CN113395711B

CN113395711B - Method and equipment for distributing service flow

Info

Publication number: CN113395711B
Application number: CN202010165151.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 尼凌飞; 房雅丁
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2020-03-11
Filing date: 2020-03-11
Publication date: 2023-11-21
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-11
Also published as: CN113395711A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and equipment for distributing service flows, wherein the method for a network open function (NEF) side comprises the following steps: the NEF receives a service flow detection request sent by an application; the NEF generates a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request and sends the data flow detection rule to a session management function SMF; the NEF receives a notification message of the detection result fed back by the SMF; the NEF sends the detection result to the application. The scheme of the invention can realize local distribution of the service data flow, and intelligent tuning is performed according to the application indication policy aiming at the distribution result, so as to realize the improvement of the distribution effect.

Description

Method and equipment for distributing service flow

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for splitting a service flow.

Background

And the network can provide a distribution API for the application to realize corresponding distribution according to the application requirements.

The existing scheme can split according to the information of S-NSSAI (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, network slice selection auxiliary information), DNAI (DN Access Identifier, data network access identifier), DNN (Data Network Name ), user identifier (GPSI) and the like.

Wherein for scenes that do not distinguish users, the splitting is performed according to S-NSSAI, DNN, and DNAI.

For distinguishing user scenes, the distribution can be performed according to user identification (GPSI or user IP address), and the flow is shown in fig. 1, and specifically includes:

1. the application sends a service flow request to the NEF (Network Exposure Function, network opening function) carrying S-NSSAI, DNAI, DNN, a user identification (GPSI), distribution rule information and the like;

the NEF stores the related information locally or in UDR (Unified Data Repository, unified data warehouse function), and the distribution rule includes DNN, S-NSSAI, service DNAI, UE (User Equipment) address and other information;

3. when a user enters an application specific area to establish a PDU (protocol data unit) session, triggering PCF (Policy Control function ), acquiring diversion rule data from UDR, forming a diversion policy, and issuing the diversion rule data to SMF (Session Management Function ), wherein the SMF inserts UPF ULCL (User Plane Function Uplink Classifier ) for the user, and issuing data flow detection information to UPF ULCL;

and 4, the UPF ULCL shunts the appointed service flow to the local UPF, and other flows to the original anchor UPF.

In the existing scheme, an application-influencing traffic routing scheme (Application Function influence on traffic routing) is defined, and the scheme has the following problems for a distribution scenario in which an application party requests to distribute an end user traffic flow meeting requirements to a nearby application server node:

1) The limit is larger: the user can be shunted only when using the designated DNN and S-NSSAI, but can not be shunted to the nearby access neighboring application service node when the UE accesses the application using the non-designated DNN or S-NSSAI;

2) The application requirements are high: if the splitting is performed according to user identification such as GPSI or address, the application is harder to provide the user identification or private network IP address of the application to be accessed (the user is required to grant the terminal corresponding permission to the application in the privacy setting); in addition, even if the user identification is provided, the number used when the user UE really accesses the application, such as the user logging in by using the mobile phone of the other person, may not be used;

3) Not intelligent enough: the distribution identification information such as DNN, DNAI and the like is irrelevant to application services, and the distribution of the appointed service in the plurality of services currently used by the user cannot be intelligently identified;

4) There is no detection feedback mechanism: after the distribution strategy is issued, the distribution effect lacks detection feedback;

5) There is no intelligent tuning strategy: the lack of adjustment of the shunt or detection based on the results of the detection feedback results in less than optimal shunt or detection.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method and equipment for distributing service flows. The method and the device can detect the user service data flow characteristics meeting the requirements according to the application indication, dynamically shunt the service of the user access application according to the detection result, realize the local shunt of the service data flow, and intelligently adjust and optimize the shunt result according to the application indication policy, so as to realize the promotion of the shunt effect.

In order to solve the technical problems, the embodiment of the invention provides the following scheme:

a method for offloading traffic flows, applied to a network opening function, NEF, the method comprising:

the NEF receives a service flow detection request sent by an application;

the NEF generates a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request and sends the data flow detection rule to a session management function SMF;

the NEF receives a notification message of the detection result fed back by the SMF;

the NEF sends the detection result to the application.

Optionally, the service flow detection request carries at least one of a protocol type, a destination address, a port and a service data flow characteristic flag of the data flow to be detected.

Optionally, the data flow detection rule includes: at least one of a protocol type of the data flow, a destination address, a port, a traffic data flow characteristic flag, a detection notification condition, and a notification address.

Optionally, after the sending the detection result to the application, the method further includes:

and distributing the service flow of the terminal according to the detection result.

Optionally, according to the detection result, the service flow of the terminal is split, including:

after a terminal is accessed to a network, the NEF receives a service flow detection event notification sent by an SMF;

the NEF sends the traffic flow detection event notification to an application.

Optionally, the service flow detection event notification carries: at least one of a source address, a destination address, a location of the terminal, a code number of the terminal, a type of the matching event, and a service flow identification of the terminal.

Optionally, after the NEF sends the service flow detection event notification to an application, the method further includes:

the NEF receives a splitting request for splitting the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result;

and the NEF analyzes the list of the multiple terminals according to the distribution request and sends a distribution strategy request to the PCF.

Optionally, the split request carries: at least one of the diversion reference information, the source address of the terminal and the corresponding application preferred destination address and sub-selection destination address, which are prioritized near the terminal or the application node.

Optionally, the offloading policy request carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a service flow identification, a split policy, and a split detection notification address.

Optionally, the splitting strategy carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a offload rule, a offload with priority near a terminal or priority near an application node, and a offload detection notification address.

Optionally, after splitting the service flow of the terminal, the method further includes:

and the NEF receives the split detection result sent by the SMF.

Optionally, the method for splitting the service flow further includes: and if the shunting detection result indicates that the shunting is abnormal, invoking a PCF to generate a new shunting strategy and issuing the new shunting strategy to the SMF by the PCF.

Optionally, the method for splitting the service flow of the terminal further includes: and sending a shunting result of shunting the service flow of the terminal to the application.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a network opening function NEF, which comprises the following steps:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a service flow detection request sent by an application; generating a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request, and sending the data flow detection rule to a session management function SMF; and the NEF receives a notification message of the detection result fed back by the SMF and sends the detection result to the application.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: and distributing the service flow of the terminal according to the detection result.

after the terminal is accessed to the network, the receiving and transmitting module receives a service flow detection event notification sent by the SMF;

and sending the service flow detection event notification to an application.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a distribution request for distributing the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result;

and according to the distribution request, analyzing a list of the multiple terminals, and sending a distribution strategy request to the PCF.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: and when the shunting detection result shows that the shunting is abnormal, invoking a PCF to generate a new shunting strategy and issuing the new shunting strategy to the SMF by the PCF.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a method for splitting the service flow, which is applied to a Session Management Function (SMF), and comprises the following steps:

the SMF receives a data flow detection rule sent by a network opening function (NEF);

the SMF sends the data flow detection rule to an anchor user plane function UPF;

and the SMF receives the detection result of the data flow detection rule effective fed back by the anchor UPF and sends the detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, after receiving a detection result that the data flow detection rule fed back by the anchor UPF is effective and sending the detection result to the NEF, the SMF further includes:

after a terminal is accessed to a network, the SMF receives a service flow detection event notification sent by the anchoring UPF;

And sending the service flow detection event notification to the NEF.

Optionally, after sending the traffic flow detection event notification to the NEF, the method further includes:

the SMF receives a shunting strategy sent by the PCF;

and the SMF inserts a UPFULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to the distribution strategy sent by the PCF to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

the SMF receives a split detection result sent by the UPFULCL;

the SMF sends the split detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, the method for splitting the service flow further includes:

the SMF receives a new shunt strategy sent by the PCF;

and the SMF inserts a new UPF ULCL according to the received new distribution strategy to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

Optionally, the method for splitting the service flow of the terminal further includes: and sending a splitting result of splitting the service flow of the terminal to the NEF.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a session management function SMF, which comprises:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a data flow detection rule sent by the network opening function NEF; transmitting the data flow detection rule to an anchor user plane function UPF; and receiving a detection result of the data flow detection rule effective fed back by the anchoring UPF, and sending the detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to split a service flow of the terminal according to the detection result.

After a terminal accesses a network, receiving a service flow detection event notification sent by the anchoring UPF;

and sending the service flow detection event notification to the NEF.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a shunting strategy sent by the PCF;

and according to the distribution strategy sent by the PCF, inserting a UPFULCL user plane function uplink classifier to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a split detection result sent by the UPFULCL;

and sending the shunt detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a new shunt strategy sent by the PCF;

and inserting a new UPF ULCL according to the received new distribution strategy, and distributing the service flow of the terminal.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a method for splitting the service flow, which is applied to the anchor user plane function UPF, and comprises the following steps:

the anchoring UPF receives a data flow detection rule sent by a session management function SMF;

and the anchor UPF sends the detection result of the data flow detection rule validation to the SMF.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an anchor user plane function UPF, which comprises:

The receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving the data flow detection rule sent by the session management function SMF; and sending the detection result of the effective data flow detection rule to the SMF.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device, which comprises: a processor, a memory storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor, performs the method as described above.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method as described above.

The scheme of the invention at least comprises the following beneficial effects:

according to the scheme, the NEF receives the service flow detection request sent by the application;

the NEF generates a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request, and obtains a detection result of the data flow detection rule in effect through interaction of the NEF and a Session Management Function (SMF) and an anchor User Plane Function (UPF); the NEF sends the detection result to the application. The difficulty and unreliability of the application to acquire the user information are reduced through network detection and perception, and network nearby distribution is easy to carry out for application calling; and further, a distribution strategy is formed according to the application service flow and the network detection result, so that the data flow to be distributed can be screened out from a plurality of service flows used by the user more accurately, distribution is performed, and the promotion of the service effect of willingness to pay by the application is facilitated.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art system architecture for offloading traffic;

fig. 2 is a flow chart of a method for splitting traffic flow on the NEF side according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture for offloading traffic according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating traffic splitting according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for splitting a service flow by an SMF side according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method for splitting a service flow at a UPF side according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

As shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for splitting a traffic flow, applied to a network opening function NEF, the method includes:

Step 21, the NEF receives a service flow detection request sent by an application; optionally, the service flow detection request carries at least one of a protocol type, a destination address, a port and a service data flow characteristic flag of the data flow to be detected.

Step 22, the NEF generates a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request, and sends the data flow detection rule to the SMF; optionally, the data flow detection rule includes: at least one of protocol type, destination address, port, service data flow characteristic flag, detection notification condition and notification address of the data flow;

step 23, the NEF receives a notification message of the detection result fed back by the SMF; optionally, the notification message of the detection result is that the SMF sends the data stream detection rule to the anchor UPF, the anchor UPF performs detection rule configuration after receiving the data stream detection rule, starts the data stream detection, and feeds back to the SMF after the start is successful;

step 24, the NEF sends the detection result to the application.

In the embodiment, the service flow of the terminal is detected by carrying out service flow detection to generate a data flow detection rule and based on the detection result of the data flow detection rule, so that the difficulty and unreliability of acquiring user information by the application can be reduced, and network nearby distribution is easy to carry out for the application call.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, after the step 24, the method may further include:

and step 25, according to the detection result, the service flow of the terminal is split. Optionally, step 25 may include:

step 251, after the terminal accesses the network, through the interaction between the anchor UPF and the SMF, the NEF receives the service flow detection event notification sent by the SMF; the service flow detection event notification is that after the anchor UPF receives the service flow of the terminal, the anchor UPF generates a service flow detection event according to a data flow detection rule and sends the service flow detection event to the SMF;

in step 252, the NEF sends the service flow detection event notification to an application, so that the application notifies the originating terminal of the service flow splitting request according to the service flow detection event notification.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, after step 252, the method may further include:

step 253, the NEF receives a splitting request for splitting the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result; optionally, the split request carries: at least one of the diversion reference information, the source address of the terminal and the corresponding application preferred destination address and sub-selection destination address, which are prioritized near the terminal or the application node.

Step 254, the NEF parses the list of the multiple terminals according to the offloading request, and sends an offloading policy request to the PCF; optionally, the offloading policy request carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a service flow identification, a split policy, and a split detection notification address.

And 255, enabling the SMF to insert a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to a diversion strategy sent by the PCF through interaction between the PCF and the SMF, and diverting the service flow of the terminal. Optionally, the splitting strategy carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a offload rule, a offload with priority near a terminal or priority near an application node, and a offload detection notification address.

In the embodiment of the invention, the distribution strategy is formed according to the application service flow and the network detection result, so that the data flow to be distributed can be screened out from a plurality of service flows used by the user more accurately, distribution is performed, and the promotion of the service effect of willingness to pay by the application is facilitated.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, after step 25, the method may further include:

and step 26, the NEF receives a shunt detection result sent by the SMF, wherein the shunt detection result is obtained by detecting and counting the outbound data stream sent to the application after the anchor UPF ULCL shunts and sending the outbound data stream to the SMF.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, after step 26, the method may further include: and step 27, if the shunt detection result indicates that the shunt is abnormal, the NEF invokes the PCF to generate a new shunt strategy and the PCF issues the new shunt strategy to the SMF, so that the SMF inserts a new UPF ULCL according to the received new shunt strategy to shunt the service flow of the terminal.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, after step 27, the method for splitting a service flow of a terminal may further include:

and step 28, sending a diversion result of diversion of the service flow of the terminal to the application.

As shown in fig. 4, the following describes a specific implementation procedure of the above embodiment in combination with a specific flow, and the implementation procedure for splitting a traffic flow based on the system shown in fig. 3 includes:

1. the NEF is detected by the application issuing service flow, and the NEF carries the protocol type, the destination address (URL or IP address) and the port of the data flow to be detected, and the service data flow characteristic mark (the offset and the identification value of the relative header in the IP message);

2. the NEF generates a data flow detection rule which is stored locally or in the UDR, wherein the data flow detection rule comprises addresses, ports, protocol types and service data flow characteristic marks of service flows and detection notification conditions (including accurate matching success notification, fuzzy matching success notification and the like) and notifies the addresses (NEF addresses);

3. NEF issues the generated data stream detection rule to SMF, SMF stores the related rule data, and modifies the detection notification address into SMF address;

4. the SMF sends the data flow detection rule to the anchor UPF, the anchor UPF carries out detection rule configuration after receiving the data flow detection rule, and starts to carry out detection of the rule-specified data flow;

5. after the anchor UPF is successfully started, sending a result notification to the SMF, after the SMF receives the result notification, sending a rule issuing result notification to the NEF, after the NEF receives the result notification, sending a detection rule issuing result notification to the application, and judging that the data flow detection rule is effective by the application according to the received result.

6. After the terminal is accessed to the network, the application instruction terminal sends a service request packet to the application server, and a request message is sent to an anchoring UPF (namely, a user plane functional entity which is currently used for stabilizing the service of a user, the anchoring UPF and the UPF ULCL are two different logic entities which can be on the same physical equipment or on different physical equipment), the anchoring UPF is matched with the issued data stream detection rule according to the data stream, and sends a detection event notification to the SMF according to the detection notification condition and the address, and carries a terminal source address and a destination address to the SMF;

7. After the SMF receives the information of the code number, the position and the like of the terminal according to the terminal address, and sends a service flow detection notification event to the NEF according to the notification address stored locally, wherein the service flow detection notification event carries the source address, the terminal position, the destination address and the terminal code number of the terminal and matches the event type and the service flow identifier;

8. NEF gathers and processes the detected service flow result, and sends the service flow detection notice to the application according to the processed result.

9. The application sends a diversion instruction for the service terminal list according to the detection result, carries diversion reference information of priority of the terminal close to/priority of the application node, and carries a terminal source address, a corresponding application preferred destination address and a corresponding sub-selection destination address;

10. the NEF analyzes the multi-terminal list, issues a distribution strategy request for the terminal address of the service to the PCF, carries the source address, the destination preferred address and the service flow identifier of the UE, and the distribution strategy suggestion (near terminal priority/near application node priority), and distributes a detection notification address (as NEF address);

11. the PCF correspondingly transmits a distribution strategy request to the SMF, and carries a terminal source address, a destination address, distribution rules and priorities (close to terminal priority/close to application node priority), and a distribution detection notification address (which is NEF address);

12. The SMF receives the distribution strategy information, and according to the terminal source IP address, the network outlet addresses to the application server, and consults the distribution strategy suggestion, inserts UPF ULCL into the data surface path of the appointed user, and distributes the data of the user;

13. after splitting, the UPF ULCL detects and counts the outbound data stream sent to the application

14. When the abnormal flow reduction or the abnormal flow increase occurs or the shunt time expires, the anchor UPF sends a shunt detection result to the SMF according to the notification address;

15. the SMF sends the shunt detection result to the NEF according to the notification address, and for abnormal shunt results, the SMF deletes the inserted UPF ULCL;

16. the NEF processes according to the received shunting detection event, and for the shunting abnormal result event, the NEF sends and uses the alternative application destination address and the like to issue the shunting strategy again, and the SMF reinserts the UPF ULCL to shunt after receiving the new shunting strategy;

17. and reporting the shunt final detection result to the application by the NEF, and carrying out corresponding processing by the application according to the received shunt result notification.

According to the embodiment of the invention, through flow detection and the corresponding flow distribution strategy generation flow, more complex flow distribution scenes can be intelligently dealt with, the acquired flow distribution results are increased to perform intelligent flow distribution optimization, so that the flow distribution success rate is improved, dynamic flow distribution can be performed according to the characteristics of service data flow, and local intelligent flow distribution nearby unloading is realized.

Compared with the scheme that the application provides user information (user terminal IP address, user code number) of the service to be used for distributing the appointed service flow, the scheme in the embodiment of the invention reduces the difficulty and unreliability of the application to acquire the user information by network detection perception and is easy to distribute the network nearby for application call; compared with the diversion scheme which uses DNN and S-NSSAI to do not distinguish users, the method can reduce the limitation of DNN, S-NSSAI and the like on the service used by the user terminal and improve the diversion success rate; according to the application service flow and the network detection result, a diversion strategy is formed, so that the data flow to be diverted can be screened out from a plurality of service flows used by a user more accurately, thereby diversion is performed, and the improvement of the service effect of application willing to pay is facilitated; through the detection notice of UPF, the network/application can carry out intelligent adjustment and processing according to the detection condition, thereby being beneficial to improving the success of diversion and the improvement of the business effect that the application is willing to pay.

Corresponding to the above method, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a network opening function NEF, including: the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a service flow detection request sent by an application; generating a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request, and sending the data flow detection rule to an SMF; the NEF receives a notification message of the detection result fed back by the SMF; and sending the detection result to the application.

after a terminal is accessed to a network, the NEF receives a service flow detection event notification sent by the SMF through interaction between an anchor UPF and the SMF; the service flow detection event notification is that after the anchor UPF receives the service flow of the terminal, the anchor UPF generates a service flow detection event according to a data flow detection rule and sends the service flow detection event to the SMF;

and sending the service flow detection event notification to an application, so that the application notifies a service flow distribution request of an initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification.

according to the distribution request, analyzing a list of a plurality of terminals, and sending a distribution strategy request to the PCF;

and through interaction between the PCF and the SMF, the SMF inserts a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to a diversion strategy sent by the PCF to divert the service flow of the terminal.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: and when the shunting detection result shows that the shunting is abnormal, calling a PCF to generate a new shunting strategy and issuing the new shunting strategy to the SMF by the PCF, so that the SMF inserts a new UPF ULCL according to the received new shunting strategy to shunt the service flow of the terminal.

It should be noted that all the implementation manners in the above method embodiments are applicable to the embodiments of the NEF, and the same technical effects can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for offloading traffic, applied to a session management function SMF, where the method includes:

step 51, the SMF receives a data flow detection rule sent by a network open function NEF; the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF according to a service flow detection request sent by an application;

step 52, the SMF sends the data flow detection rule to an anchor user plane function UPF;

and step 53, the SMF receives the detection result that the data flow detection rule fed back by the anchor UPF is effective, and sends the detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, the detection result is that the anchor UPF performs detection rule configuration after receiving the data stream detection rule, starts data stream detection, and feeds back to the SMF after the start is successful.

after a terminal is accessed to a network, the SMF receives a service flow detection event notification sent by the anchoring UPF; the service flow detection event notification is generated by the anchor UPF according to the data flow detection rule after receiving the service flow of the terminal;

and sending the service flow detection event notification to an application through the NEF, so that the application notifies a service flow diversion request of an initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification.

Optionally, after the sending, by the NEF, the service flow detection event notification to an application, the method further includes:

the SMF receives a distribution strategy sent by the PCF, wherein the distribution strategy is generated by the PCF according to the distribution strategy request, wherein the NEF receives the distribution request for distributing the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result, analyzes a list of a plurality of terminals according to the distribution request, and sends the distribution strategy request to the PCF;

and the SMF inserts a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to the distribution strategy sent by the PCF to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

the SMF receives a split detection result sent by the UPF ULCL, wherein the split detection result is obtained by detecting and counting an outbound data stream sent to an application after splitting the UPF ULCL, and is sent to the SMF;

the SMF sends the split detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, the method for splitting the service flow further includes:

the SMF receives a new shunting strategy sent by the PCF, wherein the new shunting strategy is that the NEF calls the PCF to generate the new shunting strategy and issues the new shunting strategy to the SMF when the shunting detection result shows that the shunting is abnormal;

Optionally, the method for splitting the service flow of the terminal further includes:

and sending a splitting result of splitting the service flow of the terminal to the application through the NEF.

Corresponding to the above method, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a session management function SMF, including: the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a data flow detection rule sent by the network opening function NEF; transmitting the data flow detection rule to an anchor user plane function UPF; and receiving a detection result of the data flow detection rule effective fed back by the anchoring UPF, and sending the detection result to the NEF.

after a terminal accesses a network, receiving a service flow detection event notification sent by the anchoring UPF; the service flow detection event notification is generated by the anchor UPF according to the data flow detection rule after receiving the service flow of the terminal;

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a distribution strategy sent by the PCF, wherein the distribution strategy is generated by the PCF according to the distribution strategy request, wherein the NEF receives the distribution request for distributing the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result, analyzes a list of multiple terminals according to the distribution request, and sends the distribution strategy request to the PCF;

and inserting a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to the distribution strategy sent by the PCF, and distributing the service flow of the terminal.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a split detection result sent by the UPF ULCL, wherein the split detection result is obtained by detecting and counting an outbound data stream sent to an application after splitting the UPF ULCL, and sending the outbound data stream to the SMF;

and sending the shunt detection result to the NEF.

Optionally, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving a new shunting strategy sent by the PCF, wherein the new shunting strategy is generated by calling the PCF and issued to the SMF when the shunting detection result shows that the shunting is abnormal;

It should be noted that all the implementation manners in the above method embodiments are applicable to the SMF embodiment, and the same technical effects can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for splitting a service flow, applied to an anchor user plane function UPF, where the method includes:

step 61, the anchor UPF receives a data flow detection rule sent by a session management function SMF, where the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF according to a service flow detection request sent by an application, and sends the data flow detection rule to the SMF;

Step 62, the anchor UPF sends the detection result of the data flow detection rule validation to the SMF.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the method may further include:

step 63, after the terminal accesses the network, the anchoring UPF generates a service flow detection event notification according to the data flow detection rule after receiving the service flow of the terminal;

step 64, the UPF sends the service flow detection event notification to the SMF; and the SMF sends the service flow detection event notification to an application through the NEF, so that the application notifies a service flow diversion request of an initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification.

It should be noted that all the implementation manners in the above method embodiments are applicable to the UPF embodiment, and the same technical effects can be achieved.

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a data flow detection rule sent by the session management function SMF, wherein the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF according to a service flow detection request sent by an application and is sent to the SMF; and sending the detection result of the effective data flow detection rule to the SMF.

In an optional embodiment of the invention, the transceiver module may be further configured to, after the terminal accesses the network, generate a service flow detection event notification according to a data flow detection rule after receiving a service flow of the terminal; sending the service flow detection event notification to an SMF; and the SMF sends the service flow detection event notification to an application through the NEF, so that the application notifies a service flow diversion request of an initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a communication device, which comprises: a processor, a memory storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor, performs the method as described above. All the implementation manners in the method embodiment are applicable to the SMF embodiment, and the same technical effect can be achieved. It should be noted that, the terminal is a network device corresponding to the method shown in fig. 2 or fig. 5, and all implementation manners in the method embodiment are applicable to the embodiment, so that the same technical effects can be achieved. The apparatus may further include: a memory; the transceiver and the processor, and the transceiver and the memory may be connected through a bus interface, the function of the transceiver may be implemented by the processor, and the function of the processor may also be implemented by the transceiver.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method as described above. All the implementation manners in the method embodiment are applicable to the SMF embodiment, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the 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 invention.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the embodiments provided in the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

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

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.

Furthermore, it should be noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that the components or steps may be disassembled and/or assembled. Such decomposition and/or recombination should be considered as equivalent aspects of the present invention. Also, the steps of performing the series of processes described above may naturally be performed in chronological order in the order of description, but are not necessarily performed in chronological order, and some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that all or any of the steps or components of the methods and apparatus of the present invention may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof in any computing device (including processors, storage media, etc.) or network of computing devices, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this description of the invention.

The object of the invention can thus also be achieved by running a program or a set of programs on any computing device. The computing device may be a well-known general purpose device. The object of the invention can thus also be achieved by merely providing a program product containing program code for implementing said method or apparatus. That is, such a program product also constitutes the present invention, and a storage medium storing such a program product also constitutes the present invention. It is apparent that the storage medium may be any known storage medium or any storage medium developed in the future. It should also be noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that the components or steps may be disassembled and/or assembled. Such decomposition and/or recombination should be considered as equivalent aspects of the present invention. The steps of executing the series of processes may naturally be executed in chronological order in the order described, but are not necessarily executed in chronological order. Some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations can be made without departing from the principles of the present invention, and such modifications and adaptations are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for offloading traffic, applied to a network opening function, NEF, entity, the method comprising:

the NEF entity receives a service flow detection request sent by an application;

the NEF entity generates a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request and sends the data flow detection rule to a session management function SMF entity;

the NEF entity receives a notification message of a detection result fed back by the SMF entity;

the NEF sends the detection result to the application;

the method further comprises the steps of:

after a terminal accesses a network, the NEF entity receives a service flow detection event notification sent by the SMF entity through the interaction between an anchor UPF entity and the SMF entity;

the NEF entity sends the service flow detection event notification to an application, so that the application notifies a service flow diversion request of an initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification;

The NEF entity receives a distribution request for distributing the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result;

the NEF entity analyzes the list of the multiple terminals according to the distribution request and sends a distribution strategy request to the PCF entity;

and through interaction between the PCF entity and the SMF entity, the SMF entity inserts a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to a distribution strategy sent by the PCF entity to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

2. The method of splitting traffic as recited in claim 1, wherein the traffic detection request carries at least one of a protocol type, a destination address, a port, and a traffic data flow signature of the data flow to be detected.

3. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 1, wherein the data flow detection rule comprises: at least one of a protocol type of the data flow, a destination address, a port, a traffic data flow characteristic flag, a detection notification condition, and a notification address.

4. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 1, wherein the traffic detection event notification carries: at least one of a source address, a destination address, a location of the terminal, a code number of the terminal, a type of the matching event, and a service flow identification of the terminal.

5. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 1, wherein the offloading request carries: at least one of the diversion reference information, the source address of the terminal and the corresponding application preferred destination address and sub-selection destination address, which are prioritized near the terminal or the application node.

6. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 1, wherein the offloading policy request carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a service flow identification, a split policy, and a split detection notification address.

7. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 1, wherein the offloading policy carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a offload rule, a offload with priority near a terminal or priority near an application node, and a offload detection notification address.

8. The method for splitting traffic as recited in claim 1, further comprising, after splitting the traffic of the terminal:

and the NEF entity receives the split detection result sent by the SMF entity.

9. The method of splitting traffic as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

And if the shunting detection result indicates that the shunting is abnormal, invoking a PCF entity to generate a new shunting strategy and issuing the new shunting strategy to the SMF entity by the PCF entity.

10. The method of splitting traffic as recited in claim 1 or 9, further comprising:

and sending a shunting result of shunting the service flow of the terminal to the application.

11. A network open function, NEF, entity, comprising:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a service flow detection request sent by an application; generating a data flow detection rule according to the service flow detection request, and sending the data flow detection rule to a Session Management Function (SMF) entity; the NEF entity receives a notification message of a detection result fed back by the SMF entity; sending the detection result to the application;

the transceiver module is further configured to:

after the terminal is accessed to the network, the service flow detection event notification sent by the SMF entity is received through the interaction between the anchor UPF entity and the SMF entity;

sending the service flow detection event notification to an application, so that the application initiates a service flow diversion request of a terminal according to the service flow detection event notification;

Receiving a distribution request for distributing the service flow of the terminal, which is sent by the application according to the detection result;

according to the distribution request, analyzing a list of a plurality of terminals, and sending a distribution strategy request to a PCF entity;

12. The network opening function, NEF, entity according to claim 11, wherein said transceiving module is further adapted to: and when the shunting detection result shows that the shunting is abnormal, invoking a PCF entity to generate a new shunting strategy and issuing the new shunting strategy to the SMF entity by the PCF entity.

13. A method for offloading traffic, the method being applied to a session management function, SMF, entity, the method comprising:

the SMF entity receives a data flow detection rule sent by a network opening function (NEF) entity; the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF entity according to a service flow detection request sent by an application;

the SMF entity sends the data flow detection rule to an anchor user plane function UPF entity;

The SMF entity receives a detection result that the data flow detection rule fed back by the anchoring UPF entity takes effect and sends the detection result to the NEF entity, wherein the detection result is used for sending the detection result to the application;

wherein the method further comprises:

after a terminal accesses a network, the SMF entity receives a service flow detection event notification sent by the anchoring UPF entity;

sending the traffic flow detection event notification to the NEF entity; the service flow detection event notification is used for sending to the application and a distribution request of the service flow of the application initiating terminal, wherein the distribution request is used for analyzing a list of a plurality of terminals by the NEF entity so as to send a distribution strategy request to the PCF entity;

the SMF entity receives a shunting strategy sent by the PCF entity;

and the SMF entity inserts a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to the distribution strategy sent by the PCF entity to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

14. The method of offloading traffic according to claim 13, wherein the traffic detection request carries at least one of a protocol type, a destination address, a port, and a traffic data flow signature of the data flow to be detected.

15. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 13, wherein the data flow detection rule comprises: at least one of a protocol type of the data flow, a destination address, a port, a traffic data flow characteristic flag, a detection notification condition, and a notification address.

16. The method of traffic flow splitting according to claim 13, wherein the traffic flow detection event notification carries: at least one of a source address, a destination address, a location of the terminal, a code number of the terminal, a type of the matching event, and a service flow identification of the terminal.

17. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 13, wherein the offloading request carries: at least one of the diversion reference information, the source address of the terminal and the corresponding application preferred destination address and sub-selection destination address, which are prioritized near the terminal or the application node.

18. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 13, wherein the offloading policy request carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a service flow identification, a split policy, and a split detection notification address.

19. The method for offloading traffic according to claim 13, wherein the offloading policy carries: at least one of a terminal source address, a destination address, a offload rule, a offload with priority near a terminal or priority near an application node, and a offload detection notification address.

20. The method for splitting traffic as recited in claim 13, further comprising, after splitting traffic for the terminal:

the SMF entity receives a split detection result sent by the UPF ULCL;

and the SMF entity sends the split detection result to the NEF entity.

21. The method of splitting traffic as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

the SMF entity receives a new distribution strategy sent by the PCF entity;

and the SMF entity inserts a new UPF ULCL according to the received new distribution strategy to distribute the service flow of the terminal.

22. A method of splitting a traffic flow according to claim 13 or 21, further comprising:

and sending a splitting result of splitting the service flow of the terminal to the NEF entity.

23. A session management function, SMF, entity, comprising:

The receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a data flow detection rule sent by the network open function NEF entity; the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF entity according to a service flow detection request sent by an application; transmitting the data flow detection rule to an anchor user plane function UPF entity; receiving a detection result of the data flow detection rule effective fed back by the anchoring UPF entity, and sending the detection result to the NEF entity, wherein the detection result is used for sending the detection result to the application;

wherein, the transceiver module is further used for:

after the terminal is accessed to the network, receiving a service flow detection event notification sent by the anchoring UPF entity;

receiving a shunting strategy sent by a PCF entity;

and inserting a UPF ULCL user plane function uplink classifier according to a distribution strategy sent by the PCF entity, and distributing the service flow of the terminal.

24. The session management function, SMF, entity of claim 23, wherein said transceiver module is further configured to:

receiving a split detection result sent by the UPF ULCL;

and sending the split detection result to the NEF entity.

25. The session management function, SMF, entity of claim 24, wherein said transceiver module is further configured to:

receiving a new distribution strategy sent by the PCF entity;

26. A method for offloading traffic, applied to an anchor user plane function UPF entity, the method comprising:

the anchoring UPF entity receives a data flow detection rule sent by a session management function SMF entity; the data flow detection rule is sent to the SMF entity by a NEF entity, and the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF entity according to a service flow detection request sent by an application;

the anchoring UPF entity sends a detection result of the effective data flow detection rule to the SMF entity, wherein the detection result is used for being sent to the NEF entity and the application;

Wherein the method further comprises:

after the terminal is accessed to the network, the anchoring UPF entity generates a service flow detection event notification according to a data flow detection rule after receiving the service flow of the terminal;

the UPF entity sends the service flow detection event notification to an SMF entity; and the SMF entity sends the service flow detection event notification to an application through the NEF entity, so that the application notifies the service flow distribution request of the initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification.

27. An anchor user plane function, UPF, entity, comprising:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a data flow detection rule sent by a Session Management Function (SMF) entity, wherein the data flow detection rule is sent to the SMF entity by a NEF entity, and the data flow detection rule is generated by the NEF entity according to a service flow detection request sent by an application; transmitting a detection result of the effective data flow detection rule to the SMF entity, wherein the detection result is used for transmitting the NEF entity and the application;

the transceiver module is further configured to:

after a terminal is accessed to a network, generating a service flow detection event notification according to a data flow detection rule after receiving a service flow of the terminal;

Sending the service flow detection event notification to an SMF entity; and the SMF entity sends the service flow detection event notification to an application through the NEF entity, so that the application notifies the service flow distribution request of the initiating terminal according to the service flow detection event notification.

28. A communication device, comprising: a processor, a memory storing a computer program which, when run by the processor, performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or any one of claims 13 to 22, or claim 26.

29. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 10, or any one of claims 13 to 22, or claim 26.