CN114642025A

CN114642025A - Communication method, communication equipment and storage medium based on local shunt

Info

Publication number: CN114642025A
Application number: CN201980101853.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陆伟; 周军平
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-18
Filing date: 2019-12-18
Publication date: 2022-06-17
Also published as: WO2021120058A1

Abstract

A communication method, a communication device and a storage medium based on local distribution are used for selecting a bearer capable of supporting local distribution of a data stream for a terminal device under the condition that the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution. In the embodiment of the application, a mobility management network element receives a service request sent by a terminal device, determines that a data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading according to a current position of the terminal device, selects a destination control plane service gateway network element supporting the local offloading of the data stream, and sends a first modified bearer request to the destination control plane service gateway network element, where the first modified bearer request is used to modify a bearer of the terminal device from a source control plane service gateway network element to the destination control plane service gateway network element. Therefore, the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the local distribution can be reselected for the terminal equipment by the target control plane service gateway network element, so that the local distribution of the data stream of the terminal equipment is realized.

Description

Communication method, communication equipment and storage medium based on local shunt

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method, a communication device, and a storage medium based on local offload.

Background

With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, new application scenarios and service requirements are continuously emerging, and the existing communication network gradually faces challenges.

The increase of internet traffic, the core network gateway and the backhaul link characterized by centralization, gradually become the bottleneck of data routing and forwarding. The data flooding pressure faced by the core network and the transport network is also increasing. The emergence of services such as virtual reality, augmented display, internet of vehicles, etc. requires strict requirements on end-to-end time delay. Therefore, local offloading is an important technical means for reducing time delay and relieving the core network pressure. In the prior art, local distribution of data streams is mainly realized by erecting a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform between a base station and a core network. Local offloading refers to data being transmitted through a local gateway (L-GW) to a local network and the internet instead of the core network.

When an initial Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session is established, the number of terminal devices is not locally split, and the bearer configured for the terminal devices by the network device does not support local splitting of data streams. However, the position of the terminal device is not constant, and when the terminal device moves to an area capable of supporting local data stream distribution, since the bearer configured for the terminal device cannot support the local data stream distribution technology, the data stream of the terminal device cannot be locally distributed.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a communication method, communication equipment and a storage medium based on local offloading, which are used for selecting a bearer capable of supporting local offloading of a data stream for a terminal equipment under the condition that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local offloading.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method based on local breakout, where the method includes: the method comprises the steps that a mobility management network element receives a service request sent by terminal equipment, wherein the service request carries indication information used for indicating the current position of the terminal equipment. And the mobility management network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the current position of the terminal equipment. And the mobility management network element selects a target control plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution. And the mobility management network element sends a first bearer modification request to the destination control plane service gateway network element, wherein the first bearer modification request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source control plane service gateway network element to the destination control plane service gateway network element. If the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, a destination control plane service gateway network element that can support local offloading again for the terminal device may be used. And the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the local distribution is reselected for the terminal equipment by the target control plane service gateway network element so as to realize the local distribution of the data stream of the terminal equipment.

In a possible embodiment, after determining that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, before selecting the destination control plane serving gateway network element, the mobility management network element further includes: and the mobility management network element determines that the source control plane service gateway network element does not support local data stream distribution. Therefore, the times of switching the load bearing can be reduced, and the signaling consumption can be saved.

In a possible embodiment, the first modify bearer request further includes: the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution; the first indication information is used for enabling the destination control plane service gateway network element to select a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution for the terminal device. In this way, it can be determined that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading only according to the first indication information, so that a scheme executed by the destination control plane service gateway network element can be simplified.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the mobility management network element according to the current location of the terminal device, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading includes: the mobility management network element acquires area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area; and if the mobility management network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution. In this way, personalized services can be provided for the terminal device, that is, local breakout of data flows can be supported in some areas, and local breakout of data flows can also not be supported in other areas.

In a possible implementation manner, the acquiring, by the mobility management network element, the area information of the terminal device includes: the mobility management network element acquires the area information of the terminal equipment through the subscription information of the terminal equipment; or; and the mobility management network element acquires the area information of the terminal equipment through policy control and charging rules. In this way, the flexibility of the scheme can be improved.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method based on local breakout, including: a control plane service gateway network element receives a second bearer modification request sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the second bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving a service request sent by terminal equipment; the control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution; the control plane service gateway network element selects a target user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution; and the control plane service gateway network element sends a load establishing request to the target user plane service gateway network element, wherein the load establishing request is used for modifying the load of the terminal equipment from a source user plane service gateway network element to the target user plane service gateway network element. If the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, a destination user plane service gateway network element that supports local offloading may be re-supported for the terminal device, so as to implement local offloading of the data stream of the terminal device.

In a possible embodiment, after determining that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, before selecting a destination user plane serving gateway network element, the method further includes: and the control plane service gateway network element determines that the source user plane service gateway network element does not support the local distribution of the data stream. Therefore, the times of switching the load bearing can be reduced, and the signaling consumption can be saved.

In a possible embodiment, the second modify bearer request further includes: first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution; the determining, by the control plane service gateway network element, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading includes: and the control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the first indication information. In this way, it can be determined that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading only according to the first indication information, so that a scheme executed by the destination control plane service gateway network element can be simplified.

In a possible implementation manner, the second modify bearer request carries indication information for indicating the current location of the terminal device; the determining, by the control plane service gateway network element, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading includes: the control plane service gateway network element acquires area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area; and if the control plane service gateway network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution. In this way, personalized services can be provided for the terminal device, that is, local breakout of data flows can be supported in some areas, and local breakout of data flows can also not be supported in other areas.

In one possible implementation, the obtaining, by the control plane serving gateway network element, area information of the terminal device includes: the control plane service gateway network element receives a session establishing request sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the session establishing request comprises the area information of the terminal equipment; the area information is obtained by the mobility management network element from subscription information of the terminal device. In another possible embodiment, the obtaining, by the control plane serving gateway network element, area information of the terminal device includes: the control plane service gateway network element receives a session establishment response sent by a packet data network gateway network element, wherein the session establishment response comprises the area information of the terminal equipment; the area information is obtained by the packet data network gateway network element from the policy control and charging rules of the terminal device. In this way, the flexibility of the scheme can be improved.

The present application also provides a communication device corresponding to any one of the methods of the first aspect to the second aspect. The communication device may be any transmitting device or receiving device that performs data transmission in a wireless manner. Such as a communication chip, or a network device (e.g., a base station, etc.). During communication, the device on the transmitting side and the device on the receiving side are opposite. In some communication processes, the communication device may be used as the network device or a communication chip for the network device. The network device may be a network device that can execute a scheme corresponding to the mobility management network element, or the network device may be a network device that can execute a scheme corresponding to the control plane service gateway network element.

In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit to execute any implementation manner of any communication method in the first aspect to the second aspect. The transceiving unit is used to perform functions related to transmission and reception. Optionally, the transceiver unit includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. In one design, the communication device is a communication chip, and the transceiving unit may be an input-output circuit or a port of the communication chip.

In another design, the transceiver unit may be a transmitter and a receiver, or the transceiver unit may be a transmitter and a receiver.

Optionally, the communication device further includes various modules operable to perform any one of the embodiments of the communication method of the first aspect to the second aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, where the communication device is the network device. Including a processor and memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a transceiver, wherein the memory is used for storing a computer program or instructions, and the processor is used for calling and executing the computer program or instructions from the memory, and when the processor executes the computer program or instructions in the memory, the communication device is enabled to execute any implementation mode of any communication method of the first aspect to the second aspect.

Optionally, the number of the processors is one or more, and the number of the memories is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or may be provided separately from the processor.

Optionally, the transceiver may include a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is operable to perform the method of any one of the first to second aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In another implementation, the communication device is a network device. When the communication device is a network device, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transmit-receive circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In yet another implementation, the communication device is a chip or a system of chips. When the communication device is a chip or a system of chips, the communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit on the chip or the system of chips, and the like. The processor may also be embodied as a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

In a sixth aspect, a system is provided, where the system includes the network device that can execute the scheme corresponding to the mobility management network element, and the network device that is configured to execute the scheme executed by the control plane serving gateway network element.

In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising: a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions), which when executed, causes a computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first aspect described above, or causes a computer to perform the method of any of the implementations of the first to second aspects described above.

In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (which may also be referred to as code or instructions) that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any of the possible implementations of the first aspect described above, or causes the computer to perform the method of any of the implementations of the first aspect to the second aspect described above.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a processing apparatus comprising: input circuit, output circuit and processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal via the input circuit and transmit a signal via the output circuit, such that the method of any one of the first to second aspects and any one of the possible implementations of the first to second aspects is implemented.

In a specific implementation process, the processing device may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a flip-flop, various logic circuits, and the like. The input signal received by the input circuit may be received and input by, for example and without limitation, a receiver, the signal output by the output circuit may be output to and transmitted by a transmitter, for example and without limitation, and the input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit that functions as the input circuit and the output circuit, respectively, at different times. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner of the processor and various circuits.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture to which the present invention is applicable;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an MEC architecture based on an LTE network applicable to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of another MEC network architecture based on an LTE network, which is applicable to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of another MEC architecture based on an LTE network applicable to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method based on local breakout according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method based on local breakout according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining that a data stream of a terminal device supports local offloading according to a current location of the terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method based on local breakout according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a method employing scheme a1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method using scheme a2 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable. Fig. 1 shows that 3GPP TS 23.214 describes a network architecture with separation of the gateway control plane and the user plane. Various network elements in a communication system are described in connection with fig. 1.

1. The terminal device 101.

The terminal device 101 may include various handheld devices having communication functions, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, and various forms of terminals such as a Mobile Station (MS), a terminal (terminal), a User Equipment (UE), a soft terminal, and so on, for example, a water meter, an electric meter, a sensor, a cell phone, an ipad, and so on.

2. Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 102.

The E-UTRAN102 may be a network of base stations (enodebs) that implement radio physical layer functions, resource scheduling and radio resource management, radio access control, and mobility management functions.

The E-UTRAN102 is connected to a user plane Serving Gateway (SGW-U) network element 105 through a user plane interface S1-U for transferring user data. The E-UTRAN102 is connected to a Mobility Management Module (MME) network element 103 through a control plane interface S1-MME, and implements functions such as radio access bearer control by using an S1-AP protocol.

3. A mobility management network element.

The mobility management element is a Network element having a mobility management function, and may be responsible for a control plane function of user session management, such as Non-access Stratum (NAS) signaling and security, management of a Tracking Area List (Tracking Area List), selection of a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) and Serving Gateway (SGW) Network element, and the like. For example, the Mobility Management network element may be a Mobility Management Entity (MME) network element 103.

4. A serving gateway network element.

The serving gateway network element may be responsible for data transmission, forwarding, etc. of the terminal device. And the method can also be a local mobility anchor point when the terminal equipment is switched between the occupation, perform data caching in an idle state, initiate a service request process initiated by a network side, execute paging differentiation, generate charging data based on UE and bearing granularity and the like. For example, the Serving Gateway network element may be a Serving Gateway (SGW) network element.

The SGW network element may be split into a control plane-control (SGW-C) network element 104 and a user plane-service (SGW-U) network element 105 according to the control and forwarding separation.

The SGW-C network element 104 may be responsible for anchor point devices when enodebs are handed over, and when the UE is in an idle state, buffer packets, trigger service request procedures, etc., and may also perform paging differentiation, anchor points when a handover occurs when moving within 3GPP, etc.

The SGW-U network element 105 may be responsible for routing and forwarding of packets.

5. A packet data network gateway network element.

The packet data network gateway network element may serve as an entry for data sent to the terminal device by an external network, and may also be responsible for Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation of the terminal device, data packet filtering, rate control, generation of charging information, and the like of the terminal device. For example, the Packet Data Network Gateway Network element may be a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) Network element.

The PGW Network element may be split into a control plane Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW-C) Network element 106 and a user plane Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW-U) Network element 107 according to the separation of control and forwarding.

The PGW-C network element 106 may include part of functions of terminal device IP address management, session management, part of functions of terminal device mobility, and the like. Such as may include: a change of a General Packet Radio Service Tunneling Protocol (GTP-U) endpoint within the 3GPP access technology, a change of a GTP-U endpoint between the 3GPP and the N3GPP, and the like.

The PGW-U network element 107 may be responsible for routing and forwarding of packets.

6. And the policy and charging rule function unit network element.

The policy and charging rules function element network element may be a server in the evolved system responsible for providing rules in charging control, online credit control, threshold control, quality of service policy, and the like. For example, the Policy and Charging Rules Function network element may be Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) network element 108.

7. And a home subscriber server.

The home subscriber server may serve as a database for storing subscriber subscription information, and may be responsible for management of subscriber subscription data, management of subscriber location information, mobility management, access restriction, and the like. For example, the Home Subscriber Server may be a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) network element 100.

8. A serving general packet radio service support node network element.

The serving gprs support node Network element may be a service support point of a user Access core Network of an Enhanced Data Rate GSM Evolved Radio Access Network (GERAN) 112 and a Umts Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) 113, and has a similar function to a mobility management Network element, and may be responsible for functions such as location update, cyclic management, bearer management, and the like of the user. For example, the Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node network element may be a Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node (SGSN) network element 111.

9. Operator's IP services 109.

Operator internet protocol services (operators' IP services)109 may be responsible for IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Policy Control and Charging (PCC), and the like.

The components shown in fig. 1 may communicate through interfaces under a next generation network architecture, for example, the terminal device 101 and the E-UTRAN102 may communicate through a Long Term Evolution (LTE) -Uu interface. As another example, the MME network element 103 and the SGW-C network element 104 may communicate via an S11 interface. As another example, the SGW-C network element 104 and the SGW-U network element 105 may communicate via an Sxa interface.

The scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application may be applicable to a 4G communication system, and a network element (for example, any one of MME103, SGW-C network element, SGW-U network element, and the like) in the embodiment of the present application may be a functional module on a physical device, or may be a separate physical device.

It should be noted that, in this application, reference to "network" may refer to an operator network, and may also refer to a wireless communication network, and specifically may include a radio access network and a core network, where the core network may be, without limitation, a part of equipment deployed by an operator except for a radio access network.

In the embodiment of the application, an operator or a third-party application can deploy a server at a position on the edge of a network to realize the cloud computing capability. In this way, lower latency and greater bandwidth can be provided for the application, and the upstream of the terminal device can route the data packet to the application server deployed at the edge of the network through the local gateway device. The application servers deployed at the edge of the network may also be referred to as local servers. Fig. 2 illustrates an MEC architecture diagram based on an LTE network, to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable. As shown in fig. 2, a terminal device 201, an access network 202, a gateway function device 203, a gateway function device 204, and a Data Network (DN) 205 are sequentially connected, a DN206 is further provided at the gateway function device 203, and the gateway function device 203 can be connected to the DN 206.

It should be noted that fig. 2 is only a logic schematic, and does not completely correspond to the functional device shown in fig. 1, and fig. 2 also illustrates a data stream transmission path schematic of the terminal device, as shown in fig. 2, if the gateway functional device 203 corresponds to the SGW of fig. 1 and the gateway functional device 204 corresponds to the PGW of fig. 1, then the data stream transmission path 207 of the terminal device without performing local data stream splitting may be: the data stream of the terminal device 201 is sent to the application server in the DN205 via the access network 202, the gateway function device 203 and the gateway function device 204. "on the other hand, the data stream transmission path 208 of the terminal device in the case of performing local streaming of the data stream may be: "the data stream of the terminal apparatus 201 is sent to the application server in the DN206 via the access network 202 and the gateway function apparatus 203. "it can be seen that when the local breakout technique is performed on the data flow of the terminal device, the upstream data flow of the terminal device may not pass through the gateway function device 204, but only route the local access to the DN206 through the gateway function device 203.

Fig. 3 illustrates another MEC network architecture diagram based on an LTE network, to which the embodiment of the present application is applicable. As shown in fig. 3, two data stream transmission paths are included. As shown in fig. 3, the data stream transmission path 410 of the terminal device without performing local streaming of the data stream may be: the data stream of the terminal device 401 is sent to the application server of the edge computing 407 via the SGW-U network element 402 and the PGW-U network element 403. "the data stream transmission path 409 of the terminal device in the case of performing local streaming of the data stream may be: the Data stream of the terminal device 401 is sent to an application server of a Packet Data Network (PDN) 408 through the SGW-U Network element 402 and the PGW-U Network element 406. In the figure, the SGW-U402 is further connected to the SGW-C network element 404 through an Sxa interface, the SGW-C network element 404 is connected to the PGW-C network element 405, and the PGW-C network element 405 is further connected to the PGW-U network element through a Sxb interface, for example, the SGW-U network element 403 and the PGW-U network element 406 are respectively connected as shown in fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, the SGW-U may be used as a splitter for performing local splitting on the data stream of the terminal device.

Fig. 4 illustrates another MEC architecture diagram based on an LTE network, to which the embodiment of the present application is applicable. As shown in fig. 4, a terminal device 301, a base station (Evolved NodeB, eNB)302, an SGW-U network element 303, a PGW-U network element 304, and a DN305 are sequentially connected, and the eNB302 is connected to an MME network element 306, the SGW-U network element 303 is connected to an SGW-C network element 307, the PGW-U304 is connected to a PGW-C network element 308, and the MME network element 306, the SGW-C network element 307, and the PGW-C network element 308 are sequentially connected. SGW-U network element 303 supports Local Break Out (LBO). The SGW-U network element 303 is also connected to edge computing Platform (MEP) functionality 309. The edge computing platform function 309 may Interface with one or more applications (APPLICATIONS) via an Application Programming Interface (API), such as App310, App311, and App312 shown in FIG. 4.

In the embodiment of the present application, the control plane service gateway network element may be divided into a control plane service gateway network element that supports local offloading of data streams and a control plane service gateway network element that does not support local offloading of data streams. Under the condition that the control plane service gateway network element supports local data stream distribution, the control plane service gateway network element may sense whether the user plane service gateway network element supports local data stream distribution, and further, the control plane service gateway network element may select the user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution for the terminal device.

Under the condition that the control plane service gateway network element does not support local data stream distribution, the control plane service gateway network element cannot sense whether the user plane service gateway network element supports local data stream distribution, that is, the control plane service gateway network element cannot know whether one user plane service gateway network element supports local data stream distribution, and further, the control plane service gateway network element service cannot select the user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution for the terminal device.

In the embodiment of the present application, the user plane service gateway network element may be divided into a user plane service gateway network element that supports local offloading of data streams and a user plane service gateway network element that does not support local offloading of data streams. Under the condition that the user plane service gateway network element supports local data stream distribution, the user plane service gateway network element receives a data stream corresponding to a service initiated by a terminal device, and needs to transmit the data stream in a local data stream distribution manner, then the user plane service gateway network element may transmit the received data stream to an edge computing platform function, such as an edge computing platform function 309 in fig. 4, so that an application program connected to the edge computing platform function performs corresponding processing on the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device.

When the user plane serving gateway network element does not support local offloading of a data stream, the user plane serving gateway network element receives a data stream corresponding to a service initiated by a terminal device, and then the user plane serving gateway network element transmits the received data stream to a user plane packet data network gateway network element, such as the PGW-U network element 304 in fig. 4, and the user plane packet data network gateway network element transmits the data stream to a data network, so that the data network performs corresponding processing on the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, whether the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading may correspond to a region, for example, when the terminal device is in one region, the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, and when the terminal device is in another region, the data stream of the terminal device may not support local offloading.

As shown in fig. 4, the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device may be transmitted to the SGW-U network element 303 through the base station 302, and when the SGW-U network element 303 supports local offloading of the data stream, the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device may be transmitted to the edge computing platform function 309 by the SGW-U303, so that the application program connected to the edge computing platform function 309 performs corresponding processing on the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device.

Under the condition that the data stream of the terminal device does not support local breakout at the current location, as shown in fig. 4, the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device 301 may be transmitted to the SGW-U network element 303 through the base station 302, and regardless of whether the SGW-U network element 303 supports local breakout of the data stream, the data stream is transmitted to the PGW-U304 by the SGW-U303, and then transmitted to the data network DN305 by the PGW-U304, so that the data network DN305 performs corresponding processing on the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device.

Based on the above, fig. 5 exemplarily shows a flowchart of a communication method based on local breakout provided by the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

step 501, a mobility management network element receives a service request sent by a terminal device, where the service request carries indication information used for indicating a current location of the terminal device.

The indication information for indicating the current location of the terminal device may be a location identifier of the current location of the terminal device, or a CELL identifier (CELL identity), a Tracking Area Identity (TAI), or the like of a CELL in which the terminal device is currently located.

Step 502, the mobility management network element determines that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading according to the current position of the terminal device.

In an optional implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, whether the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading may correspond to a region, for example, when the terminal device is in one region, the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, and when the terminal device is in another region, the data stream of the terminal device may not support local offloading. In step 502, the mobility management network element determines, according to the current location of the terminal device, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, which may be understood as: the data stream corresponding to the service initiated by the terminal device at the current position may be transmitted in a local distribution manner.

Step 503, the mobility management network element selects a destination control plane serving gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.

In step 503, the mobility management network element selects a target control plane serving gateway network element supporting local offloading of the data stream, which specifically includes various implementation manners, for example, when one control plane serving gateway network element supports local offloading of the data stream, an indication information may be configured in the attribute information of the control plane serving gateway network element, and the control plane serving gateway network element supporting local offloading of the data stream may be selected according to the indication information.

Optionally, one area may be configured with a user plane service gateway network element that supports local breakout and a user plane service gateway network element that does not support local breakout. After the mobility management network element selects the destination control plane service gateway network element supporting the local offloading of the data stream in step 503, the destination control plane service gateway network element may further select the user plane service gateway network element supporting the local offloading as the destination user plane service gateway network element. The user plane service gateway network element supporting the local offloading of the data stream may be a user plane service gateway network element preset with Local Breakout Out (LBO).

In step 504, the mobility management network element sends a first bearer modification request to the destination control plane service gateway network element, where the first bearer modification request is used to modify the bearer of the terminal device from the source control plane service gateway network element to the destination control plane service gateway network element.

As can be seen from the solutions provided in steps 501 to 504, if the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, the terminal device may be re-supported by the target control plane service gateway network element of local offloading. And the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the local distribution is reselected for the terminal equipment by the target control plane service gateway network element so as to realize the local distribution of the data stream of the terminal equipment.

In step 504, the source control plane serving gateway network element is a control plane serving gateway network element for the terminal device to currently establish a bearer. In step 504, the bearer of the terminal device may be switched from the source control plane serving gateway network element to the destination control plane serving gateway network element. In an optional implementation manner, the source control plane serving gateway Network element may be selected for the terminal device by the mobility management Network element in a process of initially establishing a Packet Data Network (PDN) by the terminal device. The following is illustrated by a flowchart of a communication method based on local breakout provided in fig. 6, where as shown in fig. 6, the method further includes, before the step 501:

step 601, the terminal equipment sends an attach request to a mobility management network element.

Optionally, the attach request may include location information of the terminal and an identification of the terminal device. The location information of the terminal included in the attach request refers to a location where the terminal device is located when the attach request is initiated, and the location indicated by the indication information carried in the service request mentioned in step 501 and used for indicating the current location of the terminal device refers to a location where the terminal device is located when the service request is initiated. In the embodiment of the application, the position where the terminal device is located when the terminal device initiates the attach request is different from the position where the terminal device initiates the service request.

The location information of the terminal that may be requested to attach may be a location identifier of a location where the terminal device is located when initiating the attach request, or may be a CELL identifier (CELL identity), a Tracking Area Identity (TAI), or the like of a CELL where the location where the terminal device is located when initiating the attach request is located.

The Identity of the terminal Equipment may be an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a Mobile Subscriber International Number (Mobile Subscriber International ISDN/PSTN Number, MSISDN), an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), and User Location Information (ULI).

Step 602, the mobility management network element selects a source control plane serving gateway network element.

In step 602, the mobility management element may select an appropriate control plane serving gateway element according to Tracking Area (TA) information or Cell information.

Further, the source control plane service gateway network element may select a user plane service gateway network element for the terminal device. For example, the user plane service gateway network element may be selected according to the location of the terminal device when initiating the attach request, and a session establishment procedure may be performed.

When the data flow of the terminal device does not support local breakout at the location where the attach request is initiated, the source control plane serving gateway network element selected in step 602 may support local breakout of the data flow, or may not support local breakout of the data flow. When the source control plane service gateway network element supports local offloading of a data stream, optionally, the user plane service gateway network element selected by the source control plane service gateway network element for the terminal device may support local offloading of the data stream, or may not support local offloading of the data stream.

Step 603, the mobility management network element initiates a first session creation request to the source control plane serving gateway network element.

In step 604, the source control plane serving gateway network element sends a second session creation request to the PGW.

In step 605, the PCRF installs Policy Control and Charging rule (PCC rule) to the PGW.

In step 606, the PGW returns a second create session response to the source control plane service gateway network element.

The second create session response is merely an example, and other names may be used in the implementation.

In step 607, the source control plane serving gateway network element returns a first create session response to the mobility management network element.

After step 607, the mobility management network element may generate an attach response corresponding to the attach request, and send the attach response to the terminal device through the base station, so that the terminal device establishes an air interface side connection.

It can be seen that, in step 602, in the process of initially establishing the PDN connection by the terminal device, the data stream of the terminal device does not support local breakout, and the source control plane serving gateway network element selected by the mobility management network element may also not support local breakout. After the terminal device establishes the PDN connection, it may move, for example, to the current location mentioned in step 501, where the data stream that the terminal device needs to transmit supports local offloading. When the terminal device needs to perform the uplink and downlink services at the current location, the terminal device may perform step 501, that is, the terminal device initiates a Service Request (Service Request) to the mobility management network element. Since the source control plane serving gateway network element selected in step 602 may not support local breakout, in this case, even if the data flow of the terminal device supports local breakout, the terminal device cannot be provided with the local breakout service. In the prior art, a control plane service gateway network element for locally shunting data streams cannot be supported again for a terminal device. In this embodiment of the present application, optionally, in step 503, the mobility management network element may select a destination control plane service gateway network element supporting local offloading when it is determined that the source control plane service gateway network element does not support local offloading of the data stream, and thus, a bearer of the terminal device may be switched from the source control plane service gateway network element not supporting local offloading to the destination control plane service gateway network element supporting local offloading, and thus, when the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, a local offloading technology may be adopted for the data stream of the terminal device. On the other hand, the mobility management network element can select the destination control plane serving gateway network element when the source control plane serving gateway network element does not support local data stream distribution, so that the frequency of selecting the control plane serving gateway network element for the terminal equipment can be reduced.

There are various implementation manners for determining that the data stream of the terminal device supports local breakout according to the current location of the terminal device in step 502, and fig. 7 exemplarily shows a flowchart of a method for determining that the data stream of the terminal device supports local breakout according to the current location of the terminal device, and as shown in fig. 7, the method includes step 701 and step 702.

Step 701, a mobility management network element acquires area information of a terminal device, wherein the area information includes one or more area identification information; and for the area identified by one area identification information in the area information, the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution of the data stream in the area.

Step 702, if the mobility management network element determines that the current location of the terminal device belongs to the area, it is determined that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

In the above step 701, there are multiple specific forms of the area information, and in an example, the area information may include one or more area identification information, and for each area identification information, also include local offload indication information corresponding to the area identification information, where the local offload indication information is used to indicate whether a data stream transmitted by the terminal device in the area identified by the area identification information supports local offload. Alternatively, the area identification information may be a cell identification or TAI, etc. Optionally, the specific form of the local breakout indication information is not limited, and for example, may be represented by "0" and "1", where "0" represents that the data stream transmitted by the terminal device in the area indicated by the area identification information supports local breakout, and "1" represents that the data stream transmitted by the terminal device in the area indicated by the area identification information does not support local breakout.

In another example, the area information may include one or more area identification information supporting local offloading of the data stream, that is, in this example, the areas identified by the area identification information included in the area information are all areas capable of supporting local offloading of the data stream. In this example, it can also be said that the area information does not need to explicitly include the local offloading indication information, and the local offloading indication information is implicitly represented by the area information.

In step 701, there are many implementation manners for the mobility management network element to acquire the area information of the terminal device, for example, the area information may be implemented in a location area update process, or, for example, in an attach initiation process of the terminal device shown in fig. 6. Specifically, when the foregoing is implemented in the process of initiating the attach by the terminal device shown in fig. 6, optionally, the area information may be stored in a policy control and charging rule of the terminal device, and the mobility management network element acquires the area information of the terminal device through the policy control and charging rule. Data flow characteristic information is typically included in policy control and charging rules. The data stream characteristic information may be, for example, five-tuple information or identification information of the data stream, or related information of the application. In this embodiment of the present application, in an optional implementation manner, the policy control and charging rule may further include area information, and the PGW may obtain the area information by installing the policy control and charging rule to the PGW through the PCRF in step 605.

Further, the PGW may carry the area information in the second created session response, and send the second created session response to the source control plane service gateway network element. The source control plane serving gateway network element may send the area information to the mobility management network element by carrying the area information in the first created session response.

The area information stored in the pccrile may be in a different form from the area information carried in the second create session response. For example, the area information stored in the pccrile includes one or more area identification information, and for each area identification information, the area information further includes local offload indication information corresponding to the area identification information, and the area information carried in the second creation session response may include one or more area identification information supporting local offload of data streams.

In yet another optional implementation, the area information may be stored in subscription information of the terminal device, and the mobility management network element obtains the area information of the terminal device through the subscription information of the terminal device. For example, the mobility management network element may obtain subscription information of the terminal device from a subscription database.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method based on local breakout according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 8, the method includes:

in step 801, the control plane serving gateway network element receives a second bearer modification request sent by the mobility management network element, where the second bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving the service request sent by the terminal device.

The control plane service gateway supports local data stream distribution.

Step 802, the control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.

Step 803, the control plane service gateway network element selects a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting the local flow splitting of the data stream.

Step 804, the control plane service gateway network element sends a bearer creation request to the destination user plane service gateway network element, and the bearer creation request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal device from the source user plane service gateway network element to the destination user plane service gateway network element.

Optionally, one area may be configured with a user plane service gateway network element that supports local breakout and a user plane service gateway network element that does not support local breakout. The control plane service gateway network element involved in step 804 may select a user plane service gateway network element supporting local breakout as a destination user plane service gateway network element. The user plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution may be a user plane service gateway network element preset with the local data stream distribution.

In step 804, the control plane service gateway network element selects a destination user plane service gateway network element for the terminal device. The user plane service gateway network element with the shunting function can be selected according to the current position information of the terminal equipment and the session establishment process is carried out. The control plane service gateway network element may allocate a tunnel ID to the user plane service gateway network element, and the user plane service gateway network element may allocate tunnel information by itself and feed back the tunnel information to the control plane service gateway network element.

In specific implementation, when the target user plane service gateway network element operates, for uplink traffic, a service traffic that can be locally processed and is matched with a local breakout rule of the target user plane service gateway network element may be stripped from a general packet radio service tunneling protocol (GTPU) tunnel and then sent to a local server for processing. For the downlink traffic, the local traffic sent by the local server and the traffic sent by the public network side may be combined and sent to the access network side.

As can be seen from the solutions provided in steps 801 to 804, if the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading, a destination user plane service gateway network element that supports local offloading may be re-supported for the terminal device, so as to implement local offloading of the data stream of the terminal device.

In conjunction with the solution provided in fig. 5, the control plane serving gateway network element mentioned in fig. 8 may refer to a source control plane serving gateway network element or may refer to a destination control plane serving gateway network element. In an optional implementation manner, the mobility management network element selects a source control plane serving gateway network element for the terminal device in an initial PDN connection establishment process of the terminal device, and if the source control plane serving gateway network element supports local offloading of a data stream, the control plane serving gateway network element mentioned in fig. 8 is the source control plane serving gateway network element. If the source control plane serving gateway network element does not support local offloading of the data stream, the control plane serving gateway network element mentioned in fig. 8 is a destination control plane serving gateway network element selected by the mobility management network element, and when the control plane serving gateway network element in fig. 8 is the destination control plane serving gateway network element, the second modified bearer request mentioned in step 801 may be the first modified bearer request in step 504 described above.

The following description is provided for the case that the control plane service gateway network element in fig. 8 belongs to the source control plane service gateway network element or the destination control plane service gateway network element, respectively, according to the following solutions a1 and a 2.

Scheme a1

In the solution a1, the mobility management network element selects a source control plane serving gateway network element for the terminal device during initial PDN connection establishment of the terminal device, but the source control plane serving gateway network element does not support local offloading of data streams, and the control plane serving gateway network element mentioned in fig. 8 is a destination control plane serving gateway network element selected by the mobility management network element, in this case, the second modified bearer request mentioned in step 801 may be the first modified bearer request in step 504 described above.

Fig. 9 provides a schematic flow chart of a method using scheme a1, and as shown in fig. 9, the method includes:

in step 901, the target control plane serving gateway network element receives a first bearer modification request sent by the mobility management network element. The first bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving the service request sent by the terminal device.

Step 902, the destination control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

Step 903, the destination control plane service gateway network element selects a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.

In step 904, the destination control plane service gateway network element sends a create bearer request (create bearer request) to the destination user plane service gateway network element, where the create bearer request is used to modify the bearer of the terminal device from the source user plane service gateway network element to the destination user plane service gateway network element.

Optionally, the create bearer request mentioned in step 904 above may carry data flow characteristic information. Step 905 may also be included after step 904. In step 905, the destination control plane service gateway network element sends a create bearer request to the PGW.

In step 904, when the source control plane serving gateway network element is a control plane serving gateway network element selected by the mobility management network element for the terminal device in the process of initially establishing the PDN connection for the terminal device, the source user plane serving gateway network element is also selected by the mobility management network element for the terminal device in the process of initially establishing the PDN connection for the terminal device. In this case, since the control plane serving gateway network element of the terminal device is reselected, the user plane serving gateway network element also needs to be reselected. And because the destination control plane service gateway network element supports the local distribution of the data stream, the destination control plane service gateway network element can select a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting the local distribution of the data stream for the terminal device. After the above step 901, the user plane data transmission channel of the terminal device can be updated from the source user plane data channel to the destination user plane data channel. The source user plane data transmission channel is terminal equipment-access network-source user plane service gateway network element-PGW-U, and the destination user plane data transmission channel is terminal equipment-access network-destination user plane service gateway network element-PGW-U.

In an optional implementation manner, the first modify bearer request further includes: first indication information. The first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution. The first indication information is used for enabling the destination control plane service gateway network element to select a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution for the terminal equipment. Further, in step 902, the destination control plane serving gateway network element may determine, according to the first indication information, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

In yet another optional implementation manner, the first modify bearer request may include indication information used for indicating a current location of the terminal device, and area information of the terminal device, where the area information includes one or more area identification information; and for the area identified by one area identification information in the area information, the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution of the data stream in the area. Further, in step 902, the destination control plane serving gateway network element may determine, according to the current location and the area information of the terminal device, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading. Specifically, when the target control plane service gateway network element determines that the current location of the terminal device belongs to the area, it is determined that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

After the above step 904 and step 905, optionally, the original bearer needs to be deleted, and fig. 9 also shows the method steps of deleting the original bearer, including:

step 906, the destination control plane service gateway network element sends AN update data transmission channel (update tunnel) to AN Access Network (AN).

In step 907, the mobility management element sends a delete bearer request (delete bearer request) to the source control plane serving gateway element. And the mobility management network element sends a load deleting request to the source user plane service gateway network element.

The above steps 904 to 906 illustrate a method flow of creating a bearer, and the step 907 illustrates an example of deleting a bearer.

Scheme a2

In the scheme a2, the mobility management network element selects a source control plane serving gateway network element for the terminal device in the initial PDN connection establishment process of the terminal device, but the source control plane serving gateway network element supports local offloading of data streams, and the control plane serving gateway network element mentioned in fig. 8 is the source control plane serving gateway network element selected by the mobility management network element.

Fig. 10 provides a schematic flow chart of a method using scheme a2, and as shown in fig. 10, the method includes:

step 1001, the source control plane service gateway network element receives a second bearer modification request sent by the mobility management network element.

In step 1002, the source control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

In step 1003, the source control plane service gateway network element selects a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting the local offloading of the data stream.

In step 1004, the source control plane service gateway network element sends a bearer creation request to the destination user plane service gateway network element, where the bearer creation request is used to modify the bearer of the terminal device from the source user plane service gateway network element to the destination user plane service gateway network element.

In an alternative embodiment, step 905, step 906 and step 907 may be further performed after step 1004. For the related description, reference is made to the above description, which is not repeated herein.

In an optional embodiment, before step 1003, further includes: and the control plane service gateway network element determines that the source user plane service gateway network element does not support the local distribution of the data stream. That is to say, in an optional implementation manner, when the source user plane service gateway network element does not support local offloading of a data stream, the destination user plane service gateway network element is selected again, and the bearer of the terminal device is modified to the destination user plane service gateway network element. When the source user plane service gateway network element supports local data stream distribution, the destination user plane service gateway network element may be selected or may not be selected, that is, the bearer of the terminal device may be maintained on the source user plane service gateway network element or may be modified to the destination user plane service gateway network element. If the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the data stream local distribution is reselected under the condition that the source user plane service gateway network element does not support the data stream local distribution, the times of reselecting the user plane service gateway network element can be reduced, and the signaling consumption is saved.

In a first optional implementation manner, the second modify bearer request further includes: first indication information. The first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution. Further, in step 1002, the source control plane serving gateway network element may determine, according to the first indication information, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

In a second optional implementation manner, before step 1002, a source control plane service gateway network element may obtain a current location and area information of a terminal device, where the area information includes one or more area identification information; and for the area identified by one area identification information in the area information, the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution of the data stream in the area. Further, in step 1002, the source control plane serving gateway network element may determine, according to the current location and the area information of the terminal device, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading. Specifically, when the source control plane service gateway network element determines that the current location of the terminal device belongs to the area, it is determined that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading.

In the second optional implementation manner, there are multiple manners for the source control plane service gateway network element to obtain the current location of the terminal device, for example, the second modified bearer request may carry indication information for indicating the current location of the terminal device.

For another example, the source control plane serving gateway network element may subscribe the mobility management network element with the location update of the terminal device, so that when the mobility management network element determines that the location of the terminal device is updated, the current location of the terminal device is pushed to the source control plane serving gateway network element, for example, the source control plane serving gateway network element may be notified through a new signaling carrying indication information for indicating the current location of the terminal device. The location update of the source control plane serving gateway network element to the terminal device subscribed by the mobility management network element may occur in an attach process initiated by the terminal device or in other signaling processes.

In the second optional implementation manner, there are multiple ways for the terminal device to obtain the area information, for example, the area information may be carried in the second bearer modification request.

For another example, when the area information is stored in the policy control and charging rule of the terminal device, the area information may be carried in the second created session response in step 606 in fig. 6, so that the source control plane service gateway network element obtains the area information. Specifically, the source control plane serving gateway network element receives a session creation response sent by the packet data network gateway network element, where the session creation response includes area information of the terminal device. The area information is obtained by the gateway network element of the packet data network from the policy control and charging rules of the terminal device.

For another example, when the area information is stored in the subscription information of the terminal device, the source control plane service gateway network element receives a session creation request sent by the mobility management network element, where the session creation request includes the area information of the terminal device. The area information is obtained by the mobility management network element from subscription information of the terminal device.

According to the foregoing method, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in this embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 11, the communication device may be a network device, or may be a chip or a circuit, for example, a chip or a circuit that may be disposed in a network device. The communication device may be a control plane serving gateway network element or a mobility management network element.

Further, the communication device 1301 may further include a bus system, wherein the processor 1302, the memory 1304 and the transceiver 1303 may be connected via the bus system.

It should be understood that the processor 1302 may be a chip. For example, the processor 1302 may be a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), a digital signal processing circuit (DSP), a Microcontroller (MCU), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or other integrated chips.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware or instructions in the form of software in the processor 1302. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor, or in a combination of the hardware and software modules in the processor 1302. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory 1304, and the processor 1302 reads the information in the memory 1304 and performs the steps of the above method in combination with hardware thereof.

It should be noted that the processor 1302 in the embodiment of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The processor described above may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It is understood that the transceiver 1303 in the embodiment of the present application may include a radio frequency circuit. The memory 1304 may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The communication device 1301 is configured to execute the scheme executed by the mobility management network element in the foregoing method, and may include the processor 1302 and the transceiver 1303, and optionally, the communication device may further include the memory 1304. The transceiver 1303 is configured to input and/or output information, the memory 1304 is configured to store instructions, and the processor 1302 is configured to execute the instructions stored by the memory 1304 to implement any one or more of the schemes of the mobility management network element in the corresponding methods shown in fig. 1 to 10.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by a mobility management network element in the above method, the transceiver 1303 is configured to receive a service request sent by a terminal device, and send a first bearer modification request to the destination control plane service gateway network element, where the service request carries indication information used for indicating a current location of the terminal device; the first bearer modification request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source control plane service gateway network element to the target control plane service gateway network element; a processor 1302, configured to determine, according to the current location of the terminal device, that a data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading; and selecting a target control plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the mobility management network element in the foregoing method, the processor 1302 is configured to determine that the source control plane serving gateway network element does not support local offloading of a data flow.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the mobility management network element in the foregoing method, the processor 1302 is specifically configured to: acquiring area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area; and if the mobility management network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the mobility management network element in the foregoing method, the processor 1302 is specifically configured to: acquiring the regional information of the terminal equipment through the subscription information of the terminal equipment; or; and acquiring the area information of the terminal equipment through policy control and charging rules.

The communication device 1301 is used for executing the scheme executed by the control plane service gateway network element in the above method, and the communication device may include a processor 1302, a transceiver 1303, and a memory 1304. The memory 1304 is configured to store instructions, and the processor 1302 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1304 to implement the solution related to the control plane service gateway network element in any one or any plurality of corresponding methods as shown in fig. 1 to 10.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute the scheme executed by the control plane service gateway network element in the foregoing method, the transceiver 1303 is configured to receive a second bearer modification request sent by the mobility management network element, and send a bearer creation request to the destination user plane service gateway network element; the second bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving a service request sent by terminal equipment; the bearer creating request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source user plane service gateway network element to the target user plane service gateway network element; a processor 1302, configured to determine that a data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading; and selecting the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the control plane serving gateway network element in the foregoing method, the processor 1302 is further configured to: and determining that the source user plane service gateway network element does not support local distribution of the data stream.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the control plane serving gateway network element in the foregoing method, the second modified bearer request further includes: first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution; the processor 1302 is specifically configured to: and determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the first indication information.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by a control plane service gateway network element in the above method, the second modified bearer request carries indication information for indicating a current location of the terminal device; the processor 1302 is specifically configured to: acquiring area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area; and if the control plane service gateway network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the control plane serving gateway network element in the foregoing method, the transceiver 1303 is specifically configured to: receiving a session creating request sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the session creating request comprises area information of the terminal equipment, and the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area; the area information is obtained by the mobility management network element from subscription information of the terminal device.

When the communication device 1301 is configured to execute a scheme executed by the control plane serving gateway network element in the foregoing method, the transceiver 1303 is specifically configured to: receiving a session creating response sent by a packet data network gateway network element, wherein the session creating response comprises area information of the terminal equipment, and the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area; the area information is obtained by the packet data network gateway network element from the policy control and charging rules of the terminal device.

For the concepts, explanations, details and other steps related to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application related to the communication device, please refer to the descriptions of the foregoing methods or other embodiments, which are not described herein again.

According to the foregoing method, fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 12, a communication device 1401 may include a communication interface 1403, a processor 1402, and optionally a memory 1404. Communication interface 1403 may use any transceiver or the like for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an ethernet, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a wired access network, etc. The communication interface 1403, which is used for inputting and/or outputting information; the processor 1402 is configured to execute a computer program or an instruction, so that the communication device 1401 implements the method at the network element side of the control plane serving gateway in the related schemes of fig. 1 to 10, or so that the communication device 1401 implements the method at the network element side of the mobility management in the related schemes of fig. 1 to 10. In this embodiment of the application, the communication interface 1403 may implement the scheme implemented by the transceiver 1303 in fig. 11, and the processor 1402 may implement the scheme implemented by the processor 1302 in fig. 11, which is not described herein again.

Based on the above embodiments and the same concept, as shown in fig. 13, which is a possible exemplary block diagram of the communication device related to the present application, the communication device 1501 may exist in the form of software or hardware. The communication device 1501 may include: a processing unit 1502 and a communication unit 1503. As one implementation, the communication unit 1503 may include a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit 1502 is configured to control and manage the operation of the communication apparatus 1501. The communication unit 1503 is used to support communication of the communication device 1501 with other network entities. The communication device 1501 may further include a storage unit 1504 for storing program codes and data of the communication device 1501.

The processing unit 1502 may be a processor or controller, such as a CPU, general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, transistor logic device, hardware component, or any combination thereof. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. The processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, DSPs, and microprocessors, among others. The storage unit 1504 may be a memory. The communication unit 1503 is an interface circuit of the device for receiving signals from other devices. For example, when the device is implemented in the form of a chip, the communication unit 1503 is an interface circuit for the chip to receive a signal from another chip or device, or an interface circuit for the chip to transmit a signal to another chip or device.

The communication device 1501 may be a mobility management network element in any of the embodiments described above, and may also be a chip for a mobility management network element. For example, when the communication device 1501 is a mobility management network element, the processing unit 1502 may be a processor, and the communication unit 1503 may be a transceiver, for example. Optionally, the transceiver may comprise radio frequency circuitry and the storage unit may be, for example, a memory. For example, when the communication device 1501 is a chip for a mobility management network element, the processing unit 1502 may be a processor, for example, and the communication unit 1503 may be an input/output interface, pin, circuit, or the like, for example. The processing unit 1502 may execute computer-executable instructions stored by a storage unit, which may alternatively be a storage unit within the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc., or a storage unit located outside the chip within the mobility management network element, such as a ROM or other types of static storage devices that may store static information and instructions, a RAM, etc.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1501 is a mobility management network element and the communication interface 1503 includes a transceiving unit. The receiving and sending unit is used for receiving a service request sent by a terminal device and sending a first bearer modification request to the target control plane service gateway network element, wherein the service request carries indication information used for indicating the current position of the terminal device; the first bearer modification request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source control plane service gateway network element to the target control plane service gateway network element; a processing unit 1502, configured to determine that a data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading according to a current location of the terminal device; and selecting a target control plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.

The communication device 1501 may be a control plane service gateway network element in any of the above embodiments, or may be a chip for the control plane service gateway network element. For example, when the communication device 1501 is a control plane service gateway network element, the processing unit 1502 may be a processor, for example, and the communication unit 1503 may be a transceiver, for example. Optionally, the transceiver may comprise radio frequency circuitry and the storage unit may be, for example, a memory. For example, when the communication device 1501 is a chip for a control plane service gateway network element, the processing unit 1502 may be a processor, for example, and the communication unit 1503 may be an input/output interface, a pin, a circuit, or the like, for example. The processing unit 1502 may execute computer-executable instructions stored by a storage unit, which may alternatively be a storage unit within the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc., or a storage unit located outside the chip within the mobility management network element, such as a ROM or other types of static storage devices that may store static information and instructions, a RAM, etc.

In one embodiment, the communication device 1501 is a control plane service gateway network element, and the communication interface 1503 includes a transceiving unit. A receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a second bearer modification request sent by a mobility management network element, and send a bearer creation request to a destination user plane service gateway network element; the second bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving a service request sent by terminal equipment; the bearer creating request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source user plane service gateway network element to the target user plane service gateway network element; a processing unit 1502, configured to determine that a data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading; and selecting the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.

It is to be understood that the functions of the units in the communication device 1501 may refer to the implementation of the corresponding method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

It should be understood that the above division of the units of the communication device is only a division of logical functions, and the actual implementation may be wholly or partially integrated into one physical entity or may be physically separated. In this embodiment of the application, the transceiver unit 1503 may be implemented by the transceiver 1303 in fig. 11, and the processing unit 1502 may be implemented by the processor 1302 in fig. 11.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the embodiments shown in figures 1 to 10.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code, which when run on a computer, causes the computer to execute the method of any one of the embodiments shown in fig. 1 to 10.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a system, which includes the aforementioned one or more control plane serving gateway network elements and one or more mobility management network elements.

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

The mobility management network element in each of the above-mentioned apparatus embodiments corresponds to the mobility management network element or the control plane serving gateway network element in the control plane serving gateway network element and the method embodiment, and corresponding modules or units perform corresponding steps, for example, a communication unit (transceiver) performs a step of receiving or transmitting in the method embodiment, and other steps except for transmitting and receiving may be performed by a processing unit (processor). The functions of the specific elements may be referred to in the respective method embodiments. The number of the processors may be one or more.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

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

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

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

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

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

The functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

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

Claims

A communication method based on local offload, comprising:

a mobility management network element receives a service request sent by terminal equipment, wherein the service request carries indication information used for indicating the current position of the terminal equipment;

the mobility management network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the current position of the terminal equipment;

the mobility management network element selects a target control plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution;

and the mobility management network element sends a first bearer modification request to the destination control plane service gateway network element, wherein the first bearer modification request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source control plane service gateway network element to the destination control plane service gateway network element.
The method of claim 1, wherein after the mobility management network element determines that the data flow of the terminal device supports local breakout and before the destination control plane serving gateway network element is selected, the method further comprises:

and the mobility management network element determines that the source control plane service gateway network element does not support local data stream distribution.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first modify bearer request further comprises: the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution;

the first indication information is used for enabling the destination control plane service gateway network element to select a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution for the terminal device.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determining, by the mobility management network element, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local breakout according to the current location of the terminal device comprises:

the mobility management network element acquires area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area;

and if the mobility management network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.
The method of claim 4, wherein the obtaining, by the mobility management network element, the area information of the terminal device comprises:

the mobility management network element acquires the area information of the terminal equipment through the subscription information of the terminal equipment;

or;

and the mobility management network element acquires the area information of the terminal equipment through policy control and charging rules.
A communication method based on local offload, comprising:

a control plane service gateway network element receives a second bearer modification request sent by a mobility management network element, wherein the second bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving a service request sent by terminal equipment;

the control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution;

the control plane service gateway network element selects a target user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution;

and the control plane service gateway network element sends a load establishing request to the target user plane service gateway network element, wherein the load establishing request is used for modifying the load of the terminal equipment from a source user plane service gateway network element to the target user plane service gateway network element.
The method of claim 6, wherein after the control plane serving gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal device supports local breakout and before selecting a destination user plane serving gateway network element, further comprising:

and the control plane service gateway network element determines that the source user plane service gateway network element does not support the local distribution of the data stream.
The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the second modify bearer request further comprises: first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution;

the determining, by the control plane service gateway network element, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading includes:

and the control plane service gateway network element determines that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the first indication information.
The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the second modify bearer request carries indication information for indicating the current location of the terminal device;

the determining, by the control plane service gateway network element, that the data stream of the terminal device supports local offloading includes:

the control plane service gateway network element acquires area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area;

and if the control plane service gateway network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.
The method of claim 9, wherein the obtaining, by the control plane serving gateway network element, area information of the terminal device comprises:

the control plane service gateway network element receives a session establishing request sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the session establishing request comprises the area information of the terminal equipment; the area information is obtained by the mobility management network element from subscription information of the terminal device.
The method of claim 9, wherein the obtaining, by the control plane serving gateway network element, area information of the terminal device comprises:

the control plane service gateway network element receives a session establishing response sent by a packet data network gateway network element, wherein the session establishing response comprises the area information of the terminal equipment; the area information is obtained by the packet data network gateway network element from the policy control and charging rules of the terminal device.
A communication device, comprising:

the transceiver is used for receiving a service request sent by terminal equipment and sending a first bearer modification request to the target control plane service gateway network element, wherein the service request carries indication information used for indicating the current position of the terminal equipment; the first bearer modification request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source control plane service gateway network element to the target control plane service gateway network element;

the processor is used for determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the current position of the terminal equipment; and selecting a target control plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.
The communications device of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the source control plane serving gateway network element does not support local breakout of data flows.
The communications device of claim 12 or 13, wherein the first modify bearer request further comprises: the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution;

the first indication information is used for enabling the destination control plane service gateway network element to select a destination user plane service gateway network element supporting local data stream distribution for the terminal device.
The communication device of any one of claims 12-14, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

acquiring area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area;

and if the mobility management network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the area, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.
The communications device of claim 15, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

acquiring the regional information of the terminal equipment through the subscription information of the terminal equipment;

or;

and acquiring the area information of the terminal equipment through policy control and charging rules.
A communication device, comprising:

the transceiver is used for receiving a second bearer modification request sent by the mobility management network element and sending a bearer creation request to the target user plane service gateway network element; the second bearer modification request is sent by the mobility management network element after receiving a service request sent by terminal equipment; the bearer creating request is used for modifying the bearer of the terminal equipment from a source user plane service gateway network element to the target user plane service gateway network element;

the processor is used for determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution; and selecting the target user plane service gateway network element supporting the local data stream distribution.
The communications device of claim 17, wherein said processor is further configured to:

and determining that the source user plane service gateway network element does not support local distribution of the data stream.
The communications device of claim 17 or 18, wherein the second modify bearer request further comprises: first indication information;

the first indication information is used for indicating that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution;

the processor is specifically configured to:

and determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution according to the first indication information.
The communication device according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the second modify bearer request carries indication information for indicating the current location of the terminal device;

the processor is specifically configured to:

acquiring area information of the terminal equipment, wherein the area information comprises one or more area identification information; for an area identified by one of the area identification information, the data stream of the terminal device supports local distribution of the data stream in the area;

and if the control plane service gateway network element determines that the current position of the terminal equipment belongs to the region, determining that the data stream of the terminal equipment supports local distribution.
The communications device of claim 20, wherein the transceiver is specifically configured to:

receiving a session creating request sent by the mobility management network element, wherein the session creating request comprises the area information of the terminal equipment; the area information is obtained by the mobility management network element from subscription information of the terminal device.
The communications device of claim 21, wherein the transceiver is specifically configured to:

receiving a session creating response sent by a gateway network element of a packet data network, wherein the session creating response comprises the area information of the terminal equipment; the area information is obtained by the packet data network gateway network element from the policy control and charging rules of the terminal device.
A communication device, characterized in that the device comprises a processor and a communication interface,

the communication interface is used for inputting and/or outputting information;

the processor for executing a computer program or instructions to cause the method of any of claims 1-11 to be performed.
A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when called by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.