CN106657194B

CN106657194B - Method, device and system for opening network slicing capability

Info

Publication number: CN106657194B
Application number: CN201510734582.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谢宝国; 吴瑟; 王卫斌
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2015-11-02
Filing date: 2015-11-02
Publication date: 2020-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2035-11-02
Also published as: CN106657194A; WO2017076086A1

Abstract

The application provides a method, a device and a system for opening network slicing capability, which comprise the following steps: receiving a network slicing service request sent by a third-party service server; acquiring network slice information of the current network according to the network slice service request; and providing network slicing service for the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request, so that the capability opening service of the network slicing service of the future network can be provided, the third party obtains the related information of the network slicing through the capability opening, and selects or requests to create different network slices to provide differentiated service for the third-party service.

Description

Method, device and system for opening network slicing capability

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of network communication, in particular to a method, a device and a system for opening network slicing capability.

Background

Over the past 20 years, the mobile communication technology has been rapidly developed, and has a great influence on the life style, the working style, the politics and the economy of the society and the like. The human society enters an efficient information era, the business application requirements of all aspects show explosive growth, and great challenges are brought to the frequency, the technology, the operation and other aspects of a wireless mobile bandwidth system in the future.

With the abundance of various applications of the internet, the information interaction and network personality requirements of third-party service providers for network operators are becoming stronger and stronger, and the network capability is opened and gradually becomes the mainstream of future network technologies. For example, some of the mobile services currently used by mobile personal users, industry users, and SP/CP (Service Provider/Content Provider) are delay insensitive services, such as software update and download, music and video download, and the like, and the data traffic of these services is large, and a higher cost will be incurred when a normal traffic package is used for transmission. In the existing network, the mobile data network has the characteristic of obvious uneven busy and idle in terms of time and regions, and a plurality of idle resources exist in the network. The background flow service is that a third party application and a network perform signaling cooperation, non-real-time large flow such as video push, software update and other services are transmitted in idle time periods of the network, idle wireless resources can be fully utilized, the network of an operator can be fully utilized, simultaneously, the user can enjoy very cheap flow, and for SP/CP, the low-cost background flow channel can be utilized to distribute services and contents, so that the use of mobile flow by the user is promoted, and the increase of data income is brought to the operator.

Under the era of mobile internet, the ability of operators to open networks is a great trend. For many years, pipeline resources and network advantages have been the core competitiveness of operators. However, with the advent of the 4G and 5G era, the abundance of internet applications has gradually made operators a simple pipeline provider. Therefore, the ability of establishing unified openness, providing a platform, reasonably opening basic services and information and the like becomes the key point for operators to establish future competitiveness.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a capability open network architecture according to the related art. As shown in fig. 1, the network architecture may include the following:

a Mobile Network and a Network element (Mobile Network and Entity, abbreviated as MNE) including a control plane Network element MME/SGSN (Mobility Management Entity/Serving GPRS Support Node) in charge of signaling control and Mobility Management; a user plane network element PGW/GGSN (Public data network GateWay/GateWay GPRS Support Node) responsible for bearer control and session management; a data plane network element HSS (Home Subscriber Server) responsible for subscription management of a user; a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) for a Policy control network element, which is responsible for establishing and issuing Qos (Quality of Service) and Charging Policy for a user; and other network elements, etc.

The Capability Exposure Platform (CEP) is configured to request network resources and information from a network according to a requirement of a third party, and provide differentiated services and better user experience for a user.

And the Application Server (APP for short) is used for providing rich and various Internet services for the user by a third party.

A telecommunication service Operation Support System (BOSS) includes an OSS (Operation Support System) and a BSS (Business Support System). The BOSS is an integrated, information resource sharing support system for telecommunication operators, and is mainly composed of network management, system management, charging, business, accounting, customer service, and the like. The OSS is responsible for realizing the functions of network configuration, network maintenance, network management, optimization and the like. The BSS is mainly responsible for realizing functions of background charging, user authorization, settlement, accounting, customer service, business and the like.

The Network Orchestration Function (NOF) is responsible for dynamic orchestration of networks and Network elements.

By adopting the capability opening architecture, the mobile network uniformly exposes mobile network information and opens the mobile network capability through the service opening platform, and the opened objects comprise third-party applications, operator own applications and the like.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of the conventional capability opening, as shown in fig. 2, including the following steps:

s101: the Application server calls an Application API (Application Protocol Interface, abbreviated as Application Protocol Interface) to the service open platform according to the need of its own service flow, for example: and calling an area position user density API in the user track application scene.

S102: and the capability open platform performs application layer protocol conversion, and analyzes the capability information needing to be acquired to the mobile network from the application API. For example: third party applications need to obtain user density information for a certain geographical area.

S103: the capability opening platform acquires the required network resources and user information from the mobile network/network element, for example, acquires the user density information of a certain geographical area from the network. The mobile network/network element applies for updating network resources for the request, collects network and user information, and returns network capability information (such as telecommunication capability, terminal information, network state and the like) to the capability opening platform, for example, returns the current user density information of a certain area position to the capability opening platform.

S104: the capability open platform encapsulates the network capability information acquired from the mobile network/network element according to the requirement of the application API, and forms an adaptation result called by the application API; for example: and encapsulating the user density information of the specific area position into callable API information.

S105: the capability open platform device returns the adaptation result of the application API to the application server, and the application server realizes various applications according to different APIs obtained from the network side and provides differentiated services for users.

The conventional cellular network architecture of figure 1 is suitable for single-service type networks. However, with this vertical architecture, it is difficult for operators to expand telecommunication networks and to adapt to changing customer needs and to meet the needs of new applications.

In future network systems, the network will be further abstracted as "network slice" (network slice): different network slices provide connection services for specific services or specific terminals or specific areas, a network slice contains various virtual network elements that can be dynamically created, and the function and performance implementation of the network slice includes geographic coverage area, duration, capacity, speed, delay, reliability, security, availability, and the like.

As shown in fig. 3, according to different service requirements, such as MBB (Mobile Broadband service) service, mtc (massive machine type communication) service, and mtc (ultra machine type communication) service, different network slices are used to provide services at the network side because of their different requirements for network functions and performance, and network elements, network connections, network resources, hardware resources, etc. included in each network slice are established and allocated as needed, and different network slices can satisfy different terminal access and service capabilities. The creation, update, and release of network slices are provided by a Network Slice Management Function (NSMF).

The existing capability openness network architecture can provide partial network capability openness for third-party applications, and the third-party applications can request services such as QoS parameter updating, charging policy adjustment (for example, third-party pay service for users), user preference information acquisition and the like through the capability openness platform. However, the capacity opening facing the future 5G network requirements is realized, the existing capacity opening architecture can only meet the requirement that the existing network capacity and network information are opened to a third party, the future 5G network adopts network slices to provide differentiated services for different services, and the existing network capacity opening architecture cannot provide capacity opening services based on the network slices.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method, a device and a system for opening network slicing capability, aiming at solving the problem that the existing capability opening service cannot meet the network slicing service of a future network.

In order to achieve the purpose of the invention, the technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows:

a method of network slicing capability opening, comprising:

receiving a network slicing service request sent by a third-party service server;

acquiring network slice information of the current network according to the network slice service request;

and providing the network slicing service for the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request.

Preferably, the network slice service request comprises one of: a network slice query service, a network slice selection service, a network slice update service, a network slice creation service, and a network slice release service.

Preferably, the network slice information includes: static network slice information and/or dynamic network slice information.

Preferably, the acquiring network slice information according to the network slice service request includes:

obtaining static network slice information from a network slice management entity and/or obtaining dynamic network slice information from a network element comprising network slice resources.

Preferably, before acquiring the dynamic network slice information from the network element including the network slice resource, determining whether the static network slice information satisfies a service requirement of the network slice service request, and if not, acquiring the dynamic network slice information from the network element including the network slice resource.

Preferably, providing the network slicing service to the third party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request includes:

according to a network slicing information service request sent by a third-party service server, acquiring the network slicing information meeting the service requirement of the network slicing service request of the third-party service server, and providing the network slicing information for the third-party service server.

when the network slice in the network slice information meets the service requirement of the network slice service request, determining the network slice meeting the service requirement, and returning the network slice information to the third-party service server;

when the network slice in the network slice information does not meet the service requirement of the network slice service request, sending a request for updating the network slice or a request for creating the network slice to a network slice management entity, and returning the updated or created network slice information returned by the network slice management entity to the third-party service server.

when the life time period of the network slice is over, or the third-party service requests to release the network slice providing the service for the third-party service, the network slice management entity is informed of releasing the network slice.

Preferably, after sending the request for updating network slices or the request for creating network slices to the network slice management entity, the method further includes:

receiving a network slice adjusting request sent by the network slice management entity;

and re-sending a network slice creation request to the network slice management entity according to the network slice adjustment request.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention further provides a method for opening network slicing capability, including:

receiving a message for requesting network slice information sent by a capability openness function entity;

and feeding back the network slice information to the capability open function entity.

Preferably, the method further comprises:

receiving a network slice updating request or a network slice creating request sent by the capability openness function entity, and returning updated or created network slice information according to the network slice updating request or the network slice creating request;

or receiving a network slice updating request or a network slice creating request sent by the capability openness function entity, and returning a network slice adjusting request according to the network slice updating request or the network slice creating request.

Preferably, the method further comprises:

and when the life time period of the network slice is over, or the capability opening functional entity requests to release the network slice created or updated for the third-party service server, releasing the corresponding network slice resource of the third-party service server.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention further provides a capability openness function entity, including:

the first receiving module is used for receiving a network slicing service request sent by a third-party service server;

the acquisition module is used for acquiring the network slice information of the current network according to the network slice service request;

and the service module is used for providing the network slicing service for the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request.

Preferably, the obtaining, by the obtaining module, network slice information according to the network slice service request means:

Preferably, the entity further includes a determining module, configured to determine whether the static network slice information meets a service requirement of the network slice service request, and if not, trigger the obtaining module to obtain the dynamic network slice information from a network element including a network slice resource.

Preferably, the step of the service module providing the network slicing service to the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request means:

Preferably, the service module includes:

a feedback unit, configured to determine one or more network slices meeting the service requirement when a network slice in the network slice information meets the service requirement of the network slice service request, and return the one or more network slices information to the third-party service server;

and the request unit is used for sending a network slice updating request or a network slice creating request to a network slice management entity when the network slice in the network slice information does not meet the service requirement of the network slice service request, and returning the updated or created network slice information returned by the network slice management entity to the third-party service server.

Preferably, the service module is further configured to notify a network slice management entity of releasing the network slice when a lifetime period of the network slice is over or a third-party service requests to release the network slice for which the service is provided.

Preferably, after the request unit sends the request for updating network slices or the request for creating network slices to the network slice management entity, the request unit is further configured to:

In order to solve the above technical problem, the Haitong of the present invention further provides a network slice management entity, comprising:

the second receiving module is used for receiving the message which is sent by the capability open function entity and requests the network slice information;

and the sending module is used for feeding back the network slice information to the capability open function entity.

Preferably, the second receiving module is further configured to receive a network slice updating request or a network slice creating request sent by the capability openness function entity, and the sending module is further configured to return updated or created network slice information according to the network slice updating request or the network slice creating request;

or the second receiving module is further configured to receive a network slice updating request or a network slice creating request sent by the capability openness function entity, and the sending module is further configured to return a network slice adjusting request according to the network slice updating request or the network slice creating request.

Preferably, the entity further comprises:

and the release module is used for releasing the corresponding network slice resources of the third-party service server when the life time period of the network slice is finished or the capability open function entity requests to release the network slice created or updated for the third-party service server.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention further provides a system for opening network slicing capability, which includes the capability opening functional entity and the network slicing management entity.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

the method, the device and the system for opening the network slice capability not only can open the capability service of the current network to a third party, but also can provide the capability opening service of the network slice service of a future network, and the third party can obtain the related information of the network slice through the capability opening and select or request to create different network slices to provide differentiated services for the third party service, so that the third party service, the newly added application, the virtual operator and the service provider can flexibly select, create, update and release the network slices suitable for different service requirements, and provide the differentiated network slice service for the third party.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the architecture of a capability open architecture of the related art;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a capability openness implementation of the related art;

fig. 3 is a block diagram of a structure of a related art network slice management architecture;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method of network slicing capability opening according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of another method of network slicing capability opening in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a capability openness function entity according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of another capability openness function entity according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the architecture of the capability open architecture enhancement according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of capability openfunction query, update, creation, and release of network slices according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of capability openfunction query, update, creation, and release of network slices according to embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart of capability openfunction query, update, creation, and release of network slices according to embodiment 3 of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart of capability openfunction query, update, creation, and release of network slices according to embodiment 4 of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a flowchart of capability openfunction query, update, create, and release of network slices according to embodiment 5 of the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of the connection of the network slicing capability opening system according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided, and it should be noted that, in the case of conflict, features in the embodiments and the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other.

As shown in fig. 4, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for opening network slicing capability, which is applied to a capability opening functional entity, and includes:

Wherein the network slice service request comprises one of: a network slice query service, a network slice selection service, a network slice update service, a network slice creation service, and a network slice release service.

The network slice information includes static network slice information and/or dynamic network slice information.

Acquiring the network slice information according to the network slice service request comprises:

Before acquiring the dynamic network slice information from the network element containing the network slice resource, judging whether the static network slice information meets the service requirement of the network slice service request, and if not, acquiring the dynamic network slice information from the network element containing the network slice resource.

In the invention, when a third party inquires the network slice, the capability opening functional entity inquires the network slice static information from the network slice management functional entity, and the capability opening functional entity is not limited to information such as network elements, network connection, network slice resources and the like. And the network slice management functional entity returns the static information of the network slices adaptive to the service requirements. The capability openness function entity further queries the adaptive network slice for network slice dynamic information, which is not limited to information such as network load, current user number, network slice resource use condition and the like. And the capacity open functional entity extracts part of the dynamic and static network slice information, generates network slice information meeting the query requirements of a third party and returns the network slice information to the third party.

Specifically, static network slice information is obtained from the network slice management entity, and when the static network slice information does not meet the service requirement of the network slice service request, dynamic network slice information is obtained from a network element containing network slice resources.

Providing the network slicing service to the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request comprises:

Specifically, when a network slice in the network slice information meets a service requirement of the network slice service request, determining the network slice meeting the service requirement, and returning the network slice information to the third-party service server;

After sending the request for updating the network slice or the request for creating the network slice to the network slice management entity, the method further comprises the following steps:

The third-party service server can match the network slice information with the service requirement thereof according to the network slice query result, and select a proper network slice to serve the service. And the third-party service server informs the capability openness function entity of the selected network slice and carries information such as the type of the terminal or the type of the service to be served and service requirements. And the capability openness functional entity initiates a network slice updating request to the network slice management functional entity when finding that the selected network slice can not completely meet the service requirement, carries network slice updating information, is not limited to updating information such as network elements, network element connection relations, network slice resources and the like, and updates the selected network slice by the network slice management functional entity so as to meet the service requirement of a third-party service server. If the third-party service server does not find that the network slice meets the service requirement of the third-party service server, the third-party service server informs the capacity openness function entity to create a new network slice to meet the service requirement of the third-party service server, and at the moment, the capacity openness function entity needs to initiate a network slice creation request to the network slice management function entity, carry network slice creation information and create a brand new network slice for the third-party service server.

The capability openness function entity can also provide network slice selection, updating, creating and releasing services for the third-party service server. The third party service server imports the service requirement of the third party service server on the network slicing service, the capability opening functional entity matches the inquired network slicing information with the service requirement of the third party service server, and if the inquired network slicing information is completely matched with the service requirement of the third party service server, the optimal network slicing is selected to provide service for the third party. And if the matching is not complete, selecting a better matched network slice, and updating the network slice so as to completely meet the service requirement of the third-party service server. And if the matching fails, applying for creating a new network slice for the third-party service server.

After the network slice is created or updated successfully, the capability openness function entity can provide a network slice release service, and the network slice release can be applied by a third party in real time and released in real time. Or a life cycle mode can be adopted, and after the life cycle is finished, the capability opening functional entity requests the network slice management functional entity to release the network slice.

As shown in fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for opening a network slicing capability, which is applied to a network slicing management entity, and includes:

The method further comprises the following steps:

and when the life time period of the network slice resources is finished or the capability opening functional entity requests to release the network slice created or updated for the third-party service server, releasing the corresponding network slice resources of the third-party service server.

The embodiment of the invention can realize the query, selection, creation, update and release of the network slice, and the capability open functional entity provides the information query, selection, update, creation and release service of the network slice for the third-party service server according to the requirements of the third-party service server and returns the information of the network slice to the third party.

The capability openness function entity obtains the network slice information from the network slice management entity and the network elements of the network slice, and the capability openness function entity can obtain the static network slice information from the network slice management entity and obtain the dynamic network slice information from the network elements in the network slice.

After acquiring the network slice information, the capability opening functional entity provides network slice information opening service for a third party and provides required network slice information for the third party;

after the capability openness functional entity acquires the network slice information, the capability openness functional entity matches the network slice information with the service requirements of the third-party service server, and selects the network slice meeting the service requirements for the third party.

The capacity openness functional entity selects a network slice capable of providing optimal service for a third party according to the service requirement of a third party service server, if the network slice cannot completely meet the service requirement, the capacity openness functional entity initiates a network slice updating request to a network slice management entity, updates the selected network slice and carries network slice updating information, and the capacity openness functional entity is not limited to updating information of network elements, network resources, network element connection relations and the like;

preferably, the capability openness function entity matches the network slicing capability with the service requirement according to the network slice selected by the third party and the carried service requirement. If the network slice can not completely meet the third-party service requirement, the capability opening function initiates a request for updating the network slice to the network slice management entity, updates the selected network slice, and carries network slice updating information, which is not limited to updating information of network elements, network resources, network element connection relations and the like.

And the capability opening function entity initiates a network slice creation request to the network slice management entity according to the third-party service requirement and the current network slice information if the network slice in the current system cannot meet the third-party service requirement, carries the network slice creation information, and is not limited to network elements, network resources, network element connection relations and other network slice creation information.

The capability openness function entity initiates a request for creating the network slice to the network slice management entity according to the request for creating the network slice by the third party and the service requirement carried by the request, carries network slice creation information, and is not limited to network slice creation information such as network elements, network resources, network element connection relations and the like.

And after receiving the request for creating or updating the network slice of the capability openness function entity, the network slice management entity updates the network slice or creates the network slice according to the network slice creating information or updating information carried in the request information. And if the current network system can not meet the requirement of network slice creation or update, requesting the capability open function entity to update the network slice or adjust the creation requirement.

Preferably, when the life time period of the network slice is over, or a third party requests to release the network slice serving the third party, the capability openness function entity requests the network slice management entity to release the network slice created or updated for the third party, and the network slice management entity releases the network slice resources serving the third party, which are not limited to the network slice resources such as the network elements, the network connections, and the network resources serving the third party.

Preferably, after the terminal accesses the network, the network slice management entity or the capability openness function entity selects to configure the network slice for the terminal according to the type of the terminal or the type of the service carried by the terminal, and notifies the terminal, and the terminal accesses the network slice again.

As shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides a capability openness function entity, which includes

Wherein, the acquiring module acquires the network slice information according to the network slice service request by:

The entity also comprises a judging module used for judging whether the static network slice information meets the service requirement of the network slice service request, and when the static network slice information does not meet the service requirement, the acquiring module is triggered to acquire the dynamic network slice information from the network element containing the network slice resource.

The service module provides the network slicing service to the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request, wherein the step of providing the network slicing service to the third-party service server is as follows:

The service module comprises:

The service module is also used for informing the network slice management entity of releasing the network slice when the life time period of the network slice is over or the third-party service requests to release the network slice providing service for the third-party service.

The request unit is further configured to, after sending an update network slice request or a create network slice request to the network slice management entity:

As shown in fig. 7, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network slice management entity, including:

The second receiving module is further configured to receive a network slice updating request or a network slice creating request sent by the capability openness function entity, and the sending module is further configured to return updated or created network slice information according to the network slice updating request or the network slice creating request;

The entity further comprises:

As shown in fig. 14, the network slicing capability opening system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes: a capability-opening functional entity; this capability opens up functional entities: interacting with a third party, receiving the network slicing requirements of the third party, and sending the network slicing information to the third party; interacting with each network element of the network slice to acquire dynamic information of the network slice; interacting information with a network slice management function entity, acquiring network slice dynamic information, and creating or updating a network slice for a third party; inquiring the network slice for the third party, selecting the network slice for the third party, creating, updating or releasing the network slice for the third party, or generating the network slice required by the third party according to the acquired network slice information;

preferably, the capability openness function entity sends a request for creating, updating or releasing a network slice by a third party to the network slice management entity through an interface with the network slice management entity, and the network slice management entity creates or updates a network slice for the third party, which provides service for the third party service requirement.

Preferably, when a third party queries the network slice information, the capability openness function entity acquires static information of the network slice through an interface with the network slice management entity, acquires dynamic information of the network slice through an interface with a network element in the network slice, generates network slice information required by the third party, and sends the network slice information to the third party.

Preferably, when the life cycle of the network slice serving for the third party is over or the third party requests to release the network slice serving for the third party, the capability openness function entity notifies the network slice management entity to release the network slice resource serving for the third party.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the capacity opening function interacts with the network slice management entity according to the requirement of the third-party service server on the network slice, the generated private network networking information is sent to the arranging function entity for the third-party service server, the arranging function entity creates a private network or a network element to meet the service requirement or network requirement of the third party, the virtual operation and differentiated user service requirement of the third party are met, and the user experience is effectively improved.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of architecture enhancement of a communication network according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, the communication network architecture may include: an interface between the capability opening function and the network slice management function (referred to as an interface A for short), and an interface between the capability opening function and each network element in the network slice (referred to as an interface B for short). Through the interface a, the capability opening function can query static information of the network slice, such as network element information in the network slice, network element connection topology information, network resource information, and the like. Through the interface A, the capability opening function can also request the network slice management function to create or update the network slice meeting the third-party service requirements, and after the life cycle of the network slice is finished, the capability opening function can request to release the network slice or the network slice resources created or updated for the third-party service. Through the interface B, the capability opening function can slice dynamic information of each network element to the query network, and is not limited to the load capability, congestion state, network resource usage, calculation and storage resource usage, etc. of each network element. The capability openness functional entity can open the capability of the related network slices such as inquiry of network slice information, selection of the network slices, updating of the network slices, creation of the network slices, release of the network slices and the like to the third party through interaction with the third party.

Wherein

Interface A: the interface is used for the interaction and forwarding of information between two network elements, such as the query of static information of the network slice, or the request of creating and updating the network slice meeting the third-party service requirement.

Interface B: the capability openness function is used for querying dynamic information of the network slice, and is not limited to load capability, congestion state, network resource usage, calculation and storage resource usage and the like of each network element.

Capability opening function: the capability open platform has the functions of requirement import, protocol conversion, private network networking information creation and the like. In order to meet the requirement of third-party services on network slices of future networks, the capability openness function has the capability of opening the network slices to the third parties, and the capability is not limited to the capability of opening the network slices to the third parties for inquiring network slice information, selecting the network slices, updating the network slices, creating the network slices, releasing the network slices and other related network slices.

Network slice management function entity: the network slice management function entity is responsible for the management functions of creating, updating, releasing and the like of the network slice.

Example 1

Fig. 9 is a network architecture based on enhanced capability openness according to an embodiment of the present invention, which satisfies the network slice requirements of a third party application/service provider/virtual operator for a future network, and opens a network slice information query in an existing mobile network system to the third party through a capability openness function, so that the third party uses a suitable network slice according to service requirements, thereby satisfying the requirement that the third party realizes differentiated services by using different network slices, and improving user experience. As shown in fig. 9, the method may include the following process steps:

step S201: in order to meet the service requirements of the third-party application/service provider/virtual operator, the information of the current network slice needs to be queried for the existing network system to know the performance, function, network load and other conditions of the network slice. A third party requests a capability open function entity to inquire the information of the network slice in the current network system according to the service requirement of the third party, wherein the information is not limited to the static information of the network slice, such as the network element and the network function in the network slice, the network element connection topology, the network resource/computing resource/storage resource allocation and the like; the dynamic information of the network slice, such as the load of each network element in the network slice, the congestion condition of the network slice, the use condition of network resources/computing resources/storage resources, the number of currently accessed terminals, and the like. The network slice query signaling may carry service requirements.

Step S202: after receiving the query request of the third party for the network slice information, the capability opening function initiates a request for querying the network slice information to a network slice management function in the system.

Step S203: if the query request carries service requirement information, the network slice management function returns all network slice information associated with the service requirement in the current network system to the capability opening function. And if the query request does not carry the service requirement information, the network slice management function returns all network slice information in the current network system to the capability opening function. The returned signaling carries static information of the network slice, and is not limited to the type of the network slice, network elements and network functions in the network slice, network element connection topology, network resource/computing resource/storage resource allocation, network slice information such as supportable service type and terminal type, and the like.

Step S204: the capability opening function judges whether the network slice information returned by the network slice management function entity meets the query requirement of a third party on the network slice, such as whether the third party needs to know the dynamic load and the dynamic resource use condition of the current network slice.

Step S205: the capability openness functional entity further initiates a network slice query request to each network slice returned by the network slice management functional entity, and requests to query dynamic information of service conditions such as load and resources of each network element of the network slice.

Step S206: after receiving the network slice information query request of the capability opening function, the network slice returns the current dynamic information of the network slice to the capability opening function, which is not limited to the congestion condition of the network slice, the current access number of the terminals, the load condition of each network element, the service condition of the network slice resources, such as the service condition of the network resources/computing resources/storage resources, and the like.

Step S207: and the capacity opening function extracts part of the static network slice information returned by the network slice management function entity and the dynamic network slice information returned by each network slice according to the service requirement of the third party to generate the network slice information required by the third party.

Step S208: the capability opening function returns the required network slice information to the third party. The third party can adjust the service requirement according to the returned network slice information, or select and update the network slice.

It can be seen from this embodiment that the capability openness functional entity may open the network slice information to the third party, and return the network slice information required by the third party according to the service requirement of the third party, and the third party may perform operations such as service planning and network slice update request according to the network slice information.

Example 2

Fig. 10 is an enhanced capability based open network architecture to meet the network slicing requirements of third party application/service providers/virtual operators for future networks according to an embodiment of the present invention. Through the capability opening function, the network slice selection capability in the existing mobile network system is opened for the third party, and the network slice selected by the third party is updated according to the third party service requirements, for example, updating modes such as adding special network elements suitable for the third party service and adding network slice resources are added, so that the network slice selected by the third party can meet the differentiated requirements of the third party service. In addition, after the terminal is accessed through the universal network slice, the capability openness function entity can inform the terminal of the selected network slice information, so that the terminal is changed to be accessed through the selected network slice, the service requirement of the terminal is met, and the user experience is improved. As shown in fig. 10, the method may include the following process steps:

step S301: and the third party application/service provider/virtual operator selects a more appropriate network slice A for the third party service or the terminal managed by the third party service according to the inquired information of the current network slice in order to meet the service requirement of the third party application/service provider/virtual operator. The third party notifies the capability openness function entity of the selected network slice A information, simultaneously carries service type information or terminal type information, and carries expected service requirements to the capability openness function entity, wherein the service requirements can include that the selected network slice A may not meet the description of service characteristics, such as the service characteristics of the Internet of things, the service characteristics of high throughput, or the service characteristics of frequent signaling interaction.

Step S302: after receiving a selection notification of a third party to the network slice a, the capability opening function describes the service requirement of the third party, and if the network slice a cannot completely meet the service requirement of the third party, initiates an update request of the network slice a to a network slice management function entity, and carries the update requirement of the network slice a, such as adding a special network element of the internet of things, increasing computing resources, storage resources or network resources of the network slice, and the like, and also includes information of the service type or terminal type and the like which the network slice a needs to service.

Step S303: after receiving the network slice A updating request, the network slice management function dynamically adjusts the network slice A according to the network slice updating requirement, such as adding special network elements of the Internet of things, updating the connection relation of the network elements, dynamically scheduling network resources and the like, so as to adapt to the requirements of third-party services.

And if the current network system can not meet the requirement of network slice creation or updating, the network slice management function requests the capability openness function entity to update the network slice or adjust the creation requirement.

Step S304: and after the network slice management function is updated, returning an update completion notification to the capability opening function, and simultaneously carrying the updated static information of the network slice A. If the current network system has no schedulable network slice resource and the update of the network slice A fails, the network slice management function notifies the capability openness function of the failure update message, and the capability openness function negotiates with a third party whether to use the network slice A.

Step S305: the terminal managed by the third party is accessed into the current network through the universal network slice and carries the terminal type or the service type.

Step S306: a generic network slice requires a network slice that the terminal recognizes as serving it. The general network slice initiates network slice inquiry to the network slice management function, and carries the terminal type or service type of the terminal. The network slice management function confirms that the terminal is served by network slice a. If the network slice management function can not determine which network slice serves the terminal, the network slice management function further initiates a query to the capability openness function entity, and the capability openness function can interactively confirm or select the network slice serving the terminal with a third party.

Step S307: the network slice management function notifies the general network slice of the network slice A information confirmed as the terminal service, wherein the network slice A information comprises the network slice A id and the address information.

Step S308: the generic network slice informs the terminal of the id and address information of the network slice a serving it.

Step S309: the terminal reselects the network slice A to access the network, carries the terminal type or the service type, and provides access and data service for the terminal by the network slice A.

As can be seen from this embodiment, the capability openness function entity may update the selected network slice for the third party according to the third party service selection. After the terminal is accessed to the network, the network slice management function can select a proper network slice for the terminal to serve through the capability opening function, so that the selected network slice meets the requirements of third-party services.

Example 3

Fig. 11 is a network architecture based on enhanced capability openness according to an embodiment of the present invention, which satisfies a network slice requirement of a third party application/service provider/virtual operator for a future network, and opens a network slice selection capability in an existing mobile network system to the third party through a capability openness function, where the third party can import a service requirement, such as a user number, a bandwidth, a time delay, a life cycle, a service region, and a service characteristic (internet of things, car networking, large-scale terminals, high throughput, small data, etc.), and a capability openness function entity selects and provides a network slice satisfying the service requirement for the third party according to the service requirement, so as to improve user experience. As shown in fig. 11, the method may include the following process steps:

step S401: third party applications/service providers/virtual operators want the existing network systems to provide a suitable network slice to provide network services to meet their business needs. The third party initiates a request of the network slicing service to the capability openness function entity, and carries service requirements such as user number, bandwidth, time delay, life cycle, service region and service characteristics (internet of things, internet of vehicles, large-scale terminals, high throughput, small data and the like) which can be imported by the third party.

Step S402: if the capability opening function does not have the information of the network slice in the current network system, after receiving a request of a third party for the network slice service, the capability opening function initiates a request for inquiring the network slice information to a network slice management function in the system.

Step S403: if the query request carries service requirement information, the network slice management function returns all network slice information associated with the service requirement in the current network system to the capability opening function. And if the query request does not carry the service requirement information, the network slice management function returns all network slice information in the current network system to the capability opening function. The returned signaling carries static information of the network slice, and is not limited to the type of the network slice, network elements and network functions in the network slice, network element connection topology, network resource/computing resource/storage resource allocation, network slice information such as supportable service type and terminal type, and the like.

Step S404: the capability openness functional entity further initiates a network slice query request to each network slice returned by the network slice management functional entity, and requests to query dynamic information of service conditions such as load and resources of each network element of the network slice.

Step S405: after receiving the network slice information query request of the capability opening function, the network slice returns the current dynamic information of the network slice to the capability opening function, which is not limited to the congestion condition of the network slice, the current access number of the terminals, the load condition of each network element, the service condition of the network slice resources, such as the service condition of the network resources/computing resources/storage resources, and the like.

Step S406: the capacity opening function matches the dynamic information and the static information of the network slice with the service requirement according to the service requirement imported by the third party, and selects an optimal network slice meeting the service requirement for the third party. And according to the matching result, the network slice A completely meets the third-party service requirement.

Step S407: the capability opening function is that after the third party successfully selects the network slice A, the selected network slice information is returned to the third party, and the capability opening function is not limited to the id and the address of the network slice, the function and the performance of the network slice, the network slice network element and the resource and other information.

Step S408: the capacity opening function matches the dynamic information and the static information of the network slice with the service requirement according to the service requirement imported by the third party, and selects an optimal network slice meeting the service requirement for the third party. If the selected network slice a cannot completely meet the service requirement, the network slice a needs to be updated. If the appropriate network slice cannot be selected to serve the third party, a brand new network slice C needs to be created for the third party according to the service requirement.

Step S409 a: if the selected network slice A can not completely meet the third-party service requirement, the capability opening function initiates a network slice A updating request to the network slice management function entity to carry the network slice A updating requirement, such as adding special network elements of the Internet of things, and adding computing resources, storage resources or network resources of the network slice.

Step S410 a: after receiving the network slice A updating request, the network slice management function dynamically adjusts the network slice A according to the network slice updating requirement, such as adding special network elements of the Internet of things, updating the connection relation of the network elements, dynamically scheduling network resources and the like, so as to adapt to the requirements of third-party services.

Step S409 b: if no selectable network slice meets the third-party service requirement, the capability opening function initiates a network slice creation request to the network slice management function entity, carries the network slice creation requirement, and is not limited to information such as network elements, network connection relations, network slice resources, network slice functions and performance and the like.

Step S410 b: and after receiving the network slice creation request, the network slice management function creates a brand-new network slice according to the network slice creation requirement, so as to provide a service for the third-party service to meet the service requirement of the third-party service.

Step S411: and after the network slice management function is updated or established, returning an update or establishment completion notification to the capability opening function, and simultaneously carrying the static information after the network slice is updated or established.

Step S412: the capability opening function returns created or updated network slice information to the third party as the network slice serving the third party, wherein the network slice information is not limited to the id and address of the network slice, the function and performance of the network slice, the network slice network element and resource and other information.

It can be seen from this embodiment that the capability openness functional entity can provide the network slice meeting the service requirement for the third party to serve the third party according to the service requirement of the third party. The capability opening function can adopt the modes of network slice selection, network slice updating, network slice creation and the like to provide the optimal network slice for the third party.

Example 4

Fig. 12 is an enhanced capability-based open network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention, which satisfies a network slice requirement of a third party application/service provider/virtual operator for a future network, and opens a network slice query capability in an existing mobile network system to the third party through a capability opening function, so that the third party performs network slice selection and creation decision, and updates the selected network slice through the capability opening function, or creates a new network slice for the third party to serve, for example, the virtual operator needs a private network, and at this time, a new network slice needs to be created to serve the third party. As shown in fig. 10, the method may include the following process steps:

step S501: in order to meet the service requirements of the third-party application/service provider/virtual operator, the information of the current network slice needs to be queried for the existing network system to know the performance, function, network load and other conditions of the network slice. A third party requests a capability open function entity to inquire the information of the network slice in the current network system according to the service requirement of the third party, wherein the information is not limited to the static information of the network slice, such as the network element and the network function in the network slice, the network element connection topology, the network resource/computing resource/storage resource allocation and the like; the dynamic information of the network slice, such as the load of each network element in the network slice, the congestion condition of the network slice, the use condition of network resources/computing resources/storage resources, the number of currently accessed terminals, and the like. The network slice query signaling may carry service requirements.

Step S502: after receiving the query request of the third party for the network slice information, the capability opening function initiates a request for querying the static information of the network slice to the network slice management function in the system, and initiates a request for querying the dynamic information to each network element of the network slice.

Step S503: and the capacity opening function extracts part of the static network slice information returned by the network slice management function entity and the dynamic network slice information returned by each network slice according to the service requirement of the third party, generates network slice information required by the third party and returns the network slice information to the third party.

Step S504: after receiving the network slice information, the third party matches the service requirements of the network slice information according to the service requirements of the third party, and selects an optimal network slice meeting the service requirements of the third party. And selecting a suitable network slice according to the matching result. If there is no suitable network slice, it may be applied to create a network slice to serve.

Step S505 a: and the third party selects the network slice A to serve the third party, notifies the capability openness function entity of the selection information and carries the service requirement, the terminal type or the service type of the third party.

Step S506 a: if the selected network slice A can not completely meet the third-party service requirement, the capability opening function initiates a network slice A updating request to the network slice management function entity to carry the network slice A updating requirement, such as adding special network elements of the Internet of things, increasing computing resources, storage resources or network resources of the network slice, and the like, and simultaneously carries the terminal type or service type of the network slice needing service.

Step S507 a: after receiving the network slice A updating request, the network slice management function dynamically adjusts the network slice A according to the network slice updating requirement, such as adding special network elements of the Internet of things, updating the connection relation of the network elements, dynamically scheduling network resources and the like, so as to adapt to the requirements of third-party services.

Step S505 b: the third party, who did not select the appropriate network slice to service, would request that a completely new network slice be created to service. And the third party sends the network slice creating request to the capability openness function entity and carries the service requirement, the terminal type or the service type of the capability openness function entity.

Step S506 b: after receiving a network slice creation request of a third party, the capability opening function initiates the network slice creation request to the network slice management function entity, carries the network slice creation requirement, and is not limited to information such as network elements, network connection relations, network slice resources, network slice functions and performance.

Step S507 b: and after receiving the network slice creation request, the network slice management function creates a brand-new network slice according to the network slice creation requirement, so as to provide a service for the third-party service to meet the service requirement of the third-party service.

Step S508: and after the network slice management function is updated or established, returning an update or establishment completion notification to the capability opening function, and simultaneously carrying the static information after the network slice is updated or established.

Step S509: the capability opening function returns created or updated network slice information to the third party as the network slice serving the third party, wherein the network slice information is not limited to the id and address of the network slice, the function and performance of the network slice, the network slice network element and resource and other information.

It can be seen from this embodiment that the capability openness function entity may provide a network slice query service to a third party, and when the third party selects and updates a network slice or creates a network slice, the capability openness function requests the network slice management function entity to update or create a network slice, and the third party provides a network slice satisfying its business requirements as its service.

Example 5

Fig. 13 is an enhanced capability-based open network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention, which satisfies a network slice requirement of a third party application/service provider/virtual operator for a future network, and through a capability opening function, a third party may request a network slice service and simultaneously carry a network slice lifecycle, and when the lifecycle is finished, the capability opening function actively initiates a release of a network slice. The third party can also initiate a network slice release request at any time during the life cycle, and interact with the network slice management function entity through the capability opening function to release the network slice serving for the third party. As shown in fig. 13, the method may include the following process steps:

step S601: in order to meet the service requirements of the third-party application/service provider/virtual operator, a network slice service request is sent to the capability opening functional entity, and a proper network slice is requested to provide network service and carry the life cycle of the network slice.

Step S602: the capability opening function interacts with the network slice management function entity to create or update the network slice operation, and provides a network slice meeting the service requirement for the network slice.

Step S603 a: during the lifetime of the network slice, the third party can initiate a network slice release request at any time to release the network slice served by the third party.

Step S603 b: when the network slice life cycle is finished, the capability openness function entity needs to release the network slice serving for the third party.

Step S604: the capability opening functional entity initiates a network slice release request to the network slice management functional entity, and requests to release the network slice serving for the third party, and the network slice identifier is carried.

Step S605: if the network slice serves only the third party, the network slice is completely released. If the network slice also serves other services or other service providers, only the additional network elements and resources in the network slice which is the third party are released.

Step S606: the network slice management functional entity returns the successful release result to the capability opening functional entity; and the capability opening functional entity returns the network slice release completion result to the third party.

It can be seen from this embodiment that the capability openness function entity can release the network slice for the third party in time, thereby avoiding extra cost caused by occupying the network slice for a long time and wasting network resources.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the contents thereof are merely embodiments adopted to facilitate understanding of the technical aspects of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for opening network slicing capability, comprising:

providing network slicing service for the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request;

the network slice information includes: static network slice information and/or dynamic network slice information;

the acquiring network slice information according to the network slice service request includes:

obtaining static network slice information from a network slice management entity and/or obtaining dynamic network slice information from a network element containing network slice resources;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network slice service request comprises one of: a network slice query service, a network slice selection service, a network slice update service, a network slice creation service, and a network slice release service.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing network slicing services to the third party traffic server based on the network slicing information for the current network and the traffic demand of the network slicing service request comprises:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing network slicing services to the third party traffic server based on the network slicing information for the current network and the traffic demand of the network slicing service request comprises:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein providing network slicing services to the third party traffic server based on the network slicing information for the current network and the traffic demand of the network slicing service request comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sending an update network slice request or a create network slice request to the network slice management entity further comprises:

7. A method for opening network slicing capability is characterized in that: the method comprises the following steps:

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

10. A capability openness function entity, characterized by: the method comprises the following steps:

the service module is used for providing network slicing service for the third-party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request;

the acquiring module acquires the network slice information according to the network slice service request, wherein the acquiring module is used for:

and the judging module is used for judging whether the static network slice information meets the service requirement of the network slice service request or not, and if not, triggering the acquiring module to acquire the dynamic network slice information from the network element containing the network slice resource.

11. The entity according to claim 10, wherein the service module providing the network slicing service to the third party service server according to the network slicing information of the current network and the service requirement of the network slicing service request means:

according to a network slicing information service request sent by a third party service server, acquiring the network slicing information meeting the service requirement of the network slicing service request of the third party service server, and providing the network slicing information for the third party service server.

12. The entity of claim 11, wherein the service module comprises:

13. The entity of claim 10, wherein the service module is further configured to notify a network slice management entity to release the network slice when a lifetime period of the network slice ends or a third party service requests release of the network slice for which the service is provided.

14. The entity of claim 12, wherein the request unit, after sending an update network slice request or a create network slice request to the network slice management entity, is further configured to:

15. A network slice management entity, comprising:

16. The entity of claim 15,

17. The entity of claim 15, further comprising:

18. A system for opening network slicing capability, comprising: comprising the capability openness function entity of any of claims 10 to 14 and the network slice management entity of any of claims 15 to 17.