CN110324152B

CN110324152B - Method, device and system for acquiring policy and charging control rule

Info

Publication number: CN110324152B
Application number: CN201810276554.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宗在峰; 朱奋勤
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-03-30
Filing date: 2018-03-30
Publication date: 2021-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 2038-03-30
Also published as: WO2019184723A1; CN110324152A

Abstract

The application discloses a method, a device and a system for acquiring policy and charging control rules. The PCC rule obtaining method, device and system provided by the embodiment of the present application can enable an SMF network element to obtain a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the SMF network element, when the SMF network element is divided according to administrative regions. The method comprises the following steps: a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element, wherein the service area information of the first session management network element is used for determining a first PCC rule, and the first PCC rule comprises an application-related PCC rule corresponding to the first session management network element; the first session managing network element receives the first PCC rule.

Description

Method, device and system for acquiring policy and charging control rule

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule obtaining method, apparatus, and system.

Background

In the existing fifth generation (5rd generation, 5G) network architecture, a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session is managed by a Session Management Function (SMF) network element. This means that, in the existing 5G network architecture, when the terminal is in the non-roaming state, all User Plane Function (UPF) network elements in the user plane path of the PDU session of the terminal are controlled by one SMF network element. Thus, when the SMF element acquires the PCC rule from a Policy Control Function (PCF) element, the PCF element needs to send all application-related PCC rules in the entire Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) to the SMF element.

However, the above 5G network architecture is not consistent with the actual deployment of operators, in which the SMF network elements are usually divided by regions in consideration of the complexity of cross-region configuration and the requirement that the operators want to hide the network topology. That is, in the actual deployment of an operator, one SMF network element can only serve one specific area. At this time, if the SMF network element still acquires all PCC rules related to the application in the whole PLMN according to the existing PCC rule acquisition manner, a large amount of transmission resources between the PCF network element and the SMF network element will be wasted.

Therefore, how the SMF network element obtains the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the SMF network element is an urgent problem to be solved at present under the condition that the SMF network element is divided according to the administrative domain.

Disclosure of Invention

The PCC rule obtaining method, device and system provided by the embodiment of the present application can enable an SMF network element to obtain a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the SMF network element, when the SMF network element is divided according to administrative regions.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, a method for acquiring a policy and charging control PCC rule is provided, where the method includes: a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element, wherein the service area information of the first session management network element is used for determining a first PCC rule, and the first PCC rule comprises an application-related PCC rule corresponding to the first session management network element; the first session managing network element receives the first PCC rule. Unlike the prior art, when acquiring the PCC rules, the session management network element needs to acquire all application-related PCC rules in the entire PLMN. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the session management network element may obtain the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the session management network element under the condition that the session management network element is divided according to the administrative region, so that compared with the prior art, the number of PCC rules related to the application transmitted between the policy control function network element and the session management network element may be greatly reduced, and thus transmission resources between the policy control function network element and the session management network element may be saved.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and the first session management network element sends the type of the first session management network element, wherein the type of the first session management network element is used for determining the first PCC rule, and the type of the first session management network element comprises an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element. That is, when determining the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first session management network element, the type of the first session management network element may also be included, for example, in a case that the type of the first session management network element includes an anchor session management network element, the first PCC rule may include a traffic steering policy, where the traffic steering policy is used to identify how data is transmitted from a user plane function network element connected to the data network; in a case that the type of the first session management network element includes an intermediate session management network element, the first PCC rule may include an uplink offload policy, where the uplink offload policy is used to characterize how data is offloaded locally.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the first session management network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element to a policy control function network element; the first session management network element receiving the first PCC rule, comprising: the first session management network element receives the first PCC rule from the policy control function network element. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, the first session management network element may directly communicate with the policy control function network element.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a first session management network element receives a session policy resource identifier related to a session from a second session management network element, wherein the session policy resource identifier is used for positioning the session policy resource related to the session; and the first session management network element sends the session policy resource identifier to the policy control function network element. Based on the scheme, the policy control function network element can locate the session policy resource related to the session.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a first session management network element sends a signed permanent identifier (SUPI) of a terminal served by the first session management network element and a session identifier corresponding to a session of the terminal to a policy control function network element; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element. That is to say, for a session of a terminal, one session policy resource related to the session may be created for a first session management network element and a second session management network element respectively, and then, when the first session management network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to a policy control function network element, or when the second session management network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to a policy control function network element, the policy control function network element may associate the session policy resource related to the session corresponding to the first session management network element with the session policy resource related to the session corresponding to the second session management network element, and then may determine the session policy resource related to the session.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and the first session management network element receives the information of the policy control function network element from the second session management network element, wherein the information of the policy control function network element is used for the first session management network element to select the policy control function network element. Based on the scheme, for the session of the same terminal, the first session management network element and the second session management network element can select the same policy control function network element.

In a possible design, before the first session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element to the policy control function network element, the method for acquiring a PCC rule provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include: a first session management network element sends a query message to a binding support function network element, wherein the query message carries a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element, and the session identifier is used for selecting the policy control function network element; and the first session management network element receives an inquiry response from the binding support function network element, wherein the inquiry response carries the information of the policy control function network element. Based on the scheme, for the session of the same terminal, the first session management network element and the second session management network element can select the same policy control function network element.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the first session management network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element and address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element to a second session management network element, and the second session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element and the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element to a policy control function network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element receiving the first PCC rule, comprising: the first session management network element receives the first PCC rule from the policy control function network element. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate through the second session management network element, or may communicate directly; the second session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may directly communicate, and this is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the first session management network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element to a second session management network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element receiving the first PCC rule, comprising: the first session managing network element receives the first PCC rule from the second session managing network element. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate through the second session management network element; the second session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may directly communicate, and this is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first session management network element sends updated session information corresponding to the first session management network element, where the updated session information is used to determine at least one of a third PCC rule and a fourth PCC rule, where the third PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the first session management network element, and the fourth PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element. Based on the scheme, the intermediate session management network element and the anchor session management network element can both possibly acquire the corresponding local session policy under the condition that the session corresponding to the intermediate session management network element is updated.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the first session management network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: a first session management network element sends a first request message to a policy control function network element, wherein the first request message carries service area information of the first session management network element; the first session management network element receiving the first PCC rule, comprising: the first session management network element receives the first PCC rule from the policy control function network element. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate directly.

Optionally, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first session management network element receives service area information of a second session management network element from the second session management network element, and the second session management network element receives address information of a second PCC rule, where the service area information of the second session management network element is used to determine the second PCC rule, and the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the first request message also carries the service area information of the second session management network element and the address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the present application, under the condition that the session management network elements are divided according to administrative regions, not only the middle session management network element serving the current region of the terminal can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application, but also the anchor session management network element can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element sending the service area information of the first session management network element includes: the first session management network element sends a second request message to the policy control function network element, wherein the second request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element; the first session management network element receiving the first PCC rule, comprising: and the first session management network element receives a response message from the policy control function network element, wherein the response message carries the first PCC rule. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate directly.

Optionally, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first session management network element receives service area information of a second session management network element from the second session management network element, where the service area information of the second session management network element is used to determine a second PCC rule, and the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the second request message also carries the service area information of the second session management network element; the response message also carries the second PCC rule; correspondingly, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first session management network element sends the second PCC rule to the second session management network element. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the present application, under the condition that the session management network elements are divided according to administrative regions, not only the middle session management network element serving the current region of the terminal can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application, but also the anchor session management network element can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application.

Optionally, the response message further carries indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate at least one of the first PCC rule or the second PCC rule. The first session managing network element may then determine the second PCC rule from the first PCC rule and the second PCC rule according to the indication information.

Or, optionally, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and the first session management network element determines the second PCC rule from the first PCC rule and the second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element.

In a second aspect, a method for acquiring a policy and charging control PCC rule is provided, where the method includes: a strategy control function network element receives service area information of a first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element sends the first PCC rule. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the session management network element may obtain the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the session management network element under the condition that the session management network element is divided according to the administrative region, so that compared with the prior art, the number of PCC rules related to the application transmitted between the policy control function network element and the session management network element may be greatly reduced, and thus transmission resources between the policy control function network element and the session management network element may be saved.

In one possible design, the service area information of the first session management network element includes a list of DNAIs served by the first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, including: and the policy control function network element determines the first PCC rule according to the DNAI list served by the first session management network element. Based on the scheme, the policy control function network element may determine the first PCC rule.

In one possible design, the service area information of the first session management network element includes identification information of an area served by the first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, including: the strategy control function network element determines a DNAI list served by the first session management network element according to the identification information of the area served by the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element determines the first PCC rule according to the DNAI list served by the first session management network element. Based on the scheme, the policy control function network element may determine the first PCC rule.

In one possible design, the service area information of the first session management network element includes location information of a terminal served by the first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, including: the strategy control function network element determines the identification information of the area served by the first session management network element according to the position information of the terminal served by the first session management network element; the strategy control function network element determines a DNAI list served by the first session management network element according to the identification information of the area served by the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element determines the first PCC rule according to the DNAI list served by the first session management network element. Based on the scheme, the policy control function network element may determine the first PCC rule.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element receives the type of the first session management network element, wherein the type of the first session management network element comprises an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the determining, by the policy control function network element, the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element includes: and the policy control function network element determines the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element and the type of the first session management network element. That is, when determining the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first session management network element, the type of the first session management network element may also be included, for example, in a case that the type of the first session management network element includes an anchor session management network element, the first PCC rule may include a traffic steering policy, where the traffic steering policy is used to identify how data is transmitted from a user plane function network element connected to the data network; in a case that the type of the first session management network element includes an intermediate session management network element, the first PCC rule may include an uplink offload policy, where the uplink offload policy is used to characterize how data is offloaded locally.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element sends a session policy resource identifier related to a session to a second session management network element, and the second session management network element sends the session policy resource identifier to the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element receives the session policy resource identifier from the first session management network element, wherein the session policy resource identifier is used for locating the session policy resource related to the session. Based on the scheme, the policy control function network element can locate the session policy resource related to the session.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element receives a signed permanent identity (SUPI) of a terminal served by the first session management network element from the first session management network element and a session identity corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element. That is to say, for a session of a terminal, one session policy resource related to the session may be created for a first session management network element and a second session management network element respectively, and then, when the first session management network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to a policy control function network element, or when the second session management network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to a policy control function network element, the policy control function network element may associate the session policy resource related to the session corresponding to the first session management network element with the session policy resource related to the session corresponding to the second session management network element, and then may determine the session policy resource related to the session.

In a possible design, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element receives a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element from the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element registers the session identifier to the binding support function network element. Based on the scheme, for the session of the same terminal, the first session management network element and the second session management network element can select the same policy control function network element.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the receiving, by the policy control function network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: a policy control function network element receives a first request message from a second session management network element, wherein the first request message carries service area information of the first session management network element and the first session management network element receives address information of the first PCC rule, and the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the policy control function network element, the first PCC rule includes: and the policy control function network element sends the first PCC rule to the first session management network element according to the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate through the second session management network element, or may communicate directly; the second session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may directly communicate, and this is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the first request message further carries service area information of the second session management network element; the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the policy control function network element determines a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; and the policy control function network element sends the second PCC rule to the second session management network element. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the present application, under the condition that the session management network elements are divided according to administrative regions, not only the middle session management network element serving the current region of the terminal can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application, but also the anchor session management network element can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the strategy control function network element receives the updated session information corresponding to the first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines at least one of a third PCC rule and a fourth PCC rule according to the updated session information, wherein the third PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the first session management network element, the fourth PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the second session management network element, and the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; and the policy control function network element sends at least one of the third PCC rule and the fourth PCC rule. Based on the scheme, the intermediate session management network element and the anchor session management network element can both possibly acquire the corresponding local session policy under the condition that the session corresponding to the intermediate session management network element is updated.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element; correspondingly, the receiving, by the policy control function network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: a policy control function network element receives a first request message from the first session management network element, wherein the first request message carries service area information of the first session management network element; the policy control function network element sending the first PCC rule includes: and the policy control function network element sends the first PCC rule to the first session management network element. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate directly.

Optionally, the first request message further carries service area information of a second session management network element and address information of a second PCC rule received by the second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an intermediate session management network element, and the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the policy control function network element determines a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element; and the policy control function network element sends the second PCC rule to the second session management network element according to the address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the present application, under the condition that the session management network elements are divided according to administrative regions, not only the middle session management network element serving the current region of the terminal can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application, but also the anchor session management network element can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the policy control function network element receiving the service area information of the first session management network element, including: a policy control function network element receives a second request message from the first session management network element, wherein the second request message carries service area information of the first session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the policy control function network element, the first PCC rule includes: and the strategy control function network element sends a response message to the first session management network element, wherein the response message carries the first PCC rule. That is to say, the first session management network element and the policy control function network element in the embodiment of the present application may communicate directly.

Optionally, the second request message further carries service area information of a second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the policy control function network element determines a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; correspondingly, the response message also carries the second PCC rule, and the second session management network element sends the second PCC rule to the first session management network element. Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the present application, under the condition that the session management network elements are divided according to administrative regions, not only the middle session management network element serving the current region of the terminal can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application, but also the anchor session management network element can obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application.

With reference to any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or the second aspect, the service area information in the embodiment of the present application may include a list of served data network access identities DNAI, or identification information of served areas, or location information of served terminals.

In a third aspect, a first session managing network element is provided, which has the functionality to implement the method of any of the above first aspects. 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 fourth aspect, there is provided a first session managing network element, comprising: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions, and when the first session management network element is running, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the first session management network element to perform the PCC rule acquisition method according to any one of the above first aspects.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a first session managing network element, comprising: a processor; the processor is configured to be coupled to the memory, and after reading an instruction in the memory, execute the PCC rule acquisition method according to the instruction.

A sixth aspect provides a computer-readable storage medium, having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the PCC rule acquisition method according to any one of the above first aspects.

In a seventh aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which when run on a computer, enables the computer to perform the PCC rule acquisition method according to any one of the above first aspects.

In an eighth aspect, a chip system is provided, where the chip system includes a processor configured to support a first session management network element to implement the functions recited in the first aspect, such as obtaining service area information of the first session management network element. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the first session managing network element. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

For technical effects brought by any one of the design manners in the third aspect to the eighth aspect, reference may be made to technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect, and details are not described here.

A ninth aspect provides a policy control function network element having a function of implementing the method of any one of the above second aspects. 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, there is provided a policy control function network element, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, and when the policy control function network element runs, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the policy control function network element to perform the PCC rule acquisition method according to any one of the second aspect.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a policy control function network element, including: a processor; the processor is configured to be coupled to the memory, and after reading an instruction in the memory, execute the PCC rule acquisition method according to any one of the second aspects above.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer may execute the PCC rule obtaining method according to any one of the second aspects.

In a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the PCC rule acquisition method of any one of the above second aspects.

In a fourteenth aspect, a chip system is provided, where the chip system includes a processor configured to support a policy control function network element to implement the functions recited in the second aspect, for example, determine the first PCC rule according to service area information of the first session management network element. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the policy control function network element. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

The technical effects brought by any one of the design manners in the ninth aspect to the fourteenth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by different design manners in the second aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a fifteenth aspect, a policy and charging control PCC rule obtaining system is provided, where the PCC rule obtaining system includes: a first session management network element and a policy control function network element; a first session management network element, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element; a policy control function network element, configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element, and determine a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule policy control function network element corresponding to the first session management network element and related to an application, and is used to send the first PCC rule; the first session managing network element is further configured to receive the first PCC rule.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element or an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, includes: the service area information is used for sending the service area information of the first session management network element to the policy control function network element; the policy control function network element, configured to receive service area information of a first session management network element, includes: for receiving service area information of a first session managing network element from the first session managing network element; a policy control function network element, configured to send the first PCC rule, including: for sending the first PCC rule to a first session management network element; the first session management network element, further configured to receive the first PCC rule, including: for receiving the first PCC rule from a policy control function network element.

In one possible design, the session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the PCC rule acquisition system also comprises a second session management network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, includes: the service area information of the first session management network element is sent to a second session management network element, and the address information of the first PCC rule is received by the first session management network element; a second session management network element, configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element from the first session management network element and the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element, and send a first request message to a policy control function network element, where the first request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element and the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element; the policy control function network element, configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element, includes: for receiving a first request message from a second session management network element; a policy control function network element, configured to send the first PCC rule, including: the first PCC rule is sent to the first session management network element according to the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element; the first session management network element, further configured to receive the first PCC rule, including: for receiving the first PCC rule from a policy control function network element.

Optionally, the first request message further carries service area information of the second session management network element; the policy control function network element is further configured to determine a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element, and send the second PCC rule to the second session management network element, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; and the second session management network element is further configured to receive the second PCC rule from the policy control function network element.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, includes: the first request message is used for sending a first request message to a policy control function network element, and the first request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element; a policy control function network element, configured to send the first PCC rule, including: for sending the first PCC rule to a first session management network element; the first session management network element, further configured to receive the first PCC rule, including: for receiving the first PCC rule from a policy control function network element.

Optionally, the PCC rule obtaining system further includes a second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; a second session management network element, configured to send, to the first session management network element, service area information of the second session management network element and receive, by the second session management network element, address information of a second PCC rule, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; the first session management network element is further configured to receive service area information of the second session management network element from the second session management network element and address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element; correspondingly, the first request message also carries service area information of the second session management network element and address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element; the policy control function network element is further configured to determine the second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element, and send the second PCC rule to the second session management network element according to the address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element; and the second session management network element is further configured to receive the second PCC rule from the policy control function network element.

In one possible design, the first session management element is an intermediate session management element; the PCC rule acquisition system also comprises a second session management network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, includes: the service area information is used for sending the service area information of the first session management network element to a second session management network element; the second session management network element is used for receiving the service area information of the first session management network element from the first session management network element and sending a second request message to the policy control function network element, wherein the second request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element; the policy control function network element, configured to receive service area information of a first session management network element, includes: for receiving the second request message from a second session management network element; a policy control function network element, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: the second session management network element is used for sending a response message to the second session management network element, wherein the response message carries the first PCC rule; the second session management network element is also used for receiving a response message from the policy control function network element and sending the first PCC rule to the first session management network element; the first session managing network element, further configured to receive a first PCC rule, including: for receiving a first PCC rule from a second session management network element.

Optionally, the second request message further carries service area information of the second session management network element; the policy control function network element is further configured to determine a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; correspondingly, the response message also carries the second PCC rule.

In one possible design, the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session management network element, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, includes: the second request message is used for sending a second request message to the policy control function network element, and the second request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element; the policy control function network element, configured to receive service area information of a first session management network element, includes: for receiving a second request message from the first session management network element; a policy control function network element, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: and configured to send a response message to the first session management network element, where the response message carries the first PCC rule.

Optionally, the PCC rule obtaining system further includes a second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the second session management network element is used for sending the service area information of the second session management network element to the first session management network element; the first session management network element is also used for receiving the service area information of the second session management network element from the second session management network element; correspondingly, the second request message also carries the service area information of the second session management network element; the policy control function network element is further configured to determine a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element; correspondingly, the response message also carries the second PCC rule; the first session management network element is further configured to send a second PCC rule to the second session management network element; and the second session management network element is further configured to receive the second PCC rule from the first session management network element.

In a possible design, the first session managing network element may also be the first session managing network element designed in any one of the third to fifth aspects; alternatively, the computer-readable storage medium of the sixth aspect above; or a computer program product of the seventh aspect above comprising instructions; alternatively, the chip system according to the eighth aspect.

In a possible design, the policy control function network element may also be the policy control function network element as defined in any one of the ninth aspect to the eleventh aspect; alternatively, the computer-readable storage medium of the twelfth aspect above; or a computer program product comprising instructions according to the thirteenth aspect above; alternatively, the chip system according to the fourteenth aspect.

For technical effects brought by any one of the design manners in the fifteenth aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought by different design manners in the first aspect or the second aspect, and details are not described herein.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a PCC rule acquisition system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic network architecture diagram of a 5G system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a first flowchart of a PCC rule obtaining method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a PCC architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a PCC rule acquisition method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a PCC rule acquisition method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a first session management network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy control function network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Where in the description of the present application, "/" indicates an OR meaning, for example, A/B may indicate A or B; "and/or" herein is merely an association describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Also, in the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two unless otherwise specified. In addition, in order to facilitate clear description of technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance.

In addition, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

As shown in fig. 1, for a PCC rule obtaining system 10 provided in the embodiment of the present application, the PCC rule obtaining system 10 includes a first session management network element 101 and a policy control function network element 102.

Wherein, the first session management network element 101 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 101.

The policy control function network element 102 is configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element 101, and determine a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network 101, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the first session management network element.

The policy control function network element 102 is further configured to send the first PCC rule.

A first session managing network element 101 for receiving the first PCC rule.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the PCC rule related to the application refers to a PCC rule generated according to a request message received from an Application Function (AF), where a content described by the PCC rule at least includes location information of a deployed application, for example, a Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI) corresponding to a deployed location of the application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, content described by the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the session management network element at least includes deployment information applied in a service area of the session management network element. For example, the content described by the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first session management network element at least includes deployment information applied in the service area of the first session management network element; the content described by the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the second session management network element at least includes the deployment information applied in the service area of the second session management network element, which is described in a unified manner herein and is not described in detail below.

Optionally, the service area information in this embodiment may include a list of served DNAIs, identification information of a served area, or location information of a served terminal, and the like, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the first session management network element 101 may directly communicate with the policy control function network element 102, or may communicate through forwarding of other devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Unlike the prior art, when acquiring the PCC rules, the session management network element needs to acquire all application-related PCC rules in the entire PLMN. In the PCC rule obtaining system provided in the embodiment of the present application, the policy control function network element may obtain service area information of the first session management network element, and determine the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network, and then send the first PCC rule, so that the first session management network element may obtain the first PCC rule, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the first session management network element. That is to say, based on the PCC rule obtaining system provided in the embodiment of the present application, when the session management network element is divided according to the administrative domain, the session management network element may obtain the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the session management network element, so that compared with the prior art, the number of the PCC rule related to the application transmitted between the policy control function network element and the session management network element may be greatly reduced, and thus transmission resources between the policy control function network element and the session management network element may be saved.

Optionally, in a possible implementation manner, the first session management network element 101 in this embodiment may be an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

The anchor session management network element in the embodiment of the present application is a session management network element that manages an anchor user plane functional network element, and the anchor user plane functional network element is a user plane functional network element connected to a data network, which may also be referred to as a PDU Session Anchor (PSA), and will not be described in detail herein.

The middle session management network element in this embodiment of the present application is a session management network element that manages a middle user plane function network element, and the middle user plane function network element is a user plane function network element that interfaces with a current access device of a terminal, which are described in a unified manner herein and will not be described in detail below.

Correspondingly, the first session management network element 101 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: for sending service area information of the first session managing network element to the policy control function network element 102.

The policy control function network element 102 is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: for receiving service area information of the first session managing network element from the first session managing network element 101.

A policy control function network element 102, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: for sending the first PCC rule to the first session managing network element 101.

The first session managing network element 101 is further configured to receive a first PCC rule, including: for receiving a first PCC rule from policy control function network element 102.

That is to say, the first session management network element 101 and the policy control function network element 102 in this embodiment may directly communicate, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment.

Or, optionally, in another possible implementation manner, as shown in fig. 1, the PCC rule obtaining system 10 provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include a second session management network element 103. At this time, the following four cases are corresponded:

the first condition is as follows: the first session management network element 101 is an intermediate session management network element, the second session management network element 103 is an anchor session management network element, and at this time:

the first session management network element 101 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: for sending service area information of the first session managing network element 101 to the second session managing network element 103 and receiving address information of the first PCC rule by the first session managing network element 101.

The second session management network element 103 is configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element 101 from the first session management network element 101, receive the address information of the first PCC rule by the first session management network element 101, and send a first request message to the policy control function network element 102, where the first request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element 101 and the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element 101.

The policy control function network element 102 is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: for receiving a first request message from the second session managing network element 103.

A policy control function network element 102, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: for sending the first PCC rule to the first session managing network element 101 according to the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session managing network element 101.

That is to say, in this embodiment of the application, the first session management network element 101 and the policy control function network element 102 may communicate through the second session management network element 103, or may communicate directly; the second session management network element 103 and the policy control function network element 102 in this embodiment of the application may directly communicate, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, the first request message in this embodiment of the application may also carry service area information of the second session management network element 103. Correspondingly, the policy control function network element 102 is further configured to determine a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element 103, and send the second PCC rule to the second session management network element 103, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element 103.

And the second session management network element 103 is further configured to receive the second PCC rule from the policy control function network element 102.

Case two: the first session management network element 101 is an anchor session management network element, the second session management network element 103 is an intermediate session management network element, and at this time:

the first session management network element 101 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: the policy control function network element 102 is configured to send a first request message to the first request message, where the first request message carries service area information of the first session management network element 101.

A policy control function network element 102, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: for sending 1 a first PCC rule to the first session managing network element 101.

That is to say, the first session management network element 101 and the policy control function network element 102 in the embodiment of the present application may communicate directly.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the second session management network element 103 is configured to send service area information of the second session management network element 103 to the first session management network element 101, and receive, by the second session management network element 103, address information of a second PCC rule, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element 103.

The first session managing network element 101 is further configured to receive service area information of the second session managing network element 103 from the second session managing network element 103, and the second session managing network element 103 receives address information of the second PCC rule.

Correspondingly, the first request message may also carry service area information of the second session management network element 103 and address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element 103.

The policy control function network element 102 is further configured to determine a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element 103, and send the second PCC rule to the second session management network element 103 according to the address information of the second PCC rule received by the second session management network element 103.

That is to say, in this embodiment of the application, the second session management network element 103 and the policy control function network element 102 may communicate through the first session management network element 101, or may communicate directly, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Case three: the first session management network element 101 is an intermediate session management network element, the second session management network element 103 is an anchor session management network element, and at this time:

the first session management network element 101 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: for sending the service area information of the first session management network element 101 to the second session management network element 103;

the second session management network element 103 is configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element 101 from the first session management network element 101, and send a second request message to the policy control function network element 102, where the second request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element 101.

A policy control function network element 102, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: the second session management network element 103 is configured to send a response message to the second session management network element, where the response message carries the first PCC rule;

the second session management network element 103 is further configured to receive a response message from the policy control function network element 102, and send the first PCC rule to the first session management network element 101;

the first session managing network element 101 is further configured to receive a first PCC rule, including: for receiving the first PCC rule from the second session management network element 103.

That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, the first session management network element 101 and the policy control function network element 102 may communicate through the second session management network element 103; the second session management network element 103 and the policy control function network element 102 in this embodiment of the application may directly communicate, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, the second request message in this embodiment of the application may also carry service area information of the second session management network element 103.

The policy control function network element 102 is further configured to determine a second PCC rule according to the service area information of the second session management network element 103, where the second PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the second session management network element 103.

Correspondingly, the response message may also carry the second PCC rule.

Case four: the first session management network element 101 is an anchor session management network element, the second session management network element 103 is an intermediate session management network element, and at this time:

the first session management network element 101 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: and is configured to send a second request message to the policy control function network element 102, where the second request message carries service area information of the first session management network element 101.

The policy control function network element 102 is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element 101, and includes: for receiving a second request message from the first session managing network element 101.

A policy control function network element 102, configured to send a first PCC rule, including: and is configured to send a response message to the first session management network element 101, where the response message carries the first PCC rule.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the second session management network element 103 is configured to send service area information of the second session management network element 103 to the first session management network element 101.

The first session managing network element 101 is further configured to receive service area information of the second session managing network element 103 from the second session managing network element 103.

Correspondingly, the second request message may also carry service area information of the second session management network element 103.

Correspondingly, the response message may also carry a second PCC rule;

the first session managing network element 101 is further configured to send the second PCC rule to the second session managing network element 103.

The second session management network element 103 is further configured to receive the second PCC rule from the first session management network element 101.

That is to say, in this embodiment of the application, the second session management network element 103 and the policy control function network element 102 may communicate through the first session management network element 101, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

As can be seen from the first to fourth cases, based on the PCC rule obtaining system provided in the embodiment of the present application, when the session management network element is divided according to the administrative areas, not only the intermediate session management network element serving the area where the terminal is currently located may obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application, but also the anchor session management network element may obtain the corresponding PCC rule related to the application.

Alternatively, the PCC rule obtaining system 10 shown in fig. 1 may be applied to a 5G network and other networks in the future, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

For example, assuming that the PCC rule obtaining system 10 shown in fig. 1 is applied to a 5G network, a network element or entity corresponding to the anchor session management network element may be an anchor SMF (anchor SMF, a-SMF) network element in the 5G network, and a network element or entity corresponding to the intermediate session management network element may be an intermediate SMF (intermediate SMF, I-SMF) network element in the 5G network; the network element or entity corresponding to the anchor user plane functional network element may be an anchor UPF (anchor UPF, a-UPF) network element in a 5G network; the network element or entity corresponding to the middle user plane functional network element may be a middle UPF (I-UPF) network element in a 5G network; the network element or entity corresponding to the policy control function network element may be a PCF network element in a 5G network.

In addition, as shown in fig. 2, the 5G network may further include an access device, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element, and the like, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. The I-SMF network element serves network A, and the A-SMF network element serves network B.

The terminal accesses a network through access equipment, and communicates with an AMF network element through a next generation network (N) interface 1 (N1 for short); the access equipment communicates with the AMF network element through an N2 interface (N2 for short) and communicates with the I-UPF network element through an N3 interface (N3 for short); the AMF network element communicates with the I-SMF network element through an N11 interface (N11 for short), communicates with the PCF network element through an N15 interface (N15 for short), and communicates with the UDM network element through an N8 interface (N8 for short); the A-SMF network element communicates with the UDM network element through an N10 interface (N10 for short), communicates with the PCF network element through an N7 interface (N7 for short), communicates with the I-SMF network element through an N16-star interface (N16 for short), and communicates with the A-UPF network element through an N4 interface (N4 for short); the I-SMF network element communicates with the I-UPF network element through an N4 interface (N4 for short) and communicates with the PCF network element through an Nx interface (Nx for short); the I-UPF network element communicates with the A-UPF network element through an N9 interface (N9 for short); the A-UPF network element accesses the data network through an N6 interface (N6 for short).

It should be noted that Nx in fig. 2 may be a modification made on N7, or may be a newly defined interface; n16 may be a change made on N16 or a newly defined interface; the embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited to this.

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 a-SMF network element, the I-SMF network element, the access device, the AMF network element, the UDM network element, the PCF network element, the I-UPF network element, the a-UPF network element, and the like in fig. 2 are only names, and the names do not limit the devices themselves. In the 5G network and other future networks, network elements or entities corresponding to the a-SMF network element, the I-SMF network element, the access device, the AMF network element, the UDM network element, the PCF network element, the I-UPF network element, the a-UPF network element, and the like may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the I-UPF network element may also be replaced by an I-UPF or an I-UPF entity, etc., which are described herein in a unified manner and will not be described in detail below.

It should be noted that the 5G network shown in fig. 2 is only exemplarily illustrated by taking an example that the area where the current access device of the terminal is located is different from the service area of the a-SMF network element, and of course, the area where the current access device of the terminal is located may be the same as the service area of the a-SMF network element, that is, the I-SMF network element is only needed when the terminal moves out of the service area of the a-SMF network element, and the I-SMF network element is not needed when the terminal is located in the service area of the a-SMF network element (i.e., network B in fig. 2). In addition, the terminal may insert an I-UPF network element controlled by the a-SMF network element when in the service area of the a-SMF, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the terminal (terminal) referred to in the embodiments of the present application may include various handheld devices with wireless communication functions, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem; a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a cellular phone (cellular phone), a smart phone (smart phone), a wireless data card, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) computer, a tablet computer, a wireless modem (modem), a handheld device (dhhand), a laptop computer (laptop computer), a cordless phone (cordless phone) or a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) terminal, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a terminal equipment (terminal device) or a relay user equipment, etc. may also be included. The relay user equipment may be, for example, a 5G home gateway (RG). For convenience of description, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as a terminal in this application.

Optionally, the access device referred to in this embodiment of the present application refers to a device accessing a core network, and may be, for example, a base station, a broadband network service gateway (BNG), a convergence switch, a non-third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project, 3GPP) access device, and the like. The base stations may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, etc.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the first session management network element, the second session management network element, or the policy control function network element in fig. 1 may be implemented by one device, may also be implemented by multiple devices together, and may also be one functional module in one device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. It is understood that the above functions may be either network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

For example, in the embodiment of this application, the first session management network element, the second session management network element, or the policy control function network element in fig. 1 may be implemented by the communication device in fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 300 includes at least one processor 301, communication lines 302, memory 303, and at least one communication interface 304.

The processor 301 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

The communication link 302 may include a path for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 304 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

The memory 303 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication line 302. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 303 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present invention, and is controlled by the processor 301. The processor 301 is configured to execute the computer executable instructions stored in the memory 303, so as to implement the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the following embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In particular implementations, processor 301 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 3, for example, as an example.

In particular implementations, communication device 300 may include multiple processors, such as processor 301 and processor 308 in fig. 3, for example, as an example. Each of these processors may be a single core (s-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, communication device 300 may also include an output device 305 and an input device 306, as one embodiment. The output device 305 is in communication with the processor 301 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 305 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 306 is in communication with the processor 301 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 306 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The communication device 300 may be a general purpose device or a special purpose device. In a specific implementation, the communication device 300 may be a desktop, a laptop, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet, a wireless terminal 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.

The PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be specifically described below with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, names of messages between network elements or names of parameters in messages are only an example, and other names may also be used in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Taking the PCC rule obtaining system shown in fig. 1 applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 2 and requiring the first I-SMF network element in the session establishment process as an example, as shown in fig. 4, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

s400, the first I-SMF network element sends a session establishment request to the a-SMF network element, so that the a-SMF network element receives the session establishment request from the first I-SMF network element.

In this embodiment of the present application, the session establishment request from the first I-SMF network element is triggered by the AMF network element sending the session establishment request to the first I-SMF network element, and related implementations may refer to an existing scheme, which is not described herein again.

S401, the A-SMF network element sends a request message 1 to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the request message 1 from the A-SMF network element.

Wherein, the request message 1 carries the service area information of the a-SMF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the service area information of the a-SMF network element may include, for example, a DNAI list served by the a-SMF network element, identification information of an area served by the a-SMF network element, or location information of a terminal served by the a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the request message 1 in this embodiment of the present application may also carry a type of an a-SMF network element, where the type of the a-SMF network element is used to characterize a role of the a-SMF network element in a session of the terminal, for example, the type of the a-SMF network element is an a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S402, the PCF network element determines a PCC rule 1 according to the service area information of the A-SMF network element, wherein the PCC rule 1 comprises a PCC rule corresponding to the A-SMF network element and relevant to the application.

Optionally, if the service area information of the a-SMF network element is a DNAI list served by the a-SMF network element, the determining, by the PCF network element, the PCC rule 1 may specifically include: and the PCF network element determines the PCC rule 1 according to the DNAI list served by the A-SMF network element. For example, the PCC rule 1 includes only PCC rules related to applications deployed in the DNAI served by the a-SMF network element.

Or, optionally, if the service area information of the a-SMF network element is the identification information of the area served by the a-SMF network element, determining, by the PCF network element, the PCC rule 1 may specifically include: and the PCF network element determines a DNAI list served by the A-SMF network element according to the identification information of the area served by the A-SMF network element, and then the PCF network element determines the PCC rule 1 according to the DNAI list served by the A-SMF network element.

Or, optionally, if the service area information of the a-SMF network element is the location information of the terminal served by the a-SMF network element, determining, by the PCF network element, the PCC rule 1 may specifically include: the PCF network element determines the identification information of the area served by the A-SMF network element according to the position information of the terminal served by the A-SMF network element, and then the PCF network element determines the DNAI list served by the A-SMF network element according to the identification information of the area served by the A-SMF network element, and then the PCF network element determines the PCC rule 1 according to the DNAI list served by the A-SMF network element.

Optionally, if the request message 1 carries the type of the a-SMF network element, the PCF network element may also consider the type of the a-SMF network element when determining the PCC rule 1. That is, the PCF network element may determine PCC rule 1 according to the service area information of the a-SMF network element and the type of the a-SMF network element. For example, if the type of the a-SMF network element carried in the request message 1 in the embodiment of the present application is an a-SMF network element, the PCC rule 1 may include a traffic steering policy (traffic steering policy), where the traffic steering policy is used to characterize how data is transmitted from an UPF network element (i.e., the a-UPF network element in fig. 2) connected to the data network, but at this time, the PCC rule 1 does not include an uplink offloading policy, and the uplink offloading policy is used to characterize how data is locally offloaded.

S403, the PCF network element sends a response message 1 to the a-SMF network element, so that the a-SMF network element receives the response message 1 from the PCF network element, where the response message 1 carries the PCC rule 1.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the response message 1 may further carry a session policy resource identifier related to the session, where the session policy resource identifier is used to locate the session policy resource related to the session, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Illustratively, the session-related session policy resource identifier may be, for example, a Universal Resource Identifier (URI), which may be used to uniquely locate the session-related session policy resource.

S404, the a-SMF network element sends a session establishment response to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the session establishment response from the a-SMF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the response message 1 may further carry a session policy resource identifier related to the session, the session establishment response in this embodiment of the application may further carry the session policy resource identifier related to the session, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application. Of course, the session policy resource identifier related to the session may also be carried in other messages and sent to the first I-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the a-SMF network element may further send information of the PCF network element to the first I-SMF network element, where the information of the PCF network element is used for the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element to select the same PCF network element. The information of the PCF network element may be, for example, an address of the PCF network element or an identifier of the PCF network element, and the first I-SMF network element may find and communicate with the PCF network element according to the information of the PCF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. In addition, the information of the PCF network element may be carried in the session establishment response and sent to the first I-SMF network element, or may be carried in other messages and sent to the first I-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the session policy resource identifier related to the session may also include information of the PCF network element, that is, according to the session policy resource identifier related to the session, the first I-SMF network element may also select the same PCF network element as the a-SMF network element.

Further, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s405, the first I-SMF network element sends a request message 2 to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the request message 2 from the first I-SMF network element.

Wherein, the request message 2 carries the service area information of the first I-SMF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the service area information of the first I-SMF network element may include, for example, a DNAI list served by the first I-SMF network element, or identification information of an area served by the first I-SMF network element, or location information of a terminal served by the first I-SMF network element, and this is not particularly limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, the request message 2 in this embodiment of the application may also carry a type of the first I-SMF network element, where the type of the first I-SMF network element is used to characterize a role of the first I-SMF network element in a session of the terminal, for example, the type of the first I-SMF network element is an I-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, if the a-SMF network element sends the session policy resource identifier related to the session to the first I-SMF network element, the request message 2 may further carry the session policy resource identifier, so that the PCF network element may locate the session policy resource related to the session according to the session policy resource identifier.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the first I-SMF network element does not obtain the session policy resource identifier related to the session, the request message 2 may carry a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used for associating the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first I-SMF network element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the A-SMF network element. That is to say, for a session of a terminal, session policy resources related to a session may be created for a first I-SMF network element and an a-SMF network element, respectively, and then, when the first I-SMF network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to a PCF network element, or when the a-SMF network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to a PCF network element, the PCF network element may associate the session policy resources related to the session corresponding to the first I-SMF network element with the session policy resources related to the session corresponding to the a-SMF network element, and further may determine the session policy resources related to the session.

Or, optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the first I-SMF network element cannot acquire the session policy resource identifier related to the session, the request message 2 may carry the SUPI of the terminal and the session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal, so that the PCF network element may locate the session policy resource related to the session according to the SUPI and the session identifier. That is to say, for a session of a terminal, a session policy resource related to the session may be created only for the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element, for example, a session policy resource related to the session may be created for the a-SMF network element, and when the first I-SMF network element sends the SUPI of the terminal and a session identifier corresponding to the session of the terminal to the PCF network element, the PCF network element may locate the session policy resource related to the session according to the SUPI and the session identifier, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after determining the PCF network element according to the information of the PCF network element in step S404 or the session policy resource identifier related to the session, the first I-SMF network element may send a request message 2 to the PCF network element; or after determining the PCF network element by other means, sending the request message 2 to the PCF network element. For example, a first I-SMF network element may send an inquiry message to a Binding Support Function (BSF) network element, where the inquiry message carries a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first I-SMF network element, and the session identifier is used to select a PCF network element; further, after selecting the PCF network element according to the session identifier, the BSF network element may send an inquiry response to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element may receive the inquiry response from the BSF network element, where the inquiry response carries information of the PCF network element.

It should be noted that, in the PCC architecture, the BSF network element may store information of the PCF network element corresponding to the session. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, when a session policy resource related to a session is created by a PCF network element, a session identifier, information of the PCF network element, and the like may be registered with a BSF network element, so that other network elements, such as an AF network element, a network open function (NEF) network element, or an SMF network element, and the like, may query the BSF network element according to the session identifier to obtain information of the PCF network element corresponding to the session, so as to send PCC messages of the same session to the same PCF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. The session identifier in the PCF network element is usually obtained from the SMF network element that is the first session corresponding to the session identifier established with the PCF network element. For example, in the embodiment of the present application, if an a-SMF network element establishes a session with a PCF network element first, the session identifier is obtained from the a-SMF network element; if the first I-SMF network element establishes a session with the PCF network element first, the session identifier is obtained from the first I-SMF network element, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described in detail below.

S406, the PCF network element determines a PCC rule 2 according to the service area information of the first I-SMF network element, wherein the PCC rule 2 comprises a PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first I-SMF network element.

The specific implementation of the PCC rule 2 determined by the PCF network element according to the service area information of the first I-SMF network element may refer to the service area information of the a-SMF network element determined by the PCF network element in step S402, and the implementation of the PCC rule 1 is determined, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, if the request message 2 carries the type of the first I-SMF network element, the PCF network element may also consider the type of the first I-SMF network element when determining the PCC rule 2. That is, the PCF network element may determine PCC rule 2 according to the service area information of the first I-SMF network element and the type of the first I-SMF network element. For example, the type of the first I-SMF network element carried in the request message 2 in the embodiment of the present application is an I-SMF network element, the PCC rule 2 may include an uplink offloading policy, where the uplink offloading policy is used to characterize how data is locally offloaded. Optionally, the PCC rule 2 may further include a traffic steering policy, where the traffic steering policy is used to characterize how data is transmitted from a UPF network element (i.e., an a-UPF network element in fig. 2) connected to the data network, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

S407, the PCF network element sends a response message 2 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the response message 2 from the PCF network element, where the response message 2 carries the PCC rule 2.

The above steps S400 to S407 provide specific implementations that the a-SMF network element acquires the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the a-SMF network element in the session establishment process, and the first I-SMF network element acquires the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first I-SMF network element. Wherein, there is no necessary sequence between steps S400-S404 and steps S405-S407, and steps S400-S404 may be executed first, and then steps S405-S407 may be executed as described above; or, steps S405 to S407 may be executed first, and then steps 400 to S404 are executed, at this time, step S405 does not carry the session policy resource identifier related to the session, step S407 may carry the session policy resource identifier related to the session, and then the session establishment request in step S400 may carry the session policy resource identifier related to the session, steps S403 to S404 may not carry the session policy resource identifier related to the session, and at the same time, the a-SMF network element does not need to send the information of the PCF network element to the first I-SMF network element, which is described in this unified manner and will not be described in detail below. In addition, if steps S405 to S407 are executed first, and then steps 400 to S404 are executed, optionally, the first I-SMF network element may further send information of the PCF network element to the a-SMF network element, where the information of the PCF network element is used for the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element to select the same PCF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the terminal is currently located in the service area of the a-SMF network element, only steps S401 to S403 may be performed, and steps S400 and S404 to S407 are not performed. Step S401 is initiated after the a-SMF network element receives the session establishment request from the AMF network element, and is uniformly described here and will not be described again below.

It should be noted that, if the terminal is located in the service area of the a-SMF network element in the session establishment process, only the a-SMF network element may be selected, and at this time, only steps S401 to S403 may be executed, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element both have established a connection with the PCF network element, if the PCF network element receives a request from the AF network element, or the PCF network element receives a subscription change instruction of the terminal, and the like, the PCC rule may need to be updated, and the following description takes the case where the PCF network element receives the request from the AF network element as an example, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s408, the AF network element sends a request message 3 to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the request message 3 from the AF network element.

For example, assuming that a service provider (service provider) updates the deployment of an application or deploys a new application, the AF network element may send a request message 3 to the PCF network element. The request message 3 carries information such as information of an application, DNAI deployed by the application, or an identifier of a terminal targeted by the application, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

S409, the PCF network element sends the updated PCC rule 1 to the A-SMF network element, so that the A-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 1 from the PCF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the PCF network element may determine whether to send the updated PCC rule 1 to the a-SMF network element according to the service area information of the a-SMF network element, the type of the optional a-SMF network element, and the request message 3 received from the AF network element. For example, if the request message 3 of the AF network element indicates that a new application deployment is added to the service area of the a-SMF network element, the PCF network element determines that an updated PCC rule 1 needs to be sent to the a-SMF network element, so as to notify the a-SMF network element of the deployment location of the new application. That is to say, step S409 in this embodiment is an optional step, and step S409 is executed only when the PCC rule 1 needs to be updated, which is described in a unified manner herein and is not described again below.

S410, the PCF network element sends the updated PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 2 from the PCF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the PCF network element may determine whether to send the updated PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element according to the service area information of the first I-SMF network element, the type of the optional first I-SMF network element, and the request message 3 received from the AF network element. For example, if the request message 3 of the AF network element indicates that a new application deployment is added to the service area of the first I-SMF network element, the PCF network element determines that an updated PCC rule 2 needs to be sent to the first I-SMF network element, so as to notify the first I-SMF network element of the deployment location of the new application. That is to say, step S410 in this embodiment is an optional step, and step S410 is executed only when the PCC rule 2 needs to be updated, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described again below.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, there is no inevitable execution sequence between step S409 and step S410, and step S409 may be executed first, and then step S410 is executed; step S410 may be executed first, and then step S409 may be executed; steps S409 and S410 may also be executed simultaneously, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after both the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element have established a connection with the PCF network element, the PCF network element may also perform PCC rule update according to the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element. For example, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s411, the first I-SMF network element sends the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element from the first I-SMF network element.

For example, after the first I-SMF network element determines that the local anchor point is inserted, the first I-SMF network element may send updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element to the PCF network element. The updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element may be, for example, at least one of an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a local session, information applied to the local session, or local DNAI used for accessing the local session, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S412, the PCF network element determines at least one of a PCC rule 3 and a PCC rule 4 according to the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element, wherein the PCC rule 3 includes a local session policy corresponding to the first I-SMF network element, and the PCC rule 4 includes a local session policy corresponding to the A-SMF network element.

Optionally, the local session policy in this embodiment of the present application may include, for example, a charging policy of the local session or a quality of service (QoS) policy of the local session, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, assuming that the PCC rule 3 may be determined, the method for obtaining a PCC rule provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s413, the PCF network element sends the PCC rule 3 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the PCC rule 3 from the PCF network element.

Optionally, assuming that the PCC rule 4 may be determined, the method for obtaining a PCC rule provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

and S414, the PCF network element sends the PCC rule 4 to the A-SMF network element so that the A-SMF network element receives the PCC rule 4 from the PCF network element.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, steps S408 to S410 may be executed, and steps S411 to S414 may also be executed, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after the session is established, processes such as insertion, deletion, or handover of the I-SMF network element may also occur. For example, assuming that only the a-SMF network element is selected when the session is established (since the terminal is located in the service area of the a-SMF network element), a second I-SMF network element needs to be inserted when the terminal moves out of the service area of the a-SMF network element; or, assuming that the first I-SMF network element already exists in the session, when the terminal moves out of the service area of the first I-SMF network element, the first I-SMF network element needs to be switched; or, assuming that the first I-SMF network element already exists in the session, when the terminal moves back from the service area of the first I-SMF network element to the service area of the a-SMF network element, the information related to the first I-SMF network element needs to be deleted. The following description will be made by taking the switching example of the I-SMF network element:

assuming that after the terminal moves out of the service area of the first I-SMF network element, the AMF network element selects the second I-SMF network element for the terminal, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s415, optionally, the second I-SMF network element obtains a session policy resource identifier related to the session.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the second I-SMF network element may obtain the session policy resource identifier related to the session from the first I-SMF network element or the a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

When the second I-SMF network element obtains the session policy resource identifier related to the session from the first I-SMF network element, the AMF network element needs to send the information of the first I-SMF network element to the second I-SMF network element when sending the session establishment request to the second I-SMF network element, so that the second I-SMF network element finds the corresponding first I-SMF network element according to the information of the first I-SMF network element. Similarly, when the second I-SMF network element obtains the session policy resource identifier related to the session from the a-SMF network element, the AMF network element needs to send the information of the a-SMF network element to the second I-SMF network element when sending the session establishment request to the second I-SMF network element, so that the second I-SMF network element finds the corresponding a-SMF network element according to the information of the a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S416-S418, similar to steps S405-S407, except that: replacing the first I-SMF network element in the steps S405-S407 with a second I-SMF network element; replacing the request message 2 in the steps S405-S407 with a request message 4, and replacing the response message 2 with a response message 4; the PCC rule 2 in steps S405 to S407 is replaced with the PCC rule 5, and the relevant description may refer to steps S405 to S407, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, in the handover process, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s419, the first I-SMF network element sends a deletion request to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the deletion request from the first I-SMF network element, wherein the deletion request is used for requesting to delete the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session in the PCF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session may be, for example, a session policy resource created by the PCF network element for a session resource related to the first I-SMF network element, where the resource includes address information of the first I-SMF network element receiving the updated PCC rule or service area information of the first I-SMF network element; or, the information related to the first I-SMF network element may be information included in a session policy resource corresponding to the session, for example, address information of the PCC rule that is received and updated by the first I-SMF network element, service area information of the first I-SMF network element, and the like.

And S420, the PCF network element deletes the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session according to the deletion request.

In which, steps S419-S420 provide an optional implementation manner for deleting the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session, and certainly, the PCF network element may also actively delete the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session under the condition that the terminal is known to move out of the service area of the first I-SMF network element, without deleting the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session after receiving the deletion request from the first I-SMF network element. For example, after receiving the request message 4 from the second I-SMF network element, it may be known that the terminal moves out of the service area of the first I-SMF network element, so that the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session may be deleted.

When the terminal moves out of the service area of the first I-SMF network element, the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session is deleted, so that the storage space of the PCF network element can be saved, and the waste of resources is reduced.

The above steps S415-S420 show a method for acquiring a PCC rule in the first I-SMF network element handover process. In addition, if only the a-SMF network element is selected in the session establishment process, the method for acquiring the PCC rule in the insertion process of the second I-SMF network element is similar to the method for acquiring the PCC rule in the handover process, except that in step S415, the second I-SMF network element acquires the session policy resource identifier related to the session from the a-SMF network element, and in addition, steps S419 to S420 may not be executed. Assuming that the terminal moves back from the service area of the first I-SMF network element to the service area of the a-SMF network element, only steps S419-S420 may be performed without performing steps S415-S418; or step S415-S418 may not be executed, and the a-SMF network element notifies the PCF network element terminal to move into the service area of the a-SMF network element, and then the PCF network element deletes the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described in detail below.

In addition, it should be noted that, in the process of inserting, switching, or deleting the I-SMF network element, because the terminal position changes, the PCF network element may send the PCC rule related to the a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the application, the number of PCC rules related to the application transmitted between the PCF network element and the SMF network element can be greatly reduced, so that the transmission resources between the PCF network element and the SMF network element can be saved. The PCC rule acquisition system part may be referred to for analysis of related technical effects, and details are not described herein.

The actions of the PCF network element, the first I-SMF network element, the second I-SMF network element, or the a-SMF network element in steps S400 to S420 may be executed by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling the application program code stored in the memory 303, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, taking the PCC rule obtaining system shown in fig. 1 applied to a 5G network shown in fig. 2, and a first I-SMF network element is required in a session establishment process as an example, as shown in fig. 6, for another PCC rule obtaining method provided in this embodiment of the present application, a difference of the PCC rule obtaining method from the PCC rule obtaining method shown in fig. 4 is mainly that, in this embodiment of the present application, an I-SMF network element (including a first I-SMF and a second I-SMF) does not directly send a request message to a PCF network element, but sends address information (e.g., a URI) of the PCC rule received by the I-SMF network element to the PCF network element through the a-SMF network element, and the PCF network element may directly send the PCC rule to the I-SMF network element according to the address information of the PCC rule received by the I-SMF network element. Specifically, the PCC rule obtaining method includes the following steps:

s600, the first I-SMF network element sends a session establishment request to the A-SMF network element, so that the A-SMF network element receives the session establishment request from the first I-SMF network element. Wherein, the session establishment request carries the service area information of the first I-SMF network element and the address information of the PCC rule 2 received by the first I-SMF network element.

The service area information of the first I-SMF network element and the description related to the PCC rule 2 may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and are not described herein again.

Optionally, the session establishment request may also carry the type of the first I-SMF network element. The description of the type of the first I-SMF network element may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and is not repeated here.

S601, the A-SMF network element sends a request message 1 to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the request message 1 from the A-SMF network element.

Wherein, the request message 1 carries the service area information of the first I-SMF network element and the address information of the PCC rule 2 received by the first I-SMF network element.

Optionally, if the session establishment request carries the type of the first I-SMF network element, the request message 1 in step S601 may also carry the type of the first I-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the request message 1 may also carry service area information of the a-SMF network element.

Optionally, the request message 1 may also carry the type of the a-SMF network element.

The service area information of the a-SMF network element and the description of the type of the a-SMF network element may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, which is not described herein again.

S602 and the synchronization step S406, the embodiment shown in fig. 4 can be referred to for related description, and will not be described herein again.

S603, the PCF network element sends the PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element according to the address information of the PCC rule 2 received by the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the PCC rule 2 from the PCF network element.

Optionally, if the request message 1 may also carry service area information of the a-SMF network element, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps S604 to S605:

s604 and the synchronization step S402, the embodiment shown in fig. 4 can be referred to for related description, and will not be described herein again.

S605, the PCF network element sends the PCC rule 1 to the A-SMF network element, so that the A-SMF network element receives the PCC rule 1 from the PCF network element.

The above steps S600 to S605 provide specific implementations that the a-SMF network element acquires the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the a-SMF network element in the session establishment process, and the first I-SMF network element acquires the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first I-SMF network element. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element both have established a connection with the PCF network element, if the PCF network element receives a request from the AF network element, or the PCF network element receives a subscription change instruction of the terminal, and the like, the PCC rule may need to be updated, and the following description takes the case where the PCF network element receives the request from the AF network element as an example, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s606 and the synchronization step S408, the embodiment shown in fig. 4 can be referred to for related description, and will not be described herein again.

S607 and the synchronization step S409, the embodiment shown in fig. 4 can be referred to for related description, and will not be described herein again.

S608, the PCF network element sends the updated PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element according to the address information of the PCC rule 2 received by the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 2 from the PCF network element.

The related description may refer to step S410 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and is not repeated herein.

and S609, the first I-SMF network element sends the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element to the A-SMF network element, so that the A-SMF network element receives the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element from the first I-SMF network element.

Step S411 may be referred to for a description of the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element, which is not described herein again.

S610, the A-SMF network element sends the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element to the PCF network element, so that the PCF network element receives the updated session information corresponding to the first I-SMF network element from the A-SMF network element.

S611 to S613 and the synchronization steps 412 to S414, the related description can refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and will not be repeated herein.

S614-S617, similar to steps S600-S603, differ only in that: replacing the first I-SMF network element in the steps S600-S603 with a second I-SMF network element; replacing the request message 1 in the steps S600-S603 with a request message 4; the PCC rule 2 in steps S600 to S603 is replaced with the PCC rule 5, and the relevant description may refer to steps S600 to S603, which is not described herein again.

s618, the PCF network element deletes the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF network element may learn, according to the request message 4, that the terminal moves out of the service area of the first I-SMF network element, so that information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session may be actively deleted. The description of the information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session may refer to the description related to step S419 in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, and is not repeated here.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, an implementation manner of deleting information related to the first I-SMF network element corresponding to the session may also be similar to that in S419-S420, except that the first I-SMF network element needs to send the deletion request to the PCF network element through the a-SMF network element, and the relevant description may refer to steps S419-S420, which is not described herein again.

The above steps S614-S618 provide a method for acquiring the PCC rule in the first I-SMF network element handover process. In addition, if only the a-SMF network element is selected in the session establishment process, the method for acquiring the PCC rule in the insertion process of the second I-SMF network element is similar to the method for acquiring the PCC rule in the handover process, but step S618 may not be executed. Assuming that the terminal moves back to the service area of the a-SMF network element from the service area of the first I-SMF network element, step S618 is only required to be executed without executing steps S614 to S617, where step S618 may be executed after the a-SMF network element notifies the PCF network element that the terminal moves into the service area of the a-SMF network element, and details are not described herein again.

In addition, it should be noted that, during the insertion, handover, or deletion of the I-SMF network element or during the insertion process, due to a change in the location of the terminal, the PCF network element may send the PCC rule related to the a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The actions of the PCF network element, the first I-SMF network element, the second I-SMF network element, or the a-SMF network element in steps S600 to S618 described above may be executed by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling the application program code stored in the memory 303, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, taking the PCC rule obtaining system shown in fig. 1 applied to a 5G network shown in fig. 2, and a first I-SMF network element is required in a session establishment process as an example, as shown in fig. 7, for another PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application, a difference of the PCC rule obtaining method with respect to the PCC rule obtaining method shown in fig. 4 is mainly that, in the embodiment of the present application, there is no interface between an I-SMF network element (including the first I-SMF and the second I-SMF) and a PCF network element, and all messages interacted between the I-SMF network element and the PCF network element only need to pass through an a-SMF network element. Specifically, the PCC rule obtaining method includes the following steps:

S700-S702 are similar to steps S600-S602, except that the session establishment request and the request message 1 in this embodiment do not need to carry address information of the first I-SMF network element receiving PCC rule 2. The related description may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and will not be repeated herein.

Optionally, if the request message 1 may also carry service area information of the a-SMF network element, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following step S703:

s703 and the synchronization step S604, the related description may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and will not be repeated herein.

s704, the PCF network element sends a response message 1 to the a-SMF network element, so that the a-SMF network element receives the response message 1 from the PCF network element, where the response message 1 carries the PCC rule 2.

Optionally, the response message 1 may also carry the PCC rule 1, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In this case, optionally, the response message 1 may further carry indication information, where the indication information is used to indicate at least one of the PCC rule 1 or the PCC rule 2, when the response message 1 may further carry the PCC rule 1. For example, PCC rule 1 may be indicated to be sent to an a-SMF network element, and PCC rule 2 may be indicated to be sent to a first I-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S705, the a-SMF network element sends PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives PCC rule 2 from the a-SMF network element.

Optionally, if the response message 1 in step S704 carries the indication information, the a-SMF network element may determine, according to the indication information, the PCC rule 2 sent to the first I-SMF network element.

Or, optionally, if the response message 1 in step S704 does not carry the indication information, the a-SMF network element may determine, according to the service area information of the first I-SMF network element, the PCC rule 2 that needs to be sent to the first I-SMF network element from the PCC rule 1 and the PCC rule 2, and then send the PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element. For example, the a-SMF network element may send the PCC rule associated with the DNAI of the first I-SMF service to the first I-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The above steps S700 to S705 provide specific implementations that the a-SMF network element acquires the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the a-SMF network element in the session establishment process, and the first I-SMF network element acquires the PCC rule related to the application corresponding to the first I-SMF network element. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after the first I-SMF network element and the a-SMF network element both have established a connection with the PCF network element, if the PCF network element receives a request from the AF network element, or the PCF network element receives a subscription change instruction of the terminal, and the like, the PCC rule may need to be updated, and the following description takes the case where the PCF network element receives the request from the AF network element as an example, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

s706 and the synchronization step S606, the embodiment shown in fig. 6 can be referred to for related description, and details are not repeated here.

Assuming that the PCC rule 1 and the PCC rule 2 are both updated, the PCC rule obtaining method provided in the embodiment of the present application further includes the following steps S707 to S708:

and S707, the PCF network element sends the updated PCC rule 1 and the updated PCC rule 2 to the A-SMF network element, so that the A-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 1 and the updated PCC rule 2 from the PCF network element.

S708, the a-SMF network element sends the updated PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 2 from the a-SMF network element.

The manner in which the a-SMF network element determines the updated PCC rule 2 may refer to the manner in which the a-SMF network element determines the PCC rule 2, which is not described herein again.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, if only the PCC rule 1 is updated, the PCF network element sends the updated PCC rule 1 to the a-SMF network element, so that the a-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 1 from the PCF network element; or if only the PCC rule 2 is updated, the PCF network element sends the updated PCC rule 2 to the a-SMF network element, so that the a-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 2 from the PCF network element; furthermore, the a-SMF network element sends the updated PCC rule 2 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives the updated PCC rule 2 from the a-SMF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

s709 to S711, and S609 to S611, refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 6 for related descriptions, which are not described herein again.

S712, the PCF network element sends at least one of PCC rule 3 and PCC rule 4 to the a-SMF network element, such that the a-SMF network element receives at least one of PCC rule 3 and PCC rule 4 from the PCF network element.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, if the a-SMF network element receives the PCC rule 3 from the PCF network element, the method for acquiring a PCC rule provided in this embodiment of the present application may further include the following step S713:

s713, the a-SMF network element sends PCC rule 3 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives PCC rule 3 from the a-SMF network element.

The mode for determining the PCC rule 3 by the a-SMF network element may refer to the mode for determining the PCC rule 2 by the a-SMF network element, which is not described herein again.

S714-S716, and synchronization steps S614-S616, the related description may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and will not be repeated herein.

S717, the PCF network element sends PCC rule 5 to the a-SMF network element, so that the a-SMF network element receives PCC rule 5 from the PCF network element.

S718, the a-SMF network element sends PCC rule 5 to the first I-SMF network element, so that the first I-SMF network element receives PCC rule 5 from the a-SMF network element.

s719 and step S618 of synchronization, the embodiment shown in fig. 6 may be referred to for related description, and details are not repeated here.

The above steps S714 to S719 provide a method for acquiring the PCC rule in the first I-SMF network element handover process. In addition, if only the a-SMF network element is selected in the session establishment process, the method for acquiring the PCC rule in the insertion process of the second I-SMF network element is similar to the method for acquiring the PCC rule in the handover process, but step S719 may not be executed. Assuming that the terminal moves back to the service area of the a-SMF network element from the service area of the first I-SMF network element, step S719 may be performed without performing steps S714 to S718, where step S719 may be performed after the a-SMF network element notifies the PCF network element that the terminal moves into the service area of the a-SMF network element, and details are not described herein again.

In addition, it should be noted that, during the process of inserting, switching, or deleting the I-SMF network element, because of a change in the terminal position, the PCF network element may send the PCC rule related to the a-SMF network element, at this time, when the PCC rule related to the I-SMF network element (including the first I-SMF network element or the second I-SMF network element) and the PCC rule related to the a-SMF network element coexist, a manner of determining the PCC rule that needs to be sent to the I-SMF network element may refer to the above embodiment, and details are not described here.

Based on the PCC rule obtaining method provided by the embodiment of the application, the number of PCC rules related to the application transmitted between the PCF network element and the SMF network element can be greatly reduced, so that the transmission resources between the PCF network element and the SMF network element can be saved. For the analysis of the related art effect, reference may be made to the embodiment shown in fig. 4, which is not described herein again.

The actions of the PCF network element, the first I-SMF network element, the second I-SMF network element, or the a-SMF network element in steps S700 to S719 described above may be executed by the processor 301 in the communication device 300 shown in fig. 3 calling the application program code stored in the memory 303, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In summary, an embodiment of the present application discloses a method for acquiring a PCC rule, including: the method comprises the steps that a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element, wherein the service area information of the first session management network element is used for determining a first PCC rule, and the first PCC rule comprises an application-related PCC rule corresponding to the first session management network element; the first session managing network element receives the first PCC rule.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and the first session management network element sends the type of the first session management network element, wherein the type of the first session management network element is used for determining the first PCC rule, and the type of the first session management network element comprises an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element.

As an implementation, the first session management network element may be an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first session management network element receives a session policy resource identifier related to a session from the second session management network element, wherein the session policy resource identifier is used for positioning session policy resources related to the session; and the first session management network element sends the session policy resource identifier to the policy control function network element.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the method comprises the steps that a first session management network element sends SUPI of a terminal served by the first session management network element and a session identifier corresponding to a session of the terminal to a policy control function network element; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: and the first session management network element receives the information of the policy control function network element from the second session management network element, wherein the information of the policy control function network element is used for the first session management network element to select the policy control function network element.

As an implementation, before the first session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element to the policy control function network element, the method for acquiring a PCC rule disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the first session management network element sends a query message to the binding support function network element, wherein the query message carries a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element, and the session identifier is used for selecting a policy control function network element; and the first session management network element receives a query response from the binding support function network element, wherein the query response carries the information of the policy control function network element.

As one implementation, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the sending, by the first session management network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes: the first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element and address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element to the second session management network element, and the second session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element and address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element to the policy control function network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the first session managing network element receiving a first PCC rule comprising: the first session management network element receives a first PCC rule from a policy control function network element.

In the PCC rule obtaining method, for example, the operation of the first session management network element may refer to the operation of the first I-SMF network element, the second I-SMF network element, or the a-SMF network element in fig. 4, fig. 6, or fig. 7 and the related text description, which is not described herein again.

In addition, the embodiment of the application also discloses a method for detecting the service quality, which comprises the following steps: a strategy control function network element receives service area information of a first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, wherein the first PCC rule comprises an application-related PCC rule corresponding to the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element sends the first PCC rule.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element receives a type of a first session management network element, wherein the type of the first session management network element comprises an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the determining, by the policy control function network element, the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element includes: and the policy control function network element determines the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element and the type of the first session management network element.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the strategy control function network element sends a conversation strategy resource identifier related to the conversation to a second conversation management network element, and the second conversation management network element sends the conversation strategy resource identifier to the first conversation management network element; and the policy control function network element receives a session policy resource identifier from the first session management network element, wherein the session policy resource identifier is used for positioning session-related session policy resources.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element receives a signed permanent identity (SUPI) of a terminal served by a first session management network element from the first session management network element and a session identity corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

As one implementation, the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a policy control function network element receives a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by a first session management network element from the first session management network element; and the policy control function network element registers the session identifier to the binding support function network element.

As one implementation, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the PCC rule obtaining method disclosed in the embodiment of the present application may further include: the strategy control function network element receives updated session information corresponding to the first session management network element; the policy control function network element determines at least one of a third PCC rule and a fourth PCC rule according to the updated session information, wherein the third PCC rule comprises a local session policy corresponding to the first session management network element, the fourth PCC rule comprises a local session policy corresponding to the second session management network element, and the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; and the policy control function network element sends at least one of the third PCC rule and the fourth PCC rule.

In the above PCC rule obtaining method, for example, the operation of the policy control function network element may refer to the operation of the PCF network element in fig. 4, fig. 6, or fig. 7 and the above description, which is not repeated herein.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is to be understood that the first session management network element or the policy control function network element comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions in order to implement the functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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.

In the embodiment of the present application, according to the above method example, functional modules may be divided for the first session management network element or the policy control function network element, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

For example, in the case of dividing the functional modules in an integrated manner, fig. 8 shows a schematic structural diagram of a first session management network element 80. The first session managing network element 80 comprises: a sending module 801 and a receiving module 802. A sending module 801, configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 80, where the service area information of the first session management network element 80 is used to determine a first PCC rule, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the first session management network element 80; a receiving module 802 is configured to receive a first PCC rule.

Optionally, the sending module 801 is further configured to send a type of the first session management network element 80, where the type of the first session management network element 80 is used to determine the first PCC rule, and the type of the first session management network element 80 includes an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element.

Optionally, the receiving module 802 is further configured to receive a session policy resource identifier related to a session from a second session management network element, where the session policy resource identifier is used to locate a session policy resource related to the session; the sending module 801 is further configured to send the session policy resource identifier to the policy control function network element.

Optionally, the sending module 801 is further configured to send, to the policy control function network element, the SUPI of the terminal served by the first session management network element 80 and a session identifier corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element 80 with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

Optionally, the receiving module 802 is further configured to receive information of a policy control function network element from the second session management network element, where the information of the policy control function network element is used by the first session management network element 80 to select the policy control function network element.

Optionally, the sending module 801 is further configured to send an inquiry message to the binding support function network element, where the inquiry message carries a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element 80, and the session identifier is used to select a policy control function network element; the receiving module 802 is further configured to receive an inquiry response from the binding support function network element, where the inquiry response carries information of the policy control function network element.

Optionally, the first session management network element 80 is an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the sending module 801 is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element 80, including: the second session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element 80 to the policy control function network element and the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element 80, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; receiving module 802 is configured to receive a first PCC rule, including: for receiving a first PCC rule from a policy control function network element.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the first session managing network element 80 is presented in the form of dividing the respective functional modules in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, a person skilled in the art realises that the first session managing network element 80 may take the form shown in fig. 3.

For example, processor 301 in fig. 3 may cause first session managing network element 80 to execute the PCC rule obtaining method in the above-described method embodiment by calling a computer executing instruction stored in memory 303.

In particular, the functions/implementation procedures of the receiving module 802 and the sending module 801 in fig. 8 may be implemented by the processor 301 in fig. 3 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 303. Alternatively, the functions/implementation procedures of the receiving module 802 and the transmitting module 801 in fig. 8 may be implemented by the communication interface 304 in fig. 3.

Since the first session management network element provided in this embodiment may execute the PCC rule obtaining method, the technical effect obtained by the first session management network element may refer to the method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, and is configured to support the first session management network element to implement the PCC rule obtaining method, for example, to obtain service area information of the first session management network element. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory. The memory is used for storing program instructions and data necessary for the first session managing network element. Of course, the memory may not be in the system-on-chip. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Or, for example, in a case that the functional modules are divided in an integrated manner, fig. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a policy control function network element 90. The policy control function network element 90 includes: a transceiver module 901 and a processing module 902. The transceiver module 901 is configured to receive service area information of a first session management network element; a processing module 902, configured to determine a first PCC rule according to service area information of a first session management network element, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application corresponding to the first session management network element; the transceiver module 901 is further configured to send the first PCC rule.

Optionally, the transceiver module 901 is further configured to receive a type of the first session management network element, where the type of the first session management network element includes an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element; correspondingly, the processing module 902 is specifically configured to: and determining the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element and the type of the first session management network element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 901 is further configured to send a session policy resource identifier related to a session to the second session management network element, and send the session policy resource identifier to the first session management network element by the second session management network element; the transceiver module 901 is further configured to receive a session policy resource identifier from a first session management network element, where the session policy resource identifier is used to locate a session policy resource related to a session.

Optionally, the transceiver module 901 is further configured to receive a subscription permanent identifier SUPI of a terminal served by a first session management network element from the first session management network element and a session identifier corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

Optionally, the transceiver module 901 is further configured to receive a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by a first session management network element from the first session management network element; the processing module 902 is further configured to register the session identifier with the binding support function network element.

Optionally, the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the transceiver module 901 is further configured to receive updated session information corresponding to the first session management network element; a processing module 902, further configured to determine at least one of a third PCC rule and a fourth PCC rule according to the updated session information, where the third PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the first session management network element, and the fourth PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element; the transceiver module 901 is further configured to send at least one of the third PCC rule and the fourth PCC rule.

In the present embodiment, the policy control function network element 90 is presented in a form of dividing each function module in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, the policy control function network element 90 may take the form shown in fig. 3, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

For example, processor 301 in fig. 3 may cause policy control function network element 90 to perform the PCC rule acquisition method in the above method embodiment by calling a computer stored in memory 303 to execute the instructions.

In particular, the functions/implementation procedures of the transceiver module 901 and the processing module 902 in fig. 9 can be implemented by the processor 301 in fig. 3 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 303. Alternatively, the function/implementation procedure of the processing module 902 in fig. 9 may be implemented by the processor 301 in fig. 3 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 303, and the function/implementation procedure of the transceiver module 901 in fig. 9 may be implemented by the communication interface 304 in fig. 3.

Since the policy control function network element provided in this embodiment may execute the above PCC rule obtaining method, the technical effect obtained by the policy control function network element may refer to the above method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, configured to support a policy control function network element to implement the PCC rule obtaining method, and determine a first PCC rule according to service area information of a first session management network element, for example. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory. The memory is used for storing program instructions and data necessary for the policy control function network element. Of course, the memory may not be in the system-on-chip. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated upon loading and execution of computer program instructions on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or can comprise one or more data storage devices, such as a server, a data center, etc., that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules, the method comprising:

a first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element, where the service area information of the first session management network element is used to determine a first PCC rule, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application deployed in a service area of the first session management network element;

the first session managing network element receives the first PCC rule.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first session management network element sends the type of the first session management network element, where the type of the first session management network element is used to determine the first PCC rule, and the type of the first session management network element includes an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first session management network element is an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the first session management network element receives a session policy resource identifier related to a session from a second session management network element, wherein the session policy resource identifier is used for positioning the session policy resource related to the session;

and the first session management network element sends the session policy resource identifier to a policy control function network element.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the first session management network element sends a signed permanent identity (SUPI) of a terminal served by the first session management network element and a session identity corresponding to a session of the terminal to a policy control function network element; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the first session management network element receives information of a policy control function network element from a second session management network element, wherein the information of the policy control function network element is used for the first session management network element to select the policy control function network element.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein before the first session managing network element sends the service area information of the first session managing network element to a policy control function network element, the method further comprises:

the first session management network element sends a query message to a binding support function network element, wherein the query message carries a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element, and the session identifier is used for selecting the policy control function network element;

and the first session management network element receives an inquiry response from the binding support function network element, wherein the inquiry response carries the information of the policy control function network element.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element;

correspondingly, the sending, by the first session management network element, the service area information of the first session management network element includes:

the first session management network element sends service area information of the first session management network element to a second session management network element, the first session management network element receives address information of the first PCC rule, the second session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element to a policy control function network element, and the first session management network element receives the address information of the first PCC rule, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element;

the first session management network element receiving the first PCC rule, including:

the first session management network element receives the first PCC rule from the policy control function network element.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the service area information comprises a list of served data network access identities DNAI, or identification information of served areas, or location information of served terminals.

10. A method for obtaining Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rules, the method comprising:

a strategy control function network element receives service area information of a first session management network element;

the policy control function network element determines a first PCC rule according to service area information of the first session management network element, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application deployed in a service area of the first session management network element;

and the policy control function network element sends the first PCC rule.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

the policy control function network element receives the type of the first session management network element, wherein the type of the first session management network element comprises an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element;

correspondingly, the determining, by the policy control function network element, the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element includes:

and the policy control function network element determines the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element and the type of the first session management network element.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the policy control function network element sends a session policy resource identifier related to a session to a second session management network element, and the second session management network element sends the session policy resource identifier to the first session management network element;

and the policy control function network element receives the session policy resource identifier from the first session management network element, wherein the session policy resource identifier is used for locating the session policy resource related to the session.

13. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the policy control function network element receives a signed permanent identity (SUPI) of a terminal served by the first session management network element from the first session management network element and a session identity corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

14. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the policy control function network element receives a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element from the first session management network element;

and the policy control function network element registers the session identifier to a binding support function network element.

15. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element; the method further comprises the following steps:

the policy control function network element receives updated session information corresponding to the first session management network element;

the policy control function network element determines at least one of a third PCC rule and a fourth PCC rule according to the updated session information, where the third PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the first session management network element, and the fourth PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to a second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element;

the policy control function network element sends at least one of the third PCC rule and the fourth PCC rule.

16. A first session management network element, wherein the first session management network element comprises: a transmitting module and a receiving module;

the sending module is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, where the service area information of the first session management network element is used to determine a first policy and charging control PCC rule, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application deployed in a service area of the first session management network element;

the receiving module is configured to receive the first PCC rule.

17. The first session managing network element of claim 16,

the sending module is further configured to send a type of the first session management network element, where the type of the first session management network element is used to determine the first PCC rule, and the type of the first session management network element includes an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element.

18. The first session managing network element of claim 16 or 17,

the receiving module is further configured to receive a session policy resource identifier related to a session from a second session management network element, where the session policy resource identifier is used to locate the session policy resource related to the session;

the sending module is further configured to send the session policy resource identifier to a policy control function network element.

19. The first session managing network element of claim 16 or 17,

the sending module is further configured to send, to a policy control function network element, a subscription permanent identity SUPI of a terminal served by the first session management network element and a session identity corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

20. The first session managing network element of claim 16 or 17,

the receiving module is further configured to receive information of a policy control function network element from a second session management network element, where the information of the policy control function network element is used by the first session management network element to select the policy control function network element.

21. The first session managing network element of claim 16 or 17,

the sending module is further configured to send a query message to a binding support function network element, where the query message carries a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element, and the session identifier is used to select a policy control function network element;

the receiving module is further configured to receive an inquiry response from the binding support function network element, where the inquiry response carries information of the policy control function network element.

22. A first session managing network element according to claim 16 or 17, wherein said first session managing network element is an intermediate session managing network element;

correspondingly, the sending module is configured to send the service area information of the first session management network element, and includes: the second session management network element sends the service area information of the first session management network element to a policy control function network element and the first session management network element receives the address information of the first PCC rule, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element;

the receiving module is configured to receive the first PCC rule, and includes: for receiving the first PCC rule from the policy control function network element.

23. A policy control function network element, wherein the policy control function network element comprises: a transceiver module and a processing module;

the transceiver module is used for receiving the service area information of the first session management network element;

the processing module is configured to determine a first policy and charging control PCC rule according to service area information of the first session management network element, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application deployed in an area served by the first session management network element;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the first PCC rule.

24. The policy control function network element of claim 23,

the transceiver module is further configured to receive a type of the first session management network element, where the type of the first session management network element includes an anchor session management network element or an intermediate session management network element;

correspondingly, the processing module is specifically configured to: and determining the first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element and the type of the first session management network element.

25. The policy control function network element according to claim 23 or 24,

the transceiver module is further configured to send a session policy resource identifier related to a session to a second session management network element, and the second session management network element sends the session policy resource identifier to the first session management network element;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive the session policy resource identifier from the first session management network element, where the session policy resource identifier is used to locate the session policy resource related to the session.

26. The policy control function network element according to claim 23 or 24,

the transceiver module is further configured to receive a subscription permanent identity (SUPI) of a terminal served by the first session management network element from the first session management network element and a session identity corresponding to a session of the terminal; wherein the SUPI and the session identifier are used to associate the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the first session management element with the session-related session policy resource corresponding to the second session management element.

27. The policy control function network element according to claim 23 or 24,

the transceiver module is further configured to receive a session identifier corresponding to a session of a terminal served by the first session management network element from the first session management network element;

the processing module is further configured to register the session identifier with a binding support function network element.

28. The policy control function network element according to claim 23 or 24, wherein said first session management network element is an intermediate session management network element;

the transceiver module is further configured to receive updated session information corresponding to the first session management network element;

the processing module is further configured to determine at least one of a third PCC rule and a fourth PCC rule according to the updated session information, where the third PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to the first session management network element, and the fourth PCC rule includes a local session policy corresponding to a second session management network element, where the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element;

the transceiver module is further configured to send at least one of the third PCC rule and the fourth PCC rule.

29. A Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule obtaining system is characterized in that the PCC rule obtaining system comprises: a first session management network element and a policy control function network element;

the first session management network element is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element;

the policy control function network element is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element, and determine a first PCC rule according to the service area information of the first session management network element, where the first PCC rule includes a PCC rule related to an application deployed in a service area of the first session management network element;

the policy control function network element is further configured to send the first PCC rule;

the first session management network element is further configured to receive the first PCC rule.

30. The PCC rule acquisition system of claim 29, wherein the first session management element is an intermediate session management element; the PCC rule obtaining system also comprises a second session management network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element;

the first session management network element is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, and includes: the second session management network element is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element to the second session management network element and receive address information of the first PCC rule by the first session management network element;

the second session management network element is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element from the first session management network element and address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element, and send a first request message to the policy control function network element, where the first request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element and the first session management network element receives the address information of the first PCC rule;

the policy control function network element is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element, and includes: for receiving the first request message from the second session management network element;

the policy control function network element is configured to send the first PCC rule, and includes: the first PCC rule is sent to the first session management network element according to the address information of the first PCC rule received by the first session management network element;

the first session management network element is further configured to receive the first PCC rule, including: for receiving the first PCC rule from the policy control function network element.

31. The PCC rule acquisition system of claim 29, wherein the first session management element is an intermediate session management element; the PCC rule obtaining system also comprises a second session management network element, wherein the second session management network element is an anchor session management network element;

the first session management network element is configured to send service area information of the first session management network element, and includes: the service area information of the first session management network element is sent to the second session management network element;

the second session management network element is configured to receive the service area information of the first session management network element from the first session management network element, and send a second request message to the policy control function network element, where the second request message carries the service area information of the first session management network element;

the policy control function network element is configured to receive service area information of the first session management network element, and includes: for receiving the second request message from the second session management network element;

the policy control function network element is configured to send the first PCC rule, and includes: the second session management network element is configured to send a response message to the second session management network element, where the response message carries the first PCC rule;

the second session management network element is further configured to receive the response message from the policy control function network element, and send the first PCC rule to the first session management network element;

the first session management network element is further configured to receive the first PCC rule, including: for receiving the first PCC rule from the second session management network element.