CN113965938B

CN113965938B - Slice service system and slice service processing method

Info

Publication number: CN113965938B
Application number: CN202010628078.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨振东; 陈旭东; 冯铭能; 彭发龙; 肖慧桥; 龙柯; 李文彬; 石钰
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-02
Filing date: 2020-07-02
Publication date: 2023-07-18
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-02
Also published as: CN113965938A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a slice service system and a slice service processing method, wherein the slice service system comprises the following components: the method comprises the steps that a user terminal UE, an arrangement coordinator, wireless network equipment, load-bearing network equipment, core network equipment and a server are arranged, the arrangement coordinator is arranged in an operator core cloud, the server is arranged in an operator convergence layer edge cloud, meanwhile, the arrangement coordinator is provided with a network slicing management function NSMF, the wireless network equipment, the load-bearing network equipment and the core network equipment are provided with network sub-slicing management functions NSSMF, differentiated and customized service experience is provided for slicing service users of different slicing service clients through network slicing, the requirement that a communication operator opens network slicing service for the slicing service clients and the requirement that the slicing service users provide network slicing service for the slicing service clients are met, and therefore the extreme requirements of high-end slicing service clients and slicing service users on network performance are met.

Description

Slice service system and slice service processing method

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a slicing service system and a slicing service processing method.

Background

When the edge cloud is deployed, operators and service application providers face the problem of balancing the user experience of ensuring network performance and controlling the deployment operation cost, and the deployment position of the edge cloud in the network needs to be comprehensively considered. According to the ideal scheme, edge clouds are deployed on the sink nodes, meanwhile, fixed and mobile comprehensive bearing networks are deployed on the edge clouds of the sink layers, various service applications are deployed on the edge cloud servers of the sink layers by service application providers, the service applications are accessed by users nearby, the service experience of the fixed and mobile users is guaranteed, and meanwhile, the service deployment cost of operators is reduced by saving the transmission bandwidth of the networks above the sink layers.

However, when the terminal devices in the same area perform service access, the same set of network devices is adopted to forward service data between the user device and the server, so as to provide differentiated services for users, and in the prior art, the service quality (quality of service, qoS) priority is guaranteed for wireless network, bearer network, core network and data network resources used by the data flows by arranging a coordinator according to service level agreements (service level agreement, SLA) signed by the users when the services are opened.

However, in some cases, such as the case where users of a certain or certain service applications use the solution in a centralized manner, there still exist problems of poor performance such as delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, and the like, which results in poor user experience.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a slice service system and a slice service processing method, which are used for solving the problems of poor performance such as time delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and the like in the prior art when users use the slice service system in a concentrated mode.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice service system, including:

the system comprises a user terminal (UE), an orchestration coordinator, wireless network equipment, carrier network equipment, core network equipment and a server;

the UE supports a slicing function, and an application client of a business application is installed on the UE;

the arrangement coordinator is deployed in the core cloud of the operator and has a network slice management function NSMF, a service arrangement and network coordination function and an operator capacity opening function;

the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment all have a network sub-slice management function NSSMF, the wireless network equipment is used for bearing wireless network sub-slices, the bearing network equipment is used for bearing network sub-slices, and the core network equipment is used for bearing core network sub-slices;

The server is deployed on the edge cloud of the convergence layer of the operator, and an application server of the business application is installed on the server.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a slice service processing method, which is applied to the slice service system described above, where the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that User Equipment (UE) receives a first data part sent by core network equipment, wherein the first data part comprises a slice identifier of a network slice which is allowed to be used by a slice service user corresponding to the UE;

when the slicing service user uses the corresponding service application in the slicing service area through an application client installed on the UE, the UE performs signaling interaction with core network equipment according to the first data part, and selects and occupies a network slice corresponding to the slicing identification, so that the application client establishes a service session and performs service interaction with the application server installed on the server through the network slice.

Optionally, before the user equipment UE receives the first data portion sent by the core network device, the method further includes:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service opening request from an operator accounting system, wherein the slicing service opening request comprises a user identifier of a slicing service user corresponding to the UE, the slicing identifier, a client identifier and an application identifier;

The orchestration coordinator checks the validity and correspondence consistency of the slicing service opening request;

when determining that the slicing service opening request has validity and correspondence consistency, the orchestration coordinator generates a slicing subscription data configuration instruction according to the slicing service opening request;

the orchestration coordinator sends the slice subscription data configuration instruction to core network equipment;

the core network equipment configures slice subscription data for the slice service user corresponding to the user identifier according to the slice subscription data configuration instruction;

and after the UE completes startup network access in the slicing service area, the core network equipment transmits the first data part to the UE.

Optionally, when the slice service user corresponding to the user identifier uses the corresponding service application through the application client installed on the UE in the slice service area, the UE performs signaling interaction with the core network device according to the first data portion, and selects and occupies a network slice corresponding to the slice identifier, so that before the application client establishes a service session with the application server installed on the server through the network slice and performs service interaction, the method further includes:

The UE stores the first data portion.

Optionally, before the orchestration coordinator obtains the slice service provisioning request from the operator accounting system, the method further comprises:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service opening request from the operator accounting system, wherein the slicing service opening request comprises the client identifier, the application identifier and the slicing identifier;

when determining that the slicing service opening request has validity and correspondence consistency, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slicing service opening request to generate a wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, a carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction and a core network sub-slice configuration instruction;

the orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, the carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction and the core network sub-slice configuration instruction to wireless network equipment, carrier network equipment and core network equipment respectively;

the wireless network device, the bearing network device and the core network device configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction.

Optionally, the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction, including:

the wireless network equipment configures wireless network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier according to the wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction;

the carrier network equipment configures carrier network slice data corresponding to the slice identifier according to the carrier network slice configuration instruction;

and the core network equipment configures core network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier according to the core network sub-slice configuration instruction.

Optionally, after the core network device configures the slice subscription data for the slice service user corresponding to the user identifier according to the slice subscription data configuration instruction, the method further includes:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system, wherein the slicing service closing request comprises the user identifier, the client identifier, the application identifier and the slicing identifier;

the orchestration coordinator checks the validity and correspondence consistency of the slicing service closing request;

When determining that the slice service closing request has validity and correspondence consistency, the orchestration coordinator generates a slice subscription data deleting instruction according to the slice service closing request;

the orchestration coordinator sends the slice subscription data deleting instruction to the core network equipment;

and the core network equipment deletes the slice subscription data corresponding to the user identifier, the application identifier and the slice identifier according to the slice subscription data deleting instruction.

Optionally, after the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction, the method further includes:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system, wherein the slicing service closing request comprises the client identifier, the application identifier and the slicing identifier;

when determining that the slicing service closing request has validity and correspondence consistency, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slicing service closing request to generate a wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, a carrier network sub-slice deleting instruction and a core network sub-slice deleting instruction;

The orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, the carrier network sub-slice deleting instruction and the core network sub-slice deleting instruction to the wireless network equipment, the carrier network equipment and the core network equipment respectively;

and the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment delete the corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice deleting instruction.

Optionally, the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device delete corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice deletion instruction, including:

the wireless network equipment deletes the wireless network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier according to the wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction;

the carrier network equipment deletes the carrier network slice data corresponding to the slice identifier according to the carrier network slice deleting instruction;

and the core network equipment deletes the core network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier according to the core network sub-slice deleting instruction.

Optionally, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service provisioning request from an operator accounting system, including:

The orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service provisioning request from the operator billing system through a first application program interface API.

Optionally, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service provisioning request from an operator accounting system, including:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service provisioning request from the operator billing system through a second application program interface API.

Optionally, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service close request from an operator accounting system, including:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service close request from the operator's accounting system through the first application program interface API.

Optionally, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service close request from an operator accounting system, including:

the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service close request from the operator's accounting system through the second application program interface API.

The slicing service system and the slicing service processing method provided by the embodiment of the application, wherein the slicing service system comprises the following components: the system comprises a user terminal (UE), an orchestration coordinator, wireless network equipment, carrier network equipment, core network equipment and a server; the UE supports a slicing function, and an application client of a business application is installed on the UE; the orchestration coordinator is deployed in the core cloud of the operator and has a network slice management function NSMF, a service orchestration and network collaboration function and an operator capacity opening function; the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment all have a network sub-slice management function NSSMF, the wireless network equipment is used for bearing the wireless network sub-slice, the bearing network equipment is used for bearing the bearing network sub-slice, and the core network equipment is used for bearing the core network sub-slice; the server is deployed on the edge cloud of the convergence layer of the operator, and an application server of the business application is installed on the server. The method and the device meet the requirements of a communication operator for opening network slicing for slicing service clients and providing network slicing service for slicing service users, realize differentiated and customized service experience for slicing service users of different slicing service clients through network slicing, and ensure the network performance, such as time delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and the like, of the slicing service users when the slicing service users use slicing service, are only related to the network slicing used by the slicing service users and are irrelevant to time periods, user numbers and the like, so that the time delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and the like of the slicing service users can be ensured even in the time period of centralized use of the users, and the service experience of the slicing service users is improved.

Drawings

For a clearer description of the technical solutions of the present application or of the prior art, the drawings that are used in the description of the embodiments or of the prior art will be briefly described, it being obvious that the drawings in the description below are some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture based on edge cloud in the prior art;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a slice service system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a first embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a second embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a third embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a fourth embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a fifth embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples are not representative of all implementations consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the accompanying claims.

First, terms related to the embodiments of the present application will be explained:

network slice: a network deployed on a physical infrastructure to support logical isolation of a particular network capability from network characteristics may include a complete end-to-end whole network of wireless networks, bearer networks, and core networks. One network slice is a logic network which runs truly, and can meet certain network characteristics or service requirements. The network slice has three characteristics of 'customization on demand', 'end-to-end', 'isolation', can provide network services deployed on demand from end-to-end dynamically, and ensures that the network slices have independent life cycle management and do not affect each other. A network slice may be a collection of network functions divided by network domain, consisting of a set of network sub-slices, such as a radio network sub-slice, a carrier network sub-slice, and a core network sub-slice.

Network sub-slice: network subslice do not need to provide end-to-end network services, and network subslice generally refer to either radio network subslice, bearer network subslice, or core network subslice.

Business application: various internet, digital upper layer business applications for various industries, including various enhanced broadband (enhanced mobile broadband, eMBB), ultra-high reliability and low latency communication (ultra-reliable and low latency communications, uirllc), mass machine type communication (massive machine type of communication, mctc) business applications such as high definition video, virtual Reality (VR), augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), cloud gaming, etc.

Slice service client (simply referred to as client): the provider of the service application provides various slice services corresponding to the service application developed by the provider of the service application for the slice service user by integrating and using resources such as network slices, clouds and platforms of the communication carrier, such as wireless network, bearer network, core network, orchestration coordinator, infrastructure as a service (infrastructure as a service, IAAS) resource of the convergence layer edge cloud server, platform as a service (platform as a service, PAAS) resource of the convergence layer edge cloud server, and the like. A provider of a service application is a slice service client, such as a video service company or a video service team of an internet company, for a communications carrier. The communication carrier allocates a unique slice service client identifier, abbreviated as client identifier, to each slice service client. In general, the slice service client may be either any third party client (external client) or some service team (internal client) within the communications carrier. It should be noted that, if a certain service application provider provides multiple slice services, such as high-definition video, cloud game, VR, etc., at the same time, the requirement provider of each slice service of the service application provider is an independent slice service client for a communication carrier, and a corresponding client identifier unique inside the carrier is allocated.

Slice service user (user for short): the users using the slicing service provided by a slicing service client, the slicing service users are the same as the communication operators used by the slicing service client, each slicing service user also has a slicing service user identifier, which is abbreviated as a user identifier and is used for uniquely identifying one slicing service user, and the user identifier is usually a mobile user international integrated services digital network number (mobile subscriber international integrated service digital network number, MSISDN) or an international mobile subscriber identity (international mobile subscriber identity, IMSI) of the slicing service user.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture based on an edge cloud in the prior art. As shown in fig. 1, the network architecture generally includes a user device, an access device, a forwarding device, an edge cloud server, and a control device. The access device is used for receiving the service request from the terminal device and sending the service request to the forwarding device, so that the forwarding device sends the service request to the edge cloud server, the edge cloud server sends a corresponding service request response to the forwarding device after receiving the service request, and the forwarding device sends the service request response to the access device, so that the access device sends the service request response to the terminal device, and one-time information interaction between the terminal device and the edge cloud server is completed. In the whole interaction process, the control equipment is used for generating configuration instructions according to service guarantee requirements so as to guarantee QoS priority of network resources such as wireless network, bearing network, core network and the like used by service data flows corresponding to service requests.

The main idea of the technical scheme of the application is as follows: in the prior art, when the user equipment in the same area performs service access, the same set of network equipment is adopted to forward service data between the user equipment and the server, so that even if differentiated and customized services are provided for users through a service protocol signed by the users, the problem of poor performance such as time delay, bandwidth, jitter and packet loss still exists under the condition that the users intensively use the services, and the user experience is poor. Based on the problems existing in the prior art, the technical scheme of the application is based on the edge cloud of the convergence layer, and by configuring a network slice management function (network slice management function, NSMF) for the orchestration coordinator and integrating network sub-slice management functions (network slice subnet management function, NSSMF) in each network element management platform, a communication operator is ensured to be capable of opening or closing slice services for slice service clients according to the requirements of the slice service clients and opening or closing slice services for the slice service clients according to the requirements of the slice service clients, when the slice service clients of a certain slice service clients use corresponding service applications, a User Equipment (UE) selects and occupies a designated network slice, so that the slice service users access the corresponding service applications through special channels, thereby meeting the extreme requirements of the slice service users on indexes such as time delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and the like, and improving the service experience of the slice service users.

It should be noted that, the technical solution of the present application is not only applicable to network architectures based on the convergence layer edge cloud, but also applicable to other network architectures, such as network architectures based on the core cloud.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a slice service system according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 2, in an embodiment of the present application, the slice service system includes: user terminal UE, orchestration coordinator, wireless network device, bearer network device, core network device and server.

The UE supports a slicing function, namely a function of selecting and using a designated network slice to carry out service communication, and an application client of a service application is installed on the UE.

The cloud game application client is installed on the UE, and accordingly, when a user using the UE uses the cloud game through the cloud game application client, the UE selects a network slice corresponding to the cloud game to conduct business data interaction.

The orchestration coordinator is deployed in the core cloud of the operator, and in this embodiment, NSMF is newly added to the orchestration coordinator, so that the orchestration coordinator can control the network device to configure one or more network slice channels according to the slicing service opening request.

In addition, the orchestration coordinator also has a business orchestration and network collaboration function and a communication carrier capability opening function.

In the process of opening the slicing service, the orchestration coordinator performs transaction consistency management on the execution process and the result of the network sub-slice configuration instructions respectively sent to the wireless network equipment, the carrier network equipment and the core network equipment through the service orchestration and network coordination functions, namely, ensures that all instructions are successfully executed, and if one or some network equipment configuration instructions are unsuccessfully executed, the orchestration coordinator performs corresponding rollback operation or prompts personnel of a communication operator to perform manual intervention.

Illustratively, the communication carrier capability opening function may include the following capabilities: the service arrangement capability, cloud network coordination capability, platform service capability and the like are opened to service application providers, such as providing slicing service, qoS guarantee service, new service and new product full life cycle management service and the like.

The wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device are collectively referred to as network devices, where in this embodiment, the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device all have NSSMF, and the wireless network device is used for carrying a wireless network sub-slice, the carrier network device is used for carrying a carrier network sub-slice, and the core network device is used for carrying a core network sub-slice. In the process of opening the slicing service, the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment can configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to a network sub-slice configuration instruction issued by the arrangement coordinator, and form a network sub-slice channel, including a wireless network sub-slice channel, a bearing network sub-slice channel and a core network sub-slice channel, wherein the logic interfaces of the wireless network sub-slice channel and the bearing network sub-slice channel are in one-to-one mapping correspondence, and the logic interfaces of the bearing network sub-slice channel and the core network sub-slice channel are also in one-to-one mapping correspondence.

The server is deployed on the edge cloud of the convergence layer of the operator, an application server corresponding to the application client on the UE is installed on the server, and the server performs service interaction with the application client installed on the UE through the application server, so that the Internet and digital service are provided for the user.

In this embodiment, by disposing the server of the service application in the edge cloud of the convergence layer of the operator, the hop count of data transmission when the server performs service interaction with the UE is reduced, and the transmission delay is reduced, and at the same time, NSSMF is opened for the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device by opening NSMF for the orchestration coordinator, so that the requirements of the communication operator for opening network slicing service for slicing service clients and providing network slicing service for slicing service users are met, thereby realizing differentiated and customized service experience for slicing service users of different slicing service clients through network slicing, and network performance, such as delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, etc., of the users when using the service is only related to network slicing used by the slicing service users, but not related to time periods, user numbers, etc., so that even in the time periods of centralized use of the users, the performance of delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, etc., of the slicing service users can be ensured, and the service experience of the slicing service users is further improved.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a first embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, where the service processing method provided in the embodiment is applied to the slice service system shown in fig. 2, and as shown in fig. 3, the slice service processing method in the embodiment includes:

s101, the UE receives a first data part sent by core network equipment.

S102, the UE stores the first data part.

In S101-S102, after the UE completes the startup network access procedure according to the user operation in the slice service area, in order to ensure that the UE can use a specific network slice to perform data access of a specific service application, the core network device sends a first data portion to the UE, so that the UE stores the first data portion, where the first data portion includes a slice identifier of the network slice that allows the user corresponding to the UE to use.

The user corresponding to the UE is a slice service user using the UE, each user has a unique determined user identification, and the user identification is stored in the UE.

The first data part is generated according to slice configuration data of the operator core network and slice subscription data of the user in a computing mode and is used for selecting a corresponding network slice by the user.

The slice identity of the network slice that the UE is allowed to use for the user is the identity of the network slice that the system is allowed to service for the user.

In this embodiment, since one or more network slices may be allowed to be used by one network slice user, the slice identifier of the network slice allowed to be used by the user corresponding to the UE in the first data portion may also be one or more.

Optionally, the first data portion may further include a slice identifier of the network slice that is rejected for use by the user corresponding to the UE.

The first data portion may be stored in a memory of the UE, and the memory may be a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a read-only memory (RAM), a nonvolatile memory (non-volatile memory), or the like. The first data portion is in a manner of covering the original data, for example, the newly generated first data portion covers the original first data portion when stored.

And S103, when the slicing service user uses the corresponding service application in the slicing service area through the application client side installed on the UE, the UE performs signaling interaction with the core network equipment according to the first data part, and selects and occupies the network slice corresponding to the slicing identifier, so that the application client side establishes a service session and performs service interaction with the application server side installed on the server through the network slice.

In this step, after the UE stores the first data portion, when the slicing service user uses the corresponding service application in the slicing service area through the application client installed on the UE, the UE performs signaling interaction with the core network device according to the stored first data portion, so as to select and occupy a network slice corresponding to the slicing identifier in the first data portion, and further ensure that the application client installed on the UE establishes a service session and performs service interaction with the application server installed on the server through the network slice.

The slice service area refers to an area range of a geographic position supporting slice service, namely an area which can be covered by a network slice.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first data part sent by the core network equipment is received and stored by the UE, the first data part comprises the slice identifier of the network slice which allows the user corresponding to the UE to use, when the user uses the corresponding service application in the slice service area through the application client installed on the UE, the UE performs service interaction with the core network equipment according to the first data part, thereby selecting and occupying the network slice corresponding to the slice identifier, so that the application client establishes a service session and performs service interaction with the application server installed on the server through the network slice, the UE can access the corresponding service application through a special channel, thereby meeting the extreme requirements of the slice service user on indexes such as time delay, bandwidth, jitter, packet loss and the like, and improving the service experience of the slice service user.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a second embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, where, based on the foregoing embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, before the user equipment UE in the embodiment receives the first data portion sent by the core network device, the slice service processing method in this embodiment further includes:

s201, the orchestration coordinator acquires a slicing service opening request from an operator tent system.

In this step, the operator billing system obtains a slicing service opening request from a platform of a certain slicing service client, where the slicing service opening request includes a user identifier of a slicing service user corresponding to the UE, a client identifier of a slicing service client to which the slicing service user belongs, an application identifier of a service application provided by the slicing service client, and a slicing identifier of a corresponding network slice, and accordingly, the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service opening request from the operator billing system.

User identification, which is a user identification of a slice service user using the UE, for uniquely identifying a slice service user, in a possible implementation, the user identification may be a mobile phone number MSISDN or IMSI number of the slice service user.

Customer identification, the identification of the slicing service customer to which the service subscriber belongs is served for the slice.

Application identification, identification of the service application provided for the slice service client.

It should be noted that, in general, a slice service user subscribes to a slice service of a service application provided by a slice service client at a time, so that the correspondence between the user identifier and the client identifier, the application identifier and the slice identifier is one-to-one correspondence, and there is no one-to-many situation. When one slice service user needs to subscribe to other slice services, additional separate operations are required. A user can open a plurality of slicing services provided by a plurality of slicing service clients through a plurality of orders, namely, in the final case, the corresponding relation between the user identification and the client identification, the application identification and the slicing identification can be one-to-one correspondence or one-to-many. For example, a user can open the slice service of a high-definition video service through one subscription, or can open the slice service of a plurality of services such as high-definition video, cloud game, VR/AR through multiple subscriptions.

The orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service provisioning request from the operator's accounting system, e.g., in one possible implementation, the orchestration coordinator provides an application program interface (application programming interface, API) to the outside, and the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service provisioning request from the operator's accounting system through the first API. The first API is an API for acquiring a slice service opening request.

In the implementation manner, the API is provided externally, so that the end-to-end slicing capability of the network operator is opened outwards, the network slicing capability of the network operator is flexibly called by a service application manufacturer with a low threshold, and differentiated and customized service quality guarantee is realized.

S202, the orchestration coordinator checks the validity and correspondence consistency of the cut-off service opening request.

In this step, the orchestration coordinator performs strict verification on the obtained validity and correspondence consistency of the slice service provisioning request, and specifically, the orchestration coordinator performs verification on the validity and correspondence consistency of the user identifier, the client identifier, the application identifier, and the slice identifier in the slice service provisioning request.

If the slice service opening request is determined to have no validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator returns a verification failure message to the operator accounting system, and if the slice service opening request is determined to have validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator executes S203-S206.

The validity refers to that the orchestration coordinator verifies whether the contents of fields such as user identification, client identification, application identification, slice identification and the like in the slice service opening request or the slice service opening request message are within the range specified by the business contracts of the operators and the service application providers. The contents of fields such as a user identifier, a client identifier, an application identifier, a slice identifier, etc. contained in the slice service opening request or the slice service opening request cannot exceed the range specified by the business contract.

The correspondence relationship consistency refers to that the orchestration coordinator verifies whether the correspondence relationship among the user identifier, the client identifier, the application identifier, the slice identifier and the API interface corresponding to the client in the slice service opening request or the slice service opening request message accords with normal logic, for example, the slice service opening request sent from the API interface corresponding to the client a cannot include the content of opening the slice service of the client B, and for example, the slice service opening request sent from the API interface corresponding to the client a cannot include the content of opening the slice service of the client B.

S203, the orchestration coordinator generates a slice subscription data configuration instruction according to the slice service opening request.

S204, the orchestration coordinator sends the slice subscription data configuration instruction to the core network equipment.

In S203-S204, the orchestration coordinator generates a slice subscription data configuration instruction according to the received slice service activation request, and sends the slice subscription data configuration instruction to the core network device, so that the core network device configures slice subscription data.

The slice subscription data configuration instruction is a control instruction for arranging the cooperator, and the slice subscription data configuration instruction is used for arranging the cooperator to control the core network equipment to configure the slice subscription data.

And S205, the core network equipment configures slice subscription data for the slice service user corresponding to the user identifier according to the slice subscription data configuration instruction.

In this step, after S204, the core network device configures slice subscription data for the slice service user corresponding to the user identifier in the slice service provisioning request according to the received slice subscription data configuration instruction, where the slice subscription data includes the user identifier, the application identifier, the slice identifier, and the content and the correspondence relationship of the slice selection parameter in the slice service provisioning request.

The application identifier in the slice subscription data is an identifier of a service application provided by a slice service client.

The slice identifier in the slice subscription data comprises a slice type of user subscription and a slice discriminator, wherein the slice type can comprise eMBB, uRLLC, mMTC and other types, the slice difference discriminator is optional configuration information and supplements the slice type so as to discriminate a plurality of network slices differentiated by the same slice type.

The slice selection parameters of the slice subscription data include data network names (data network name, DNN) for assisting the UE in selecting and occupying the corresponding network slice.

The corresponding relation of the slice subscription data represents the corresponding relation among the user identification, the application identification, the slice identification and the slice selection parameter. Operators can meet the different slicing selection policy requirements of different clients and different users through flexible corresponding relation configuration.

It can be understood that after the slicing service is opened, the core network device stores the slicing subscription data configured for the slicing service user, so as to ensure that when the slicing service user requests to access the corresponding service application, the core network device provides the slicing service for the slicing service user through the specific network slicing access and the service application provided by the specific slicing service client according to the slicing subscription data.

S206, after the UE completes the startup network access process in the slicing service area, the core network equipment transmits the first data part to the UE.

In this step, in order to ensure that the UE can select and occupy a suitable network slice and access a specific service application, after the UE completes a startup network access procedure in a slice service area, the core network device sends a first data portion in slice subscription data to the UE, where the first data portion includes a slice identifier of a network slice used by a slice service user corresponding to the allowed UE.

In this embodiment, before the UE receives the first data portion sent by the core network device, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service provisioning request from the operator accounting system, the orchestration coordinator generates a slice subscription data configuration instruction according to the slice service provisioning request, the orchestration coordinator sends the slice subscription data configuration instruction to the core network device, the core network device configures slice subscription data for a slice service user corresponding to the user identifier according to the slice subscription data configuration instruction, and after the UE completes a startup network access procedure in a slice service area, the core network device sends the first data portion to the UE to implement provisioning of the slice service, and provides a precondition for the slice service user to establish a service session and perform service interaction with an application server installed on a server through a network slice by using an application client installed on the UE.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a third embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and, on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 4, as shown in fig. 5, before the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service opening request from an operator accounting system, the method in this embodiment further includes:

s301, the orchestration coordinator acquires a slicing service opening request from an operator tent system, wherein the slicing service opening request comprises a client identifier, an application identifier and a slicing identifier.

In this step, the operator accounting system has a communication service management function (communication service management function, CSMF), and when it receives a slicing service requirement sent by a slicing service client, the operator accounting system converts the slicing service requirement of the slicing service client into a network slicing requirement, where the network slicing requirement includes a slicing identifier and deployment requirement information, such as a network capacity requirement, a service quality, and the like, and generates a slicing service opening request according to the network slicing requirement, and sends the slicing service opening request to the orchestration coordinator, where optionally, the slicing service opening request includes a client identifier of the slicing service client, an application identifier of a service application, and a slicing identifier. Accordingly, the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service provisioning request from the operator billing system.

In one possible implementation, the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service provisioning request from the operator billing system through the second API. The second API is an API for obtaining a slice service opening request, and the second API may be the same as or different from the first API.

S302, the orchestration coordinator checks the validity and correspondence consistency of the cut-off service opening request.

In this step, the specific implementation manner of the orchestration coordinator for verifying the validity and correspondence consistency of the cut-off service opening request is similar to S202, and will not be described here again.

If the slice service opening request is determined to have no validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator returns a verification failure message to the operator accounting system, and if the slice service opening request is determined to have validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator executes S303-S305.

S303, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slice service opening request to generate a wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, a carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction and a core network sub-slice configuration instruction.

In this step, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the acquired slicing service opening request through NSMF to obtain a network sub-slice requirement, specifically including a wireless network sub-slice requirement, a carrier network sub-slice requirement, and a core network sub-slice requirement, and generates a corresponding wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, a carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction, and a core network sub-slice configuration instruction.

S304, the orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, the bearing network sub-slice configuration instruction and the core network sub-slice configuration instruction to the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment respectively.

In this step, after S303, the orchestration coordinator sends the generated network sub-slice configuration instructions to the corresponding network devices, respectively, so that the corresponding network devices configure the corresponding network sub-slice data. Specifically, the orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction to the wireless network device, the carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction to the carrier network device, and the core network sub-slice configuration instruction to the core network device.

It can be appreciated that in this embodiment, the orchestration coordinator has a capability of communicating with the network devices of each network domain through the communication network, and the orchestration coordinator controls the standby network devices by sending control instructions to each network device. The wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, the carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction and the core network sub-slice configuration instruction are one of control instructions.

S305, the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction.

In this step, the wireless network device, the carrier network device and the core network device configure corresponding network sub-slice data and store the corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction through NSSMF, thereby forming a wireless network sub-slice channel, a carrier network sub-slice channel and a core network sub-slice channel.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, one slice identifier corresponds to a unique network slice channel, and since in order to provide end-to-end network services in the embodiment of the present application, one network slice channel is formed by one wireless network sub-slice, one carrier network sub-slice, and one core network sub-slice, that is, one slice identifier corresponds to a unique set of wireless network sub-slice channel, carrier network sub-slice channel, and core network sub-slice channel. Specifically:

the wireless network equipment configures wireless network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier in the slice service opening request according to the wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction to form a wireless network sub-slice channel;

the carrier network equipment configures carrier network slice data corresponding to the slice identifier in the slice service opening request according to the carrier network slice configuration instruction to form a carrier network slice channel;

And the core network equipment configures core network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier in the slice service opening request according to the core network sub-slice configuration instruction to form a core network sub-slice channel.

In addition, the orchestration coordinator also has the capability of service orchestration and network orchestration, in the process of slicing service opening, the execution process and the result of the network sub-slice data configuration instructions respectively sent to the wireless network equipment, the carrier network equipment and the core network equipment can be subjected to transaction consistency management, namely, all instructions are ensured to be executed successfully, and if the execution of a certain network equipment configuration instruction is unsuccessful, the orchestration coordinator carries out corresponding rollback operation or prompts operators to carry out manual intervention.

In this embodiment, a orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service opening request from an operator accounting system, where the slicing service opening request includes a client identifier, an application identifier and a slicing identifier, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slicing service opening request to generate a wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, a carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction and a core network sub-slice configuration instruction, and the orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice configuration instruction, the carrier network sub-slice configuration instruction and the core network sub-slice configuration instruction to a wireless network device, the carrier network device and the core network device, respectively, and configures corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction, thereby implementing slicing service opening based on requirements of slicing service clients, configuring specific network slices for different slicing service clients, and providing preconditions and network foundations for slicing service users of the slicing service clients to use corresponding slicing services.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a fourth embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 4 or fig. 5, as shown in fig. 6, the method in this embodiment further includes:

s401, the orchestration coordinator acquires a slicing service closing request from an operator tent system.

In this step, after the slicing service is opened, when the slicing service user no longer uses the corresponding slicing service or the corresponding slicing service expires, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service closing request from the operator tent system, where the slicing service closing request includes a user identifier, a client identifier, an application identifier and a slicing identifier, and the concrete implementation manner of the orchestration coordinator obtaining the slicing service closing request from the operator tent system is similar to that of obtaining the slicing service opening request.

It is noted that, if the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system through the API, the API used is the same as the API for obtaining the slicing service opening request, specifically, the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system through the first API.

S402, the orchestration coordinator checks the validity and correspondence consistency of the cut-off request.

In this step, the specific implementation manner of the orchestration coordinator for verifying the validity and correspondence consistency of the slice service close request is similar to S202, and will not be described here again.

If the slice service closing request is determined to have no validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator returns a verification failure message to the operator accounting system, and if the slice service closing request is determined to have validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator executes S403-S405.

S403, the orchestration coordinator generates a slice subscription data deletion instruction according to the slice service closing request.

S404, the orchestration coordinator sends a slice subscription data deleting instruction to the core network equipment.

In S403-S404, the orchestration coordinator generates a slice subscription data deletion instruction according to the received slice service closing request, and sends the slice subscription data deletion instruction to the core network device, so that the core network device deletes the slice subscription data.

The slice subscription data deleting instruction is an instruction for arranging the coordinator to delete the slice subscription data.

And S405, the core network equipment deletes the slice subscription data corresponding to the user identifier, the application identifier and the slice identifier according to the slice subscription data deleting instruction.

In this step, the core network device deletes the slice subscription data satisfying the mapping relationship among the user identifier, the client identifier, the application identifier and the slice identifier in the slice subscription data deletion instruction from the data storage module or the device according to the slice subscription data deletion instruction.

In this embodiment, the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system, and generates the slicing subscription data deleting instruction according to the slicing service closing request, and the orchestration coordinator sends the slicing subscription data deleting instruction to the core network device, and the core network device deletes the slicing subscription data corresponding to the user identifier, the application identifier and the slicing identifier according to the slicing subscription data deleting instruction, thereby meeting the requirement of the slicing service user for closing the opened slicing service, and being beneficial to improving the use satisfaction of the slicing service user.

Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may also modify an already opened slice service, for example, a slice service user wants to upgrade from a silver-plate user to a gold-plate user, and in one possible implementation, the already opened slice service is closed by executing S401-S405, and then a new slice service is opened by S201-S205.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a fifth embodiment of a slice service processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and on the basis of the embodiment shown in fig. 5, as shown in fig. 7, the method in this embodiment further includes:

s501, the orchestration coordinator acquires a slicing service closing request from an operator accounting system.

In this step, when the slice service client no longer uses a slice service or the lifetime of a slice service expires, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service close request from the operator accounting system, the slice service close request including a client identifier, an application identifier, and a slice identifier.

In this step, the specific embodiment of the orchestration coordinator obtaining the slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system is similar to the orchestration coordinator obtaining the slicing service opening request from the operator accounting system, and reference may be made to S301, which is not repeated here.

It is noted that, if the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system through the API, the API used when obtaining the slicing service closing request is the same as the API for obtaining the slicing service request, specifically, the orchestration coordinator obtains the slicing service closing request from the operator accounting system through the second API.

S502, the orchestration coordinator checks the validity and the correspondence consistency of the cut-off request.

If the slice service closing request is determined to have no validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator returns a verification failure message to the operator accounting system, and if the slice service closing request is determined to have validity and correspondence consistency through verification, the orchestration coordinator executes S503-S505.

S503, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slice service closing request to generate a wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, a bearing network sub-slice deleting instruction and a core network sub-slice deleting instruction.

In the step, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slice service closing request, and determines the wireless network sub-slice, the carrier network sub-slice and the core network sub-slice which need to be closed, thereby forming a wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, a carrier network sub-slice deleting instruction and a core network sub-slice deleting instruction.

S504, the orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, the bearing network sub-slice deleting instruction and the core network sub-slice deleting instruction to the wireless network equipment, the bearing network equipment and the core network equipment respectively.

In the step, the orchestration coordinator sends a wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction to the wireless network device, sends a bearing network sub-slice deleting instruction to the bearing network device, and respectively sends core network sub-slice deleting instructions to the core network device, so as to control the wireless network device, the bearing network device and the core network device to execute the deleting operation of corresponding network sub-slice data.

S505, the wireless network device, the bearing network device and the core network device delete the corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice deleting instruction.

In this step, the wireless network device, the carrier network device and the core network device delete the corresponding network sub-slice data from the modules and devices storing the network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice deletion instruction. Specifically:

the wireless network equipment deletes the wireless network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identification in the wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction according to the wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction;

the carrier network equipment deletes the carrier network slice data corresponding to the slice identifier in the carrier network slice deletion instruction according to the carrier network slice deletion instruction;

and the core network equipment deletes the core network sub-slice data corresponding to the slice identifier in the core network sub-slice deleting instruction according to the core network sub-slice deleting instruction.

In this embodiment, the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service closing request from the operator accounting system, the orchestration coordinator converts and decomposes the slice service closing request to generate a wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, a carrier network sub-slice deleting instruction and a core network sub-slice deleting instruction, the orchestration coordinator sends the wireless network sub-slice deleting instruction, the carrier network sub-slice deleting instruction and the core network sub-slice deleting instruction to the wireless network device, the carrier network device and the core network device respectively, and the wireless network device, the carrier network device and the core network device delete the corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice deleting instruction, thereby meeting the requirement of a slice service client for closing an opened slice service, and being beneficial to improving the use satisfaction of the slice service client.

Optionally, the embodiment of the present application may also modify an already opened slice service, for example, a certain slice service client wants to change from using network slice a to using network slice B, in one possible implementation, the already opened slice service is closed by executing S501-S505, and then a new slice service is opened by S301-S305.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some or all of the technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A slice service system, comprising:

2. A slice service processing method, applied to the slice service system of claim 1, the method comprising:

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein before the user equipment UE receives the first data portion sent by the core network device, the method further comprises:

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein when the slice service user uses a corresponding service application in a slice service area through an application client installed on the UE, the UE performs signaling interaction with a core network device according to the first data portion, and selects and occupies a network slice corresponding to the slice identifier, so that before the application client establishes a service session and performs service interaction with an application server installed on a server through the network slice, the method further comprises:

the UE stores the first data portion.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein before the orchestration coordinator obtains the slice service provisioning request from the operator billing system, the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction, comprising:

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein after the core network device configures slice subscription data for the slice service user corresponding to the user identifier according to the slice subscription data configuration instruction, the method further includes:

8. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein after the wireless network device, the bearer network device, and the core network device configure corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice configuration instruction, the method further comprises:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless network device, the carrier network device, and the core network device delete corresponding network sub-slice data according to the received network sub-slice delete instruction, comprising:

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service provisioning request from an operator billing system, comprising:

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the orchestration coordinator obtains a slicing service provisioning request from an operator billing system, comprising:

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service close request from an operator billing system, comprising:

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the orchestration coordinator obtains a slice service shutdown request from an operator billing system, comprising: