally, in case two, the method 400 further includes:

and the session management network element sends a second routing rule to the intermediate user plane network element, wherein the second routing rule is used for instructing the intermediate user plane network element to send the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element. Optionally, the second routing rule is further configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to receive downlink packets of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element.

Correspondingly, the intermediate user plane network element receives the second routing rule from the session management network element. And the intermediate user plane network element sends the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element according to the second routing rule and receives the downlink messages of the Ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element.

Here, for the explanation of the uplink packet of the ethernet session, reference may be made to the description in case one, and details are not described here for brevity.

Specifically, the session management element may issue a second routing rule to the intermediate user plane element, where the second routing rule indicates a processing principle of the intermediate user plane element on an uplink packet and a downlink packet of the ethernet session. For the uplink, the intermediate user plane network element may send an uplink message of the ethernet session of the terminal to the target user plane network element; for downlink, the intermediate user plane network element receives downlink packets of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element, and further, may send the received downlink packets of the ethernet session to a terminal.

Optionally, the second routing rule may be implemented in various ways in specific implementations. For example, the second routing rules may include filtering rules and forwarding rules. Here, the descriptions of the filtering rule and the forwarding rule may refer to the description in case one, and are not described herein for brevity. It should be understood that, as long as the rule issued by the session management network element has the function or function of the second routing rule, the rule falls into the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in case two, the method 400 further includes:

the session management network element sends tunnel information to the intermediate user plane network element, where the tunnel information includes information required for the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required for the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required for the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the access network node. Correspondingly, the intermediate user plane network element receives the tunnel information. And the intermediate user plane network element establishes a tunnel with the source user plane network element, establishes a tunnel with the target user plane network element and establishes a tunnel with the access network node according to the tunnel information.

Further, the session management network element may also update a packet transmission path of the ethernet session based on the tunnel information, which may specifically refer to the prior art.

Optionally, the session management network element may send a release message to the intermediate user plane network element, where the release message is used to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to release resources (including tunnel resources, routing rules, and the like). Correspondingly, the middle user plane network element releases the resources occupied by the middle user plane network element according to the release message.

Therefore, in the second case, the session management network element reports the session management network element when detecting the downlink packet of the ethernet session by issuing the packet detection instruction to the intermediate user plane network element, which is helpful for implementing the switching or reselection of the user plane network element in the ethernet session scenario. Further, the message of the ethernet session of the terminal is directly sent to the target user plane network element, so that the two-layer forwarding in the data network is quickly converged to the target user plane network element (the service message can trigger the two-layer forwarding for quick update).

In the embodiment of the present application (including the above-mentioned case one and case two), in the subsequent process, the uplink packet of the ethernet session of the terminal is sent to the server through the target user plane network element. Based on the MAC learning principle, the switch in the switching network in the data network may perform MAC learning (for example, update the MAC forwarding table), so that the packet sent to the terminal by the server is sent to the target user plane network element by the second-layer network switching network according to the updated MAC forwarding table, so that the transmission path (mainly, a downlink transmission path, that is, a path from the server to the terminal) of the data network for the terminal is rapidly converged to the target user plane network element.

To facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art, some of the processes involved in the MAC learning principle are described below. In an ethernet scenario, a switch based on the basic principle of message forwarding queries a local MAC forwarding table according to a destination MAC address of a message. The MAC forwarding table may include a destination MAC address and corresponding port information. The MAC learning principle is described below with reference to fig. 5. As shown in fig. 5, includes: node 1 (address MAC1), node 2 (address MAC2) and node 3 (address MAC3), as well as switch 1 (connected to node 1 through port 1 of switch 1, connected to port 4 of switch 2 through port 2 of switch 1, connected to port 6 of switch 3 through port 3 of switch 1), switch 2 (connected to node 2 through port 5 corresponding to switch 2) and switch 3 (connected to node 3 through port 7 corresponding to switch 3). It should be understood that the port numbers of the switches are introduced for convenience of description only and do not limit the embodiments of the present application. In the initial state, the MAC forwarding tables in all switches are empty, and the node 1 sends a packet (ethernet packet or data packet) to the node 2, where the source address of the packet is MAC1 and the destination address is MAC2 (it should be understood that, here, the destination address is MAC2 as an example, which is not limited to the embodiment of the present application, for example, the destination address may also be MAC3, and at this time, MAC learning may be performed in a similar processing manner to that when the destination address is MAC 2). The message arrives at switch 1. The MAC forwarding table of switch 1 is empty and therefore there is no MAC record (i.e., the destination MAC address of the message) to which MAC2 corresponds. The switch 1 performs the following two steps: step 1, adding a record related to MAC1 (source MAC of a message) in a MAC forwarding table, wherein a port corresponding to MAC1 is port 1 (the step is the basis of MAC learning, and the principle can be understood that if a message with a source address of MAC1 is received by a switch 1 from port 1 of the switch 1, the message can reach through port 1 of the switch 1 if the destination address of the message is MAC1, so that the message with the destination address of MAC1 is received by the switch 1 and sent from port 1 of the switch 1, and the message is sent from port 1 of the switch 1 according to the connection relation in the figure and can reach node 1); and step 2, broadcasting the message, specifically copying the message, sending the copied message through a port 2 and a port 3, receiving the message sent by the switch 1 by the switch 2 and the switch 3, firstly executing MAC learning, storing a record corresponding to the MAC1 into respective MAC forwarding tables (specifically operating as the step 1), and then broadcasting the message, wherein the message can finally reach the node 2. Subsequently, if the node 2 or the node 3 has a message to be sent to the node 1 (the destination MAC is shown as MAC1), since all the three switches have records of MAC1, the switches do not need to broadcast the message and directly forward the message by inquiring the MAC forwarding table. Through the above process, it can be considered that the switch learns two paths according to the packet sent by the node 1, specifically: switch 2- > switch 1- > node 1; switch 3- > switch 1- > node 1.

Optionally, there is a refresh action on the MAC forwarding table, and the basis of updating the MAC forwarding table is still the MAC learning principle. For example, if the subsequent switch 1 receives the message of the node 1 from another port (for example, port 8 of switch 1 (not shown in the figure)), switch 1 will perform the update of the MAC forwarding table, and modify the port corresponding to MAC1 to port 8, that is: and then receives a message with the destination address of MAC1, and sends the message from the port 8. The refreshing principle of the MAC forwarding tables of other switches is the same as that of switch 1, and is not described herein again.

It should be understood that the example in fig. 5 is only an exemplary description of the MAC learning principle, and does not limit the embodiments of the present application.

In the above, the session management network element sends the message detection instruction to the first network element, so that the first network element notifies the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session. Further, the session management network element subsequently issues a routing rule to the first network element, so that the first network element receives or transmits the message according to the routing rule. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the issuing order of the message detection indication and the routing rule may not be limited. That is to say, the session management network element may first send the routing rule to the first network element (including the target user plane network element or the intermediate user plane network element), so that the first network element performs receiving or sending of the packet according to the routing rule (the first network element performs the corresponding action based on the routing rule, which may refer to the foregoing description and is not described herein again), which is helpful for implementing the switching of the user plane network element. After the session management network element issues the routing rule to the first network element, further, the session management network element may also issue a message detection instruction to the first network element.

The method of the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the examples in fig. 6 and 7. It should be understood that the examples of fig. 6 and 7 are merely for facilitating understanding of the embodiments of the present application by those skilled in the art, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the specific scenarios illustrated. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various equivalent modifications or variations are possible in light of the examples shown in fig. 6 and 7, and such modifications or variations are intended to be included within the scope of the embodiments of the present application. In the following examples, the session management network element is exemplified by SMF, the source user plane network element is exemplified by UPF1, the target user plane network element is exemplified by UPF2, the access network node is exemplified by (R) AN, the data network includes a switching network and a server, and the terminal is exemplified by UE, which are collectively described herein. Optionally, the example in fig. 6 may also include AMF. In the examples in fig. 6 and 7, the UE communicates Uplink (UL) or Downlink (DL) data (data) with the server via the UPF 1. Fig. 6 illustrates an example of a first network element as UPF2, and as shown in fig. 6, the first network element includes:

the SMF determines 601 that a UPF needs to be reselected for the UE's ethernet session. For example, a UPF may be reselected for a UE based on the UE's movement.

At 602, the SMF initiates a user plane setup message to the UPF 2. Optionally, the user plane establishment message may carry a message detection indication, where the message detection indication is used to indicate that the UPF2 notifies the SMF when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session of the UE. Optionally, the user plane establishment message may further include a routing rule, where the routing rule is used to instruct the UPF2 to directly send the uplink packet received from the UE in the (R) AN to the switching network, and receive the downlink packet received from the UE in the UPF 1.

603, the SMF sends a UPF reselection notification to the (R) AN. Optionally, the UPF reselection notification includes tunnel establishment information. The tunnel establishment information is used for (R) AN establishment of a tunnel with the UPF 2. Specifically, the SMF sends a UPF reselection notification to the AMF (i.e., the AMF acts as a relay); the AMF sends a UPF reselection notification to the (R) AN.

The SMF sends a downstream forwarding tunnel setup notification to the UPF1 604. The downstream forwarding tunnel establishment notification includes information required for establishing a tunnel between the UPF1 to the UPF 2.

After step 604, the upstream message of the ethernet session is sent to the DN via UPF 2. In the switching network, a MAC learning procedure of the switching network is performed, and specifically, before step 604, the downlink message sent by the DN to the UE is sent to the UPF 1. It is to be noted that, in the present embodiment, the message may be data, which is not limited herein. After the step, the corresponding switch receives the uplink message of the UE, and if the message of the ethernet session is found to be from the UPF2, the switch updates the MAC learning table, and modifies the port corresponding to the terminal address in the MAC learning table to the port connected to the UPF 2. Therefore, when the subsequent switch receives the downlink message, the downlink message can be sent to the UPF2 according to the MAC learning table.

605, the UPF2 sends a message arrival notification (corresponding to the first notification information in the foregoing) to the SMF, which is used to notify the SMF that the UPF2 detects a downlink message of the ethernet session.

606, the SMF sends a release notification (corresponding to the second notification information above) to the UPF1, instructing the UPF1 to release the resources.

Thus, in the example of fig. 6, the SMF causes the UPF2 to notify the SMF when a downstream packet of an ethernet session is detected by issuing a packet detection indication to the UPF 2.

Fig. 7 is an illustration of an example where the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element I-UPF, and as shown in fig. 7, the method includes:

the SMF determines 701 that a UPF needs to be reselected for the UE's ethernet session. For example, a UPF may be reselected for a UE based on the UE's movement.

The SMF initiates 702 a user plane setup message to the UPF 2. Optionally, the user plane establishment message may carry a message detection indication, where the message detection indication is specifically used to indicate that the UPF2 notifies the SMF when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session of the UE. Optionally, the user plane establishment message may further include a routing rule, where the routing rule is used to instruct the UPF2 to directly send the uplink packet received from the UE in the (R) AN to the switching network, and receive the downlink packet received from the UE in the UPF 1.

703, the SMF sends an N3UPF (specifically, the intermediate UPF accessed via the N3 interface) setup message to the I-UPF, where the N3UPF setup message is used to instruct the I-UPF to set up the user plane resources. The N3UPF establishment message may carry a message detection indication, where the message detection indication is specifically used to indicate that the I-UPF reports the SMF when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session. Optionally, the N3UPF setup message may further include a routing rule instructing the I-UPF to send an upstream packet of the ethernet session to the UPF2 and receive a downstream packet of the ethernet session from the UPF1 and the UPF 2. Optionally, the N3UPF setup message may further include tunnel information including information required for the I-UPF to setup a tunnel with the UPF1, information required for the I-UPF to setup a tunnel with the UPF2, and information required for the I-UPF to setup a tunnel with the (R) AN.

Path update is performed 704.

Specifically, the SMF interacts with the UPF1 to facilitate establishing a tunnel between the UPF1 and the I-UPF; the SMF interacts with the UPF2 to facilitate establishing a tunnel between the UPF2 and the I-UPF; the SMF interacts with the (R) AN to facilitate establishing a tunnel between the (R) AN and the I-UPF.

After step 704, in the switching network, a MAC learning and MAC forwarding table updating process (see the related description of the MAC learning principle, such as the description after step 604) that needs to perform two-layer switching, specifically, a downlink packet sent by the DN to the UE is sent to the UPF1 (specifically, the UPF1 sends the downlink packet to the UE through the I-UPF). After the step, the corresponding switch receives the uplink message of the UE, and if the message of the ethernet session is found to be from the I-UPF (specifically, the I-UPF receives UPF 2), the switch updates the MAC learning table, and modifies the port corresponding to the terminal address in the MAC learning table to the port connected to the I-UPF. Therefore, when the subsequent switch receives the downlink message, the downlink message can be sent to the I-UPF according to the MAC learning table, and further, the I-UPF can send the received downlink message to the UPF 2.

Next, the following scheme one or scheme two may also be performed. For example, if the N3UPF establishment message in step 703 carries a message detection indication, then scheme one may be executed; alternatively, if the user plane establishment message in step 702 carries the message detection indication, the second scheme may be executed.

The first scheme is as follows: 7501, I-UPF receives the downstream message of Ethernet session sent by UPF 2.

7502, I-UPF sends Notification 1 to SMF. The notification information 1 is used to notify the SMF that the I-UPF detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

Scheme II: 7501, UPF2 receives the downlink message of said Ethernet session of UE.

7502, UPF2 sends Notification 2 to SMF. The notification information 2 is used to notify the SMF that the UPF2 detected a downstream packet of an ethernet session.

After performing the first or second scheme, step 706 may be performed, where the SMF sends a release notification to the UPF1, where the release notification is used to instruct the UPF1 to release the resource.

Thus, in the example of fig. 7, the SMF causes the I-UPF to notify the SMF when a downstream packet of the ethernet session is detected by issuing a packet detection indication to the I-UPF. Alternatively, the SMF may cause the UPF2 to notify the SMF when detecting the downstream packet of the ethernet session by issuing a packet detection indication to the UPF 2.

It should be understood that various aspects of the embodiments of the present application may be used in combination, and explanations or illustrations of various terms appearing in the embodiments may be mutually referred to or explained in the embodiments, which is not limited thereto.

The method for switching the user plane network element according to the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 7. An apparatus for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application will be described below with reference to fig. 8 to 11. It should be understood that the technical features described in the method embodiments are equally applicable to the following apparatus embodiments.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 800 for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the specific form of the apparatus 800 may be a general-purpose computer device or a chip in a general-purpose computer device, which is not limited in this application. The apparatus 800 is a session management network element, and the apparatus is applied in an ethernet session scenario, where the apparatus 800 includes:

a determining module 810, configured to determine that a user plane network element of an ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session;

a transceiver module 820, configured to send a message detection instruction to a first network element, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session;

the transceiver module 820 is further configured to receive first notification information from the first network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session;

the transceiver module 820 is further configured to send second notification information to the source user plane network element, where the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is the target user plane network element, and the message detection instruction is specifically used to instruct the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting the downlink message of the ethernet session.

Optionally, the determining module 810 is further configured to: and determining the target user plane network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 820 is further configured to:

and sending a first routing rule to the target user plane network element, wherein the first routing rule is used for indicating the target user plane network element to send the uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network.

Optionally, the transceiver module 820 is further configured to:

sending first tunnel information to an access network node, wherein the first tunnel information is used for the access network node to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element;

and sending second tunnel information to the source user plane network element, wherein the second tunnel information is used for establishing a tunnel from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, where the message detection indication is specifically used to indicate that the intermediate user plane network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 820 is further configured to:

and sending a second routing rule to the middle user plane network element, where the second routing rule is used to instruct the middle user plane network element to send the uplink packet of the ethernet session to the target user plane network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 820 is further configured to:

and sending tunnel information to the middle user plane network element, wherein the tunnel information comprises information required by the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required by the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required by the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the access network node.

Alternatively, the apparatus 800 may further execute another embodiment, specifically:

the determining module 810 is further configured to determine an intermediate user plane network element;

a transceiver module 820, configured to send a routing rule to the middle user plane network element, where the routing rule is used to instruct the middle user plane network element to send an uplink packet of the ethernet session to a target user plane network element, and to instruct the middle user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element, where the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session.

the determining module 810 is further configured to determine a target user plane network element, where the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session;

a transceiver module 820, configured to send a routing rule to the target user plane network element, where the routing rule is used to instruct the target user plane network element to send an uplink packet from the ethernet session to a data network, and to instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element.

It should be understood that the apparatus 800 for switching a user plane network element according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the method for session managing a network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the above and other management operations and/or functions of each module in the apparatus 800 are respectively for implementing corresponding steps of the method for session managing a network element in the foregoing method embodiment, so that beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiment may also be implemented, and for brevity, no repeated description is provided here.

It should also be understood that in this embodiment, the apparatus 800 is presented in the form of a functional module. As used herein, a "module" may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the apparatus 800 may take the form shown in FIG. 3. The determining module 810 may be implemented by the processor 301 and the memory 302 shown in fig. 3. The transceiver module 820 may be implemented by the transceiver 303 shown in fig. 3. In particular, the processor is implemented by executing a computer program stored in the memory. Alternatively, when the apparatus 800 is a chip, the functions and/or implementation procedures of the transceiver module 820 can also be implemented by pins or circuits, etc. Optionally, the memory is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, and the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the computer device, such as the memory 302 in fig. 3. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 900 for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the specific form of the apparatus 900 may be a general-purpose computer device or a chip in a general-purpose computer device, which is not limited in this application. The apparatus 900 is a first network element, the apparatus is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the apparatus 900 includes:

a receiving module 910, configured to receive a message detection indication from a session management network element, where the message detection indication is used to indicate that the first network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of an ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session;

a sending module 920, configured to send first notification information to the session management network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is the target user plane network element, and the packet detection indication is specifically configured to indicate the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

Optionally, the receiving module 910 is further configured to:

receiving a first routing rule from the session management network element, where the first routing rule is used to instruct the target user plane network element to send an uplink message from the ethernet session to a data network;

correspondingly, the sending module 920 is further configured to: and sending the uplink message from the Ethernet session to the data network based on the first routing rule.

Further, the first routing rule is further configured to instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element; the transceiver module 910 is further configured to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element based on the first routing rule.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, where the packet detection indication is specifically used to indicate that the intermediate user plane network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element.

Optionally, the receiving module 910 is further configured to:

receiving a second routing rule from the session management network element, where the second routing rule is used to instruct the middle user plane network element to send an uplink packet from the ethernet session to the target user plane network element;

correspondingly, the sending module 920 is further configured to: and sending the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element based on the second routing rule.

Further, the second routing rule is further configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element; the transceiver module 910 is further configured to receive, based on the second routing rule, a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element.

Optionally, the receiving module 910 is further configured to:

receiving tunnel information from the session management network element, where the tunnel information includes information required for the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required for the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required for the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the access network node;

the apparatus 900 further comprises:

and an establishing module (not shown in the figure) configured to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and a tunnel with the access network node according to the tunnel information.

It should be understood that the apparatus 900 for switching a user plane network element according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the method for session managing a network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the foregoing and other management operations and/or functions of each module in the apparatus 900 are respectively for implementing corresponding steps of the method of the first network element in the foregoing method embodiment, so that beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiment may also be implemented, and for brevity, no detailed description is provided here.

It should also be appreciated that in the present embodiment, the apparatus 900 is presented in the form of a functional module. As used herein, a "module" may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the apparatus 900 may take the form shown in FIG. 3. The determining module 910 may be implemented by the processor 301 and the memory 302 shown in fig. 3. The receiving module 910 and the transmitting module 920 may be implemented by the transceiver 303 shown in fig. 3. In particular, the transceiver 303 may specifically include a receiver (which may correspond to the receiving module 910) and a transmitter (which may correspond to the transmitting module 920). In particular, the processor is implemented by executing a computer program stored in the memory. Alternatively, when the apparatus 900 is a chip, the functions and/or implementation procedures of the receiving module 910 and the sending module 920 may also be implemented by pins, circuits, or the like. Optionally, the memory is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, and the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the computer device, such as the memory 302 in fig. 3. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

Fig. 10 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the specific form of the apparatus 1000 may be a general-purpose computer device or a chip in a general-purpose computer device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 is an intermediate user plane network element, and the apparatus is applied in an ethernet session scenario, where the apparatus 1000 includes:

a receiving module 1010, configured to receive a routing rule from a session management network element, where the routing rule is used to instruct the middle user plane network element to send an uplink packet of an ethernet session to a target user plane network element, and to instruct the middle user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from a source user plane network element and the target user plane network element;

a sending module 1020, configured to send, based on the routing rule, the uplink packet of the ethernet session to the target user plane network element, and receive the downlink packet of the ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element.

Optionally, the receiving module 1010 is further configured to receive a message detection indication from the session management network element, and then notify the session management network element when a downlink message of the ethernet session is detected based on the message detection indication.

It should be understood that the apparatus 1000 for switching a user plane network element according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the method for session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the foregoing and other management operations and/or functions of each module in the apparatus 1000 are respectively for implementing corresponding steps of the method for an intermediate user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiment, so that beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiment may also be implemented, and for brevity, no detailed description is provided here.

It should also be understood that in this embodiment, the apparatus 1000 is presented in the form of a functional module. As used herein, a "module" may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the device 1000 may take the form shown in FIG. 3. The receiving module 1010 and the transmitting module 1020 may be implemented by the transceiver 303 shown in fig. 3. In particular, the transceiver 303 may specifically include a receiver (which may correspond to the receiving module 1010) and a transmitter (which may correspond to the transmitting module 1020). In particular, the processor is implemented by executing a computer program stored in the memory. Alternatively, when the apparatus 1000 is a chip, the functions and/or implementation processes of the receiving module 1010 and the sending module 1020 can also be implemented by pins or circuits, etc. Optionally, the memory is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, and the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the computer device, such as the memory 302 in fig. 3. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

Fig. 11 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1100 for switching a user plane network element according to an embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the specific form of the apparatus 1100 may be a general-purpose computer device or a chip in a general-purpose computer device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1100 is a target user plane network element, the apparatus is applied in an ethernet session scenario, the apparatus 1100 includes:

a receiving module 1110, configured to receive a routing rule from a session management network element, where the routing rule is used to instruct the target user plane network element to send an uplink packet from an ethernet session to a data network, and instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and a source user plane network element;

a sending module 1120, configured to send an uplink packet of the ethernet session from an access network node to a data network and receive a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element based on the routing rule.

Optionally, the receiving module 1110 is further configured to receive a message detection indication from the session management network element, and then notify the session management network element when a downlink message of the ethernet session is detected based on the message detection indication.

It should be understood that the apparatus 1100 for switching a user plane network element according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the method for session management network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and the foregoing and other management operations and/or functions of each module in the apparatus 1100 are respectively for implementing corresponding steps of the method for a target user plane network element in the foregoing method embodiment, so that beneficial effects in the foregoing method embodiment may also be implemented, and for brevity, no detailed description is provided here.

It should also be appreciated that in the present embodiment, the apparatus 1100 is presented in the form of a functional module. As used herein, a "module" may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the apparatus 1100 may take the form shown in FIG. 3. The determination module 1110 may be implemented by the processor 301 and the memory 302 shown in fig. 3. The receiving module 1110 and the transmitting module 1120 may be implemented by the transceiver 303 shown in fig. 3. In particular, the transceiver 303 may specifically include a receiver (which may correspond to the receiving module 1110) and a transmitter (which may correspond to the transmitting module 1120). In particular, the processor is implemented by executing a computer program stored in the memory. Alternatively, when the apparatus 1100 is a chip, the functions and/or implementation procedures of the receiving module 1110 and the transmitting module 1120 can also be implemented by pins, circuits or the like. Optionally, the memory is a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, and the like, and the storage unit may also be a storage unit located outside the chip in the computer device, such as the memory 302 in fig. 3. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

Items appearing in this application similar to "include at least one of: the meaning of the expressions A, B, and C "generally means that the item may be any of the following, unless otherwise specified: a; b; c; a and B; a and C; b and C; a, B and C; a and A; a, A and A; a, A and B; a, A and C, A, B and B; a, C and C; b and B, B, B and C, C and C; c, C and C, and other combinations of A, B and C. The above description is made by taking 3 elements of a, B and C as examples of optional items of the item, and when the expression "item" includes at least one of the following: a, B, … …, and X ", i.e., more elements in the expression, then the items to which the item may apply may also be obtained according to the aforementioned rules. Further, in the embodiments of the present application, "a plurality" may be understood as "at least two"; "plurality" is to be understood as "at least two".

It should also be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that the numbers "first" and "second" appearing in the embodiments of the present application are only for distinguishing different objects, for example, distinguishing different "notification information", or distinguishing different "routing rules", and the like, and do not limit the embodiments of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein 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 ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or 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 functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units 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 or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) 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: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application 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 application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for switching user plane network elements is applied to an Ethernet session scene, and the method comprises the following steps:

the session management network element determines that a user plane network element of the Ethernet session needs to be reselected, wherein the user plane network element needing to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the Ethernet session;

the session management network element sends a message detection instruction to a first network element, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session;

the session management network element receives first notification information from the first network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session;

and the session management network element sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, wherein the second notification information is used for indicating the source user plane network element to release resources.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network element is the target user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and the session management network element determines the target user plane network element.

4. A method according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the session management network element sends a first routing rule to the target user plane network element, wherein the first routing rule is used for indicating the target user plane network element to send the uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first routing rule is further used to instruct the target user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the Ethernet session from the data network and the source user plane network element.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

the session management network element sends first tunnel information to an access network node, wherein the first tunnel information is used for the access network node to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element;

and the session management network element sends second tunnel information to the source user plane network element, wherein the second tunnel information is used for establishing a tunnel from the source user plane network element to the target user plane network element.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

and the session management network element sends a second routing rule to the intermediate user plane network element, wherein the second routing rule is used for instructing the intermediate user plane network element to send the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second routing rule is further used for instructing the intermediate user plane network element to receive a downlink packet of the Ethernet session from the source user plane network element and the target user plane network element.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the session management network element sends tunnel information to the middle user plane network element, where the tunnel information includes information required for the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required for the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required for the middle user plane network element to establish a tunnel with an access network node.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein if the ethernet session corresponds to multiple MAC addresses, the message detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting downlink messages corresponding to the multiple MAC addresses.

12. A method for switching user plane network elements is applied to an Ethernet session scene, and the method comprises the following steps:

a first network element receives a message detection instruction from a session management network element, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of an ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, where the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session, and a user plane network element to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session;

the first network element sends first notification information to the session management network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session, so that the session management network element sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, and the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first network element is the target user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

the target user plane network element receives a first routing rule from the session management network element, wherein the first routing rule is used for indicating the target user plane network element to send an uplink message from the Ethernet session to a data network;

and the target user plane network element sends the uplink message from the Ethernet session to the data network based on the first routing rule.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

the middle user plane network element receives a second routing rule from the session management network element, wherein the second routing rule is used for indicating the middle user plane network element to send an uplink message from the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element;

and the intermediate user plane network element sends the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element based on the second routing rule.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

the intermediate user plane network element receives tunnel information from the session management network element, wherein the tunnel information comprises information required by the intermediate user plane network element for establishing a tunnel with a source user plane network element, information required by the intermediate user plane network element for establishing a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required by the intermediate user plane network element for establishing a tunnel with an access network node;

and the intermediate user plane network element establishes a tunnel with the source user plane network element, establishes a tunnel with the target user plane network element and establishes a tunnel with the access network node according to the tunnel information.

18. An apparatus for switching a user plane network element, wherein the apparatus is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the apparatus is a session management network element, and the apparatus comprises:

a determining module, configured to determine that a user plane network element of an ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session;

a transceiver module, configured to send a message detection instruction to a first network element, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive first notification information from the first network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session;

the transceiver module is further configured to send second notification information to the source user plane network element, where the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first network element is the target user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink packet of the ethernet session.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to:

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to:

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element is detected.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to:

24. The apparatus of claim 22 or 23, wherein the transceiver module is further configured to:

and sending tunnel information to the intermediate user plane network element, wherein the tunnel information comprises information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the source user plane network element, information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with an access network node.

25. An apparatus for switching a user plane network element, wherein the apparatus is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the apparatus is a first network element, and the apparatus comprises:

a receiving module, configured to receive a message detection indication from a session management network element, where the message detection indication is used to indicate that the first network element notifies the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of an ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, where the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session, and a user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session;

a sending module, configured to send first notification information to the session management network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session, so that the session management network element sends second notification information to the source user plane network element, and the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the first network element is the target user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the target user plane network element to notify the session management network element when a downlink packet of the ethernet session is detected.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the receiving module is further configured to:

correspondingly, the sending module is further configured to: and sending the uplink message from the Ethernet session to the data network based on the first routing rule.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the first network element is an intermediate user plane network element, and wherein the packet detection indication is specifically configured to instruct the intermediate user plane network element to notify the session management network element when a downlink packet of the ethernet session from the target user plane network element is detected.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the receiving module is further configured to:

correspondingly, the sending module is further configured to: and sending the uplink message of the Ethernet session to the target user plane network element based on the second routing rule.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the receiving module is further configured to:

receiving tunnel information from the session management network element, wherein the tunnel information comprises information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with a source user plane network element, information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with the target user plane network element, and information required by the intermediate user plane network element to establish a tunnel with an access network node;

the device further comprises:

and the establishing module is used for establishing a tunnel with the source user plane network element, a tunnel with the target user plane network element and a tunnel with the access network node according to the tunnel information.

31. A system for switching user plane network elements, wherein the system is applied in an ethernet session scenario, and the system comprises:

a session management network element, configured to determine that a user plane network element of an ethernet session needs to be reselected, where the user plane network element that needs to be reselected is a source user plane network element of the ethernet session;

the session management network element is further configured to send a message detection instruction to a first network element, where the message detection instruction is used to instruct the first network element to notify the session management network element when detecting a downlink message of the ethernet session, where the first network element includes a target user plane network element or an intermediate user plane network element, and the target user plane network element is a user plane network element reselected for the ethernet session;

the first network element is configured to send first notification information to the session management network element, where the first notification information is used to notify the session management network element that the first network element detects a downlink packet of the ethernet session;

the session management network element is further configured to send second notification information to the source user plane network element, where the second notification information is used to instruct the source user plane network element to release resources.