CN106686676B

CN106686676B - Method, device and system for session switching

Info

Publication number: CN106686676B
Application number: CN201510751296.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王晓燕
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2015-11-06
Filing date: 2015-11-06
Publication date: 2020-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 2035-11-06
Also published as: WO2017076126A1; CN106686676A

Abstract

A method for switching session, a management device receives a session establishment request message from a target gateway, wherein the session establishment request message carries an identifier of a user; the management equipment determines that a switching indication for indicating that the strategy accessed by the user and the charging control gateway are switched is carried in the session establishment request, finds the session between the existing management equipment of the user and the source gateway according to the identification of the user, and transfers the session information of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway; the management equipment receives a switching completion notification message from the target gateway and sends a session termination request message to a source gateway; wherein the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway when knowing that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway. By the scheme, the problem of user session switching is solved.

Description

Method, device and system for session switching

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, a device, and a system for session handover.

Background

The architecture diagram of Policy and Charging Control (PCC) framework is defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), which includes: policy Control and Charging rules Function (PCRF), (Policy and Charging implementation Function, PCEF), Online Charging System (OCS), and so on. The PCRF is mainly configured to determine a PCC rule of a user, and send the determined PCC rule to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF). The PCEF is typically implemented based on a gateway and may connect to a variety of access networks.

The interface between PCRF and PCEF is Gx interface, PCRF issues PCC rule to PCEF through the interface. And during the online charging mode, a Gy session is established between the PCEF and the OCS. The Gx and Gy interfaces also support quota management functions.

In the research and practice process of the prior art, the inventor finds that although the user is in the session process at present, the accessed policy and charging control gateway does not have a switching scene. However, with the use of applications, especially video services, in the future, the network traffic will further increase, and in order to effectively utilize network resources, the location of the policy and charging control gateway will gradually move down and become a distributed gateway. After the gateways move down, the range of an Internet Protocol (IP) address domain or the geographical range managed by each policy and charging control gateway is reduced. In such a scenario, the policy and charging control gateway accessed by the user may be switched, and a scheme for implementing session switching is required.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method, equipment and a system for session switching, which aim to solve the problem of session switching in the switching process of a user access policy and charging control gateway.

In a specific implementation, a source gateway accessed before switching or a target gateway accessed after switching of a user has multiple deployment states. For example, the forwarding plane and the control plane of a gateway (source gateway or target gateway) may be integrated in one device. Alternatively, the forwarding and control planes of the gateways (source or target) are separate.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session switching method, including:

the management equipment receives a session establishment request message from a target gateway, wherein the session establishment request message carries an identification of a user; the management equipment determines that the session establishment request carries a switching indication for indicating that a policy accessed by a user and a charging control gateway are switched, finds the session between the management equipment and the source gateway which is existed by the user according to the identification of the user, and transfers the session information of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway; the management equipment receives a switching completion notification message from the target gateway and sends a session termination request message to a source gateway; wherein the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway when knowing that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway.

In the above scheme, the management device transfers the user session between itself and the source gateway to the session between itself and the target gateway under the condition that the session request message sent by the target gateway carries the switching indication. And under the condition that the target gateway learns that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded to the target gateway through the source gateway any more, sending a switching completion notification message to the management equipment, and then sending a session termination request message to the source gateway by the management equipment. And finishing the session switching process of the user.

In one possible design, the target gateway may know that the downstream data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway in the following two ways.

One way is as follows: the target gateway detects that the user downstream data stream received by the target gateway is not from the source gateway, which shows that the opposite end already knows the new location of the user (including that the user now accesses the target gateway). In this case, the target gateway sends a handover completion notification message to the management device, so that all downlink data streams of the user are ensured not to be lost.

The other mode is as follows: when the target gateway receives a message for notifying that the new location of the user is known from a Global Name System (GNS) or a peer user terminal of the user communication, the target gateway indicates that the peer already knows the new location of the user (including that the user now accesses the target gateway). Under the condition, the target gateway sends a switching completion message to the management equipment, so that the downlink data stream of the user can be smoothly transferred to the new access gateway of the user.

In a possible design, after determining that the session establishment request carries a handover indication, the management device sends a request message to the source gateway; then, receiving the user fragment usage amount sent by the source gateway according to the request message; determining usage fragmentation information according to current quota information of a user, and sending the usage fragmentation information to the target gateway, wherein the usage fragmentation information is used for enabling the target gateway to carry out usage statistics on the user. Therefore, the problem of how to use the usage statistics for the user in the session switching process is solved. In addition, the usage amount statistics is carried out on the user by one device, namely the target gateway, so that the usage amount statistics can be carried out on the user more effectively.

In a possible design, the session establishment message sent by the target gateway to the management device also carries address information of the target gateway, and the management device further sends the address information of the target gateway to the source gateway after obtaining the address information of the target gateway, so that the source gateway forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway according to the address information of the target gateway. The method and the system ensure that in the session switching process, if downlink data streams of users are sent, the users can be timely transferred to the target gateway, and the target gateway carries out usage statistics on the users. In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session handover method, including: the target gateway learns that a user accesses the target gateway and sends a session establishment request message to the management equipment; the target gateway receives a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment; the target gateway acquires that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway, and sends a switching completion notification message to the management equipment; the source gateway receives a session termination request message from the management device.

In one possible design, the source gateway terminates the session of the user between itself and the management device after receiving the session termination request message.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a system for session handover, where the system includes a source gateway and a target gateway, where the target gateway is configured to learn that a user accesses the target gateway, and send a session establishment request message to a management device; receiving a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment; acquiring that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through a source gateway, and sending a switching completion notification message to the management device; the source gateway is further configured to receive a session termination request message from the management device.

In one possible design, the source gateway is further configured to terminate the session of the user between itself and the management device after receiving the session termination request message.

In one possible design, the system may further include a management device described in the fourth aspect below.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a management device, where the network device has a function of actually managing device behaviors in implementing the foregoing method. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In one possible design, the management device includes a processor and a memory, the memory is used for storing application program codes supporting the management device to execute the method, and the processor is configured to execute the application program stored in the memory. The management device may further comprise a communication interface for the management device to communicate with other devices or a communication network.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for the management device, which includes a program designed for executing the management device in the above aspect.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for the source gateway and the target gateway, which includes a program designed for executing the above aspects for the source gateway and the target gateway.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session switching method, including:

the management equipment receives a session establishment request message from target gateway control equipment, wherein the session establishment request message carries an identifier of a user;

the management equipment determines that the session establishment request carries a switching indication for indicating that a policy accessed by a user and a charging control gateway are switched, finds the session between the management equipment and source gateway control equipment existing in the user according to the identification of the user, and transfers the session information of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway control equipment to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway control equipment; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway control device;

the management equipment receives a switching completion notification message from the target gateway control equipment and sends a session termination request message to source gateway control equipment; wherein the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway control device when knowing that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway forwarding device.

In the above scheme, the management device transfers the user session between itself and the source gateway control device to the session between itself and the target gateway control device under the condition that the session request message sent by the target gateway control device carries the switching indication. And under the condition that the target gateway control equipment learns that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded to the target gateway forwarding equipment any more through the source gateway forwarding equipment, sending a switching completion notification message to the management equipment, and then sending a session termination request message to the source gateway control equipment by the management equipment. And finishing the session switching process of the user.

Further, after receiving the session termination request message, the source gateway control device terminates the session with the PCRF and releases the session resources. Thus, by releasing the session resources, network resources are saved.

With reference to the seventh aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the target gateway control device may learn that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway forwarding device through the following two manners.

One way is as follows: the target gateway forwarding device detects that the user downlink data stream received by itself is not from the source gateway forwarding device, which indicates that the opposite end already knows the new location of the user (including that the user now accesses the target gateway control device). And then, the target gateway forwarding equipment reports the message to the target gateway control equipment. In this case, the target gateway control device sends a handover completion notification message to the management device, so that all downlink data streams of the user are not lost.

The other mode is as follows: the target gateway control device is receiving a message from the GNS or the opposite user terminal of the user communication for notifying that the new location of the user is known, and the target gateway control device indicates that the opposite end already knows the new location of the user (including that the user now accesses the target gateway). Under the condition, the target gateway control equipment sends a switching completion notification message to the management equipment, so that the downlink data stream of the user can be smoothly transferred to the new access gateway of the user.

With reference to the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, after determining that the session establishment request carries a handover indication indicating that a policy and charging control gateway for user access is handed over, the management device sends a request message to the source gateway forwarding device; then, receiving the user fragment usage amount sent by the source gateway forwarding device according to the request message; determining usage fragmentation information according to current quota information of a user, and sending the usage fragmentation information to the target gateway forwarding device, wherein the usage fragmentation information is used for enabling the target gateway forwarding device to perform usage statistics on the user. Therefore, the problem of how to use the usage statistics for the user in the session switching process is solved. In addition, the usage amount of the user is counted by the target gateway forwarding device, so that the usage amount of the user can be counted more effectively.

With reference to the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect or the second possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the session establishment message sent by the target gateway control device to the management device further carries address information of the target gateway forwarding device, and then the management device further sends the address information of the target gateway forwarding device to the source gateway forwarding device after obtaining the address information of the target gateway forwarding device, so that the source gateway forwarding device forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding device according to the address information of the target gateway forwarding device. The method and the device ensure that in the session switching process, if downlink data streams of users are sent, the downlink data streams can be timely transferred to the target gateway forwarding device, and the target gateway forwarding device carries out usage statistics on the users.

With reference to the seventh aspect or any one of the first possible implementation manner to the third possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, if the management device is a PCRF, the PCRF carries a PCC rule of a session between the management device and a source gateway control device in the session establishment response message, and sends the PCC rule to the target gateway control device, where the PCC rule is used to enable the target gateway forwarding device to execute a policy on the received uplink data flow and the downlink data flow of the user. When the gateway forwarding device and the control device are separately configured, the gateway control device converts the PCC rule into a control instruction between the control device and the forwarding device to indicate the behavior of the forwarding device. For example, if a Software Defined Network (SDN) architecture is used between the control device and the forwarding device, the control device converts the behavior in the PCC rule into an action recognizable by an SDN southbound interface, and sends the action to the forwarding device.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session switching method, including:

the target gateway control equipment acquires that a user accesses the target gateway control equipment and sends a session establishment request message to the management equipment; the target gateway control equipment receives a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment; the target gateway control equipment acquires that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through source gateway forwarding equipment, and sends a switching completion notification message to the management equipment; the source gateway control device receives a session termination request message from the management device.

At this point, the session switching of the user is completed.

With reference to the eighth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the session establishment request message further carries address information of a target gateway forwarding device, the source gateway forwarding device receives the request message sent by the management device, and the source gateway forwarding device sends the user fragment usage amount to the management device according to the request message; correspondingly, the session establishment response message also carries usage fragmentation information determined by the management device according to the current quota information of the user, wherein the usage fragmentation information is used for enabling the target gateway forwarding device to perform usage statistics on the user.

Therefore, the problem of how to use the usage statistics for the user in the session switching process is solved. In addition, the usage amount of the user is counted by the target gateway forwarding device, so that the usage amount of the user can be counted more effectively.

In a possible design, after receiving the session termination request message from the management device, the source gateway control device terminates the session between itself and the PCRF, and releases the session resources.

With reference to the eighth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the source gateway forwarding device further receives address information of a target gateway forwarding device sent by a management device, and the source gateway forwarding device forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding device according to the target gateway address information.

In a possible design, when the destination address in the source gateway forwarding device matching downlink data stream is the IP address of the user, the source gateway forwarding device sends the downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding device.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, after the source gateway forwarding device forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding device, the source gateway forwarding device stops performing usage statistics on the user.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner or the third possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, when the management device is a PCRF, the source gateway forwarding device further stops executing the policy on the user after forwarding the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding device.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a system for session handover, including a source gateway control device, a source gateway forwarding device, a target gateway control device, and a target gateway forwarding device, where,

the target gateway control device is used for acquiring that a user accesses the target gateway control device and sending a session establishment request message to the management device; receiving a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment; acquiring that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through a source gateway forwarding device, and sending a switching completion notification message to the management device;

the source gateway control device is further configured to receive a session termination request message from the management device.

In one possible design, the source gateway control device is further configured to terminate the session of the user between the source gateway and the management device after receiving the session termination request message

In one possible design, the system may further include a management device as described in the tenth aspect below.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a management device, where the network device has a function of actually managing device behaviors in implementing the foregoing method. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for the management device, which includes a program designed for executing the management device in the above aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium, which is used to store computer software instructions for the source gateway forwarding device, the source gateway control device, the target gateway forwarding device, and the target gateway control device, and includes a program for executing the program designed for the source gateway forwarding device, the source gateway control device, the target gateway forwarding device, and the target gateway control device in the foregoing aspects.

In a specific implementation, the management device may be a PCRF or an OCS.

In the present invention, the names of the source gateway control device, the source gateway forwarding device, the target gateway control device, and the target gateway forwarding device do not limit the devices themselves, and in actual implementation, these devices may appear with other names. Provided that the respective devices function similarly to the present invention, are within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents.

Compared with the prior art, the scheme provided by the invention can realize the session switching of the user in the switching process of the strategy and charging control gateway accessed by the user.

These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible system network according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall downward movement of the gateway;

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a gateway forwarding plane move down;

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

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a computer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a session handover method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a session handover method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a management device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention. Moreover, the particular methods of operation in the method embodiments may also be applied to apparatus embodiments or system embodiments.

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

As shown in fig. 1, is a simple PCC architecture diagram, comprising: PCRF, PCEF and OCS. The PCRF is mainly configured to determine a PCC rule for the user, and send the determined PCC rule to the PCEF through the Gx interface for execution. The PCC rules comprise control strategies and charging strategies, and the control strategies comprise: quality of Service (QoS) parameters, gating, redirection, etc.; the charging policy comprises: charging key value, charging mode, charging system address, measurement mode, etc. The PCEF is generally implemented based on a Gateway, and may be connected to multiple access networks, for example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS), the PCEF is generally deployed on a Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW) in a Network.

And during the online charging mode, a Gy session is established between the PCEF and the OCS. The Gx interface and the Gy interface also support quota management functions, and quota management includes the following partial functions or all functions: the PCRF or OCS sends a certain flow or duration limit to the PCEF; the PCEF carries out usage (flow or duration) statistics on the data stream; when the limit issued by the PCRF or the OCS is reached, reporting to the PCRF to apply for a new limit; the PCRF or the OCS may also actively query the PCEF for the current usage amount of the fragment, etc.

In current networks, if a user moves during a network connection, the policy and charging control gateway, which is the anchor point for the data flow, is generally unchanged. In the session handover described in the embodiment of the present invention, the functions of the policy and charging control gateway may be implemented by the PCEF.

In future networks, the future network traffic is further proliferating with the use of applications, in particular video services. In order to effectively utilize network resources, the location of the policy and charging control gateway is gradually moved down to become a distributed gateway, so that data traffic can be locally offloaded. After the gateway moves down, the IP address domain range or the geographic range managed by each policy and charging control gateway is reduced. Therefore, the probability of switching the policy and charging control gateway in the session process of the user is higher.

The position of the policy and charging control gateway is moved down to have a plurality of deployment forms. Such as: the gateway moves down as a whole as shown in fig. 2A. In fig. 2A, gateways 1, 2, and 3 manage areas 1, 2, and 3, respectively. For another example: the gateway forwarding plane moves down as shown in fig. 2B. When the gateway forwarding plane moves down, for example, a Software Defined Network (SDN) architecture may be adopted, a control plane of the gateway is combined with an SDN controller, and behaviors of the forwarding plane are controlled by using a protocol similar to an SDN OpenFlow protocol, or other architectures may be adopted, which is not limited in the present invention. During deployment, the gateway forwarding plane is moved down, and the control plane is relatively centralized. In fig. 2B, gateways 1, 2 and 3 manage areas 1, 2 and 3, respectively, and control planes of gateways 2 and 3 may be collected together, but of course, fig. 2B is only an example, and control planes of gateways 2 and 3 may be separated in practice.

The embodiment of the invention does not limit the deployment form of the gateway position moving downwards, and the gateway position moving downwards in other forms can also utilize the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention.

Moreover, in the current network or the future network, the user may have the possibility of switching the policy and charging control gateway during the session, regardless of the downward movement of the gateway position.

In summary, in the current network or in the future network, the user may switch the policy and charging control gateway during the session. The method, the equipment and the system provided by the embodiment of the invention can solve the problem of realizing session switching in the switching process of the user access strategy and charging control gateway.

As shown in fig. 3, a session handover system provided by the present invention may include a source gateway 301 and a target gateway 303. A management device 305 may also be further included. The system can be a system for switching the gateways in the current network or a system after the gateways are integrally moved down. The source gateway and the target gateway are a gateway before user handover and a gateway after handover, respectively, and may be actually the PCEF in fig. 1, or may be other gateway devices. The management device may be the PCRF in fig. 1, or may also be the OCS in fig. 1, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In addition, here, the "management device" is only a name, and the name itself does not limit the device.

As shown in fig. 4, another session switching system provided by the present invention may include a source gateway control device 401, a source gateway forwarding device 402, a target gateway control device 403, and a target gateway forwarding device 404. A management device 405 may also be further included. The system may be a gateway forwarding post-surface-down system. The source gateway control device and the target gateway control device may be the same device, or may be different devices, and may be actually the PCEFs in fig. 1. The management device may be the PCRF in fig. 1, or may also be the OCS in fig. 1, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in fig. 5, the management device in fig. 3 and 4 may be implemented in the form of a computer device (or system) in fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer device 500 includes at least one processor 501, a communication bus 502, a memory 503, and at least one communication interface 504.

Processor 501 may be a general purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), microprocessor, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the inventive arrangements.

The communication bus 502 may include a path that conveys information between the aforementioned components. The communication interface 504 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication Networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), etc.

The Memory 503 may be, but is not limited to, a Read-Only Memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM) or other optical Disc storage, optical Disc storage (including Compact Disc, laser Disc, optical Disc, digital versatile Disc, blu-ray Disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be self-contained and coupled to the processor via a bus. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 503 is used for storing application program codes for executing the present invention, and the processor 501 controls the execution. The processor 501 is configured to execute application code stored in the memory 503.

In particular implementations, processor 501 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 5 as an example.

In particular implementations, computer device 500 may include multiple processors, such as processor 501 and processor 508 in FIG. 5, for example, as an embodiment. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, computer device 500 may also include an output device 505 and an input device 506, as one embodiment. An output device 505, which is in communication with the processor 501, may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 505 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 506 is in communication with the processor 501 and can accept user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 506 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The computer device 500 may be a general purpose computer device or a special purpose computer device. In a specific implementation, the computer device 500 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, a communication device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 5. Embodiments of the invention are not limited by the type of computer device 500.

The management device as shown in fig. 3 may be the device shown in fig. 5, and one or more software modules (e.g., a first transfer module, a first interaction module, etc.) are stored in the memory of the management device 305. The management device of fig. 4 may be the device shown in fig. 5, and one or more software modules (e.g., a second transfer module, a second interaction module, etc.) are stored in the memory of the management device 405. The

management device

305 or 405 may implement a software module by means of a processor and program code in a memory to implement a session hand-over for a user.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a session handover method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In a scenario that the gateway is moved down as a whole, a policy and charging control gateway accessed by a user in a session is switched from a source gateway to a target gateway, and a PCRF is taken as an example for explanation of the network device.

The method in the embodiment of the method may be adopted in the interaction between the source gateway, the target gateway and the management device in fig. 3, or the interaction between the source gateway, the target gateway and the management device and the external network element. In this embodiment, the management device is taken as a PCRF for example.

S601, a User accesses a source gateway using a User Equipment (UE) 1.

The UE referred to in this application may include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication functions, as well as various forms of User Equipment (UE), Mobile Stations (MS), terminals (Terminal), Terminal devices (Terminal Equipment), soft terminals, and so on. For convenience of description, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as user equipment or UE in this application.

S603, a policy and charging control session is established between the source gateway and the PCRF. For a specific process of establishing a session, reference may be made to a method for establishing a policy and charging control session between a gateway and a PCRF in the prior art, which is not described herein again.

In this embodiment, if the management device is an OCS, the source gateway establishes an online charging session with the OCS, and performs a service with the correspondent node UE 2.

S605, the UE1 moves to the target gateway.

S607, the target gateway learns the user access to the target gateway.

In a specific implementation, in this case, in the 3rd generation partnership Project (3 GPP) access mode, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) selects a target gateway and indicates to the target gateway that the UE1 moves to the target gateway; or in a non-3 GPP access mode, the UE1 indicates that the target gateway user accesses the target gateway in the attach procedure of the target gateway coverage area network, and at this time, the UE1 carries a network handover indication.

S609, the target gateway initiates a request for establishing a policy and charging control session to PCRF, wherein the request carries the user identification and a switching indication, and the switching indication is used for indicating that the policy accessed by the user and the charging control gateway are switched. And the PCRF receives the session establishment request.

S611, the PCRF determines that the session establishment request carries a handover indication.

S613, the PCRF finds the existing session between the PCRF and the source gateway of the user according to the identifier of the user, and transfers the session information of the session between the management device and the source gateway to the session between the management device and the target gateway.

The session information generally includes current quota information of the user, PCC rules, or subscription events, etc. The current quota information of the user reflects the current quota use condition of the user, and may be quota use information of the user or remaining quota information of the user. Therefore, the session information between the source gateway and the PCRF can be transferred to the session between the newly-built target gateway and the PCRF, so that the session information of the user can be transferred in time along with the session switching, for example, the charging and control strategy, the usage monitoring, the event trigger and the like of the user can be transferred to the target gateway in time for execution.

The user identifier may be a user identifier or an IP address of the UE1, for example, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a Mobile Station integrated services digital network Number (MSISDN), or an IP address of the UE 1.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the PCRF needs to search an existing session between the PCRF and a source gateway of a user according to an identifier of the user and Access Point Name (APN) information. Such as in a mobile network. In this scenario, the session establishment request carries an Access Point Name (APN) information in addition to the user identifier.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the PCRF needs to search an existing session between the PCRF and the source gateway of the user according to the identifier of the user and the domain identifier. Such as in a Network where Network Address Translation (NAT) devices exist. In this scenario, the session establishment request carries a domain identifier in addition to the identifier of the user.

S615, PCRF sends the conversation establishment response message to the target gateway, and the target gateway receives the conversation establishment response message.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the PCRF may carry, in a session establishment response message, a PCC rule between the user and the source gateway, and send the PCC rule to the target gateway, where the PCC rule is used to enable the target gateway to execute a policy on the received uplink and downlink data flows of the user. The target gateway may be caused to enforce policies on the user according to the PCC rules.

S617, the target gateway learns that the downstream data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway.

In a specific implementation, the target gateway may learn that the downstream data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway through any one of the following two manners.

One way is that the target gateway detects that the received downstream of the user is not from the source gateway. In this way, it can be ensured that all downstream data streams of the user are not lost.

Alternatively, the target gateway receives a message from the GNS or the correspondent user terminal informing that the new location of the user is known.

For example, a correspondence storing the location of the UE1 and the IP address may be employed in the GNS. When the UE1 moves, the GNS informs the GNS of the new location of UE1 and the GNS informs the UE2 or router of the new location of UE 1. In this way, when the UE2 transmits data to the UE1, the data may be transmitted to a new gateway location (i.e., a target gateway).

Alternatively, it is distinguished by an IP address structure. The IP address itself is divided into two parts, one part identified by UE1 and one part identified by UE1 location information. When the UE1 location changes, the UE2 of the peer user is notified of the new IP address of the UE 1. When transmitting data to UE1, UE2 transmits the data according to the new IP address of UE 1.

S619, the target gateway sends a switching completion notification message to the PCRF, and the PCRF receives the switching completion notification message.

S621, the PCRF sends a session termination request message to the source gateway, and the source gateway receives the session termination request message sent by the PCRF.

In a specific implementation, after receiving a session termination request message sent by the PCRF, the source gateway terminates the session with the PCRF and releases the session resources. Thus, by releasing the session resources, network resources are saved. Specifically, the session with the PCRF may be terminated in a variety of ways, such as: the source gateway may send a Credit-Control-Request-Termination (CCR-T) message to the PCRF, and the PCRF returns a Credit-Control-Request-Termination (CCA-T) message, which may be implemented in other manners.

In a specific implementation, the PCRF may further send a handover completion notification message to the source gateway, and the source gateway receives the handover completion notification message sent by the PCRF.

The session termination request message and the handover completion notification message may be sent in the same message, or may not be sent in the same message.

By the scheme, the problem of session switching in the process of switching the user access policy and charging control gateway is solved.

The actions of the PCRF may be performed by the PCRF in accordance with software modules in the memory mentioned above. For example, S611 and S613 may be performed according to the first transfer module in fig. 5. S603, S609, S615, S619, and S621 may be performed according to the first interaction module in fig. 5.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, after S611, the following may be further performed:

s623, the PCRF sends the request message to the source gateway. And the source gateway receives the request message sent by the PCRF.

The Request message may adopt an RAR (Re-Auth-Request) message, or may adopt other messages, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

And S627, the source gateway sends the usage amount of the user fragments to the PCRF according to the request message. And the PCRF receives the user fragment usage. And the PCRF determines the usage fragmentation information according to the current quota information of the user. In an actual implementation, as an embodiment, the PCRF may further determine the usage fragmentation information according to the received user fragmentation usage and the current quota information of the user.

Correspondingly, the session establishment response message in S615 also carries usage fragmentation information determined by the PCRF, where the usage fragmentation information is used to enable the target gateway to perform usage statistics on the user.

The fragment may also be referred to as a service unit in english, the usage fragment may also be referred to as a granted service unit in english, and the usage fragment may also be referred to as a Used service unit in english. The usage amount may be a flow rate or a time period.

Such as: in one scenario, the user has 1000M traffic (current quota information of the user) to be used, and one usage fragment is 20M, the PCRF may issue a new usage fragment 20M to the target gateway according to the current quota information 1000M of the user (since 20M is relatively small compared to 1000M, the PCRF may not consider the fragment usage amount obtained in S627). And then, the target gateway carries out usage statistics on the user according to the usage fragmentation information issued by the PCRF.

In another scenario, the user also has 200M traffic (current quota information of the user) to be used, one usage fragment is 20M, and the usage amount of the user fragment obtained by the PCRF from the source gateway in S627 is 10M, then the PCRF obtains that 210M is currently available to the user according to the obtained 10M and the current 200M of the user, and then issues a new usage fragment 20M to the target gateway. And then, the target gateway carries out usage statistics on the user according to the usage fragmentation information issued by the PCRF.

In another scenario, the user still has 200M traffic (current quota information of the user) to be used, one usage fragment is 20M, and the usage amount of the user fragment obtained by the PCRF from the source gateway in S627 is 10M, then the PCRF obtains that the user currently still has 210M available according to the obtained 10M and the current user still has 200M. The PCRF can change the usage amount fragmentation information of the user to 15M, and then issues a new usage amount fragmentation 15M to the target gateway. And then, the target gateway carries out usage statistics on the user according to the usage fragmentation information issued by the PCRF.

In another scenario, if the PCRF issues the last 20M fragment to the source gateway, and the usage amount of the user fragment obtained from the source gateway is 10M in S627, the usage amount fragment of 10M may only be issued to the target gateway. And then, the target gateway carries out usage statistics on the user according to the usage fragmentation information issued by the PCRF.

Therefore, the problem of usage statistics on the user in the session switching process is solved.

In a specific implementation, as an example:

in S609, if the session establishment request message also carries destination gateway address information, the PCRF receives the destination gateway address information, and sends the destination gateway address information to the source gateway, so that the source gateway forwards the received user downlink data stream to the destination gateway according to the destination gateway address information.

The target gateway address information may be used to enable other devices to find the target gateway, for example, the target gateway address information may be an identifier of the target gateway; the address of the target gateway may also be used, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. The address of the target gateway may be, for example, a hostname.

In a specific implementation, the PCRF may send the address information of the target gateway to the source gateway through S623, or may send the address information of the target gateway to the source gateway through other messages.

In a specific implementation, if the PCRF sends the target gateway address information to the source gateway through S623, the following steps may also be performed: s625, the source gateway stores the correspondence between the IP address of the UE1 and the address information of the destination gateway.

S635, the source gateway deletes the corresponding relationship stored in S625. In this way, memory space in the source gateway can be saved.

The actions of the PCRF may be performed by the PCRF in accordance with software modules in the memory mentioned above. For example, S609, S615, S623, and S627 may be performed according to the first interaction module in fig. 5.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the following may be further performed:

s629, the uplink data stream of the user passes through the target gateway, and the target gateway receives the uplink data stream of the user.

S631, the downstream data flow of the user reaches the source gateway, and the source gateway receives the downstream data flow.

And S633, the source gateway forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway according to the destination IP address of the downlink data stream and the corresponding relation between the stored UE1IP address and the address information of the target gateway, and stops the usage amount statistics of the user. The target gateway receives the downstream data stream of the user. Wherein, S627 and S633 are not in sequence.

Therefore, the usage amount statistics is carried out by the target gateway no matter the uplink data stream of the user or the downlink data stream of the user, and the usage amount statistics method for the user in the user session switching process is achieved. In addition, since the usage statistics is performed on the data stream (including the upstream data stream and the downstream data stream) of the user by using one device, namely, the target gateway, the usage statistics can be performed on the user more effectively.

In addition, after receiving the data stream of the user, the target gateway can also execute a strategy on the data stream of the user. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, by sending all the data streams of the user to the target gateway, the source gateway stops executing the policy on the user after the source gateway transfers the downlink data stream to the target gateway, and the target gateway can also implement unified policy execution on the user in the switching process. Therefore, the method for executing the strategy to the user in the switching process of the strategy and the charging control gateway accessed by the user is provided, and the target gateway is adopted to execute the strategy to the user, so that the effective strategy execution to the user is further realized.

The strategy is executed for the user by adopting the target gateway, so that the strategy can be correctly executed under the condition that the service usage of the data stream is counted according to the time length or the flow. If two policy enforcement points are used to enforce the policy, the following problems may exist:

1) when the policy is to take effect on the uplink and downlink data as a whole, for example: the strategy is to limit Maximum Bit Rate (MBR) for the uplink and downlink of a certain service data stream, and if the uplink data and the downlink data are respectively executed in two gateways, the bandwidth statistics and control can not be carried out on the stream;

2) when the usage amount of the data service is counted according to the time length, if the uplink data and the downlink data are respectively counted at different counting points, the time length of the data stream cannot be obtained;

3) when the usage of the data service is counted according to the traffic, if the uplink and downlink data are counted at different counting points, respectively, if the PCRF or the OCS issues the last usage fragment (or called fragment) to one counting point, the other counting point will terminate the service provision because the fragment is not obtained.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the management device may not be the PCRF but the OCS. The process flow is similar to that shown in fig. 6. The difference is that in step S603, an online charging session is established. In addition, the target gateway can also charge the user after receiving the data stream of the user. Therefore, the data flow of the user is sent to the target gateway, after the source gateway transfers the downlink data flow to the target gateway, the source gateway stops charging the user, and the target gateway can charge the user data flow uniformly in the session switching process.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a session handover method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Taking the scenario that the gateway forwarding plane moves downwards and the gateway control plane does not move downwards, as an example, the user switches the access gateway from the source gateway forwarding device to the target gateway forwarding device in the session process, and the management device takes the PCRF as an example for explanation. The source gateway control device and the target gateway control device may be the same device or different devices.

In fig. 4, the method in the embodiment of the method may be adopted in the interaction between the source gateway control device, the source gateway forwarding device, the target gateway control device, the target gateway forwarding device, and the management device, or the interaction with the external network element. In this embodiment, the management device is taken as a PCRF for example.

S701, unlike S601, the UE1 accesses the source gateway control device.

S703 is different from S603 in that the source gateway control device that establishes the policy and charging control session with the PCRF.

S705, unlike S605, the UE1 moves to the target gateway control apparatus.

S707, unlike S607, the target gateway control apparatus learns that the user accesses to the target gateway control apparatus.

And S708, the target gateway control equipment selects the target gateway forwarding equipment. Specifically, the selection may be based on the user position.

Wherein, S707 and S708 are not in sequence.

S709 is different from S609 in that it is the target gateway control device that initiates the policy and charging control session establishment request to the PCRF.

S711, like S611.

S713, the PCRF finds the existing session between the PCRF and the source gateway control equipment according to the identification of the user, and transfers the session information of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway control equipment to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway control equipment.

The method for the PCRF to search for the session between the PCRF and the source gateway control device that the user already has is similar to the method for the PCRF to search for the session between the PCRF and the source gateway that the user already has in S613.

S715, the PCRF sends a session establishment response message to the target gateway control device, and the target gateway control device receives the session establishment response message.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the PCRF may carry, in a session establishment response message, a PCC rule between the management device and the source gateway control device, and send the PCC rule to the target gateway control device, where the PCC rule is used to enable the target gateway forwarding device to execute a policy on the received uplink and downlink data flows of the user. The target gateway forwarding device may be caused to enforce the policy on the user according to the PCC rules.

Specifically, the gateway control device may convert the PCC rule into a control instruction between the control device and the forwarding device to indicate a behavior of the forwarding device. For example, if an SDN architecture is adopted between the control device and the forwarding device, the control device converts the behavior in the PCC rule into an action recognizable by an SDN southbound interface, and sends the action to the forwarding device.

S717, the target gateway controlling device learns that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway forwarding device.

In a specific implementation, the target gateway control device may learn that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway forwarding device in any one of the following two manners.

In one way, the target gateway forwarding device detects that the received downstream data stream of the user is not from the source gateway forwarding device, which indicates that the opposite end already knows the new location of the user (including that the user now accesses the target gateway control device). And then, the target gateway forwarding equipment reports the message to the target gateway control equipment. In this case, the target gateway control device sends a handover completion notification message to the management device, so that all downlink data streams of the user are not lost.

In another mode, the target gateway control device receives a message from the GNS or the peer user terminal for notifying that the new location of the user is known, and notifies the target gateway forwarding device.

And S719, the target gateway control device sends a switching completion notification message to the PCRF.

S721, the PCRF sends a session termination request message to the source gateway control device, the source gateway control device receives the session termination request message sent by the PCRF, and after receiving the session termination request message sent by the PCRF, the source gateway control device terminates the session with the PCRF and releases the session resource. Thus, by releasing the session resources, network resources are saved.

In a specific implementation, the PCRF may further send a handover completion notification message to the source gateway control device, and the source gateway control device receives the handover completion notification message sent by the PCRF.

The actions of the PCRF may be performed by the PCRF in accordance with software modules in the memory mentioned above. For example, S711 and S713 may be performed according to the second transfer module in fig. 5. S703, S709, S715, S719 and S721 may be performed according to the second interaction module in fig. 5.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, after S711, the following may be further performed:

s723, the PCRF sends the request message to the source gateway control device. And the source gateway control equipment receives the request message sent by the PCRF. And after receiving the request message, the source gateway control equipment sends the request message to the source gateway forwarding equipment. And the source gateway forwarding equipment receives the request message.

Further, the source gateway control device also sends an instruction for forwarding the data stream with the destination address being the user IP address to the target gateway forwarding device to the source gateway forwarding device. Specifically, the source gateway control device may issue the indication through the flow table.

The indication may be carried in the request message or may be sent separately.

S727, in response to the request message of S723, the source gateway forwarding device sends the fragmentation usage of the user to the source gateway control device. And the source gateway control equipment receives the fragment use amount of the user. And the source gateway control equipment sends the fragment use amount of the user to the PCRF. And the PCRF receives the user fragment usage amount sent by the source gateway control equipment.

Correspondingly, the session establishment response message in S715 also carries usage amount fragmentation information determined by the PCRF, where the usage amount fragmentation information is used to make the target gateway forwarding device perform usage amount statistics on the user.

The description of fragmentation and other processing of PCRF are the same as S627. And will not be described in detail herein.

In a specific implementation, as an example:

in S709, if the session establishment request message also carries address information of the target gateway forwarding device, the PCRF receives the address information of the target gateway forwarding device, and sends the address information of the target gateway forwarding device to the source gateway forwarding device via the source gateway control device, so that the source gateway forwarding device forwards the received downlink data stream of the user to the target gateway forwarding device according to the address information of the target gateway forwarding device.

The address information of the target gateway forwarding device may be used to enable other devices to find the target gateway forwarding device, for example, the address information may be an identifier of the target gateway forwarding device; the address of the device may also be forwarded to the target gateway, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention. The address of the target gateway forwarding device may be, for example, a hostname.

In a specific implementation, the PCRF may send the address information of the target gateway forwarding device to the source gateway forwarding device through S723, or may send the address information of the target gateway forwarding device to the source gateway forwarding device through other messages.

If the PCRF sends the address information of the target gateway forwarding device to the source gateway forwarding device through S723, the following steps may also be performed:

s725, the source gateway forwarding device stores the corresponding relationship between the IP address of the UE1 and the address information of the target gateway forwarding device.

And S736, the source gateway deletes the corresponding relation stored in S725. In this way, memory space in the source gateway forwarding device may be saved.

Optionally, in S736, the source gateway forwarding device notifies the source gateway forwarding device to delete the flow table issued in S723. The source gateway forwarding device deletes the flow table.

The actions of the PCRF may be performed by the PCRF in accordance with software modules in the memory mentioned above. For example, S709, S715, S723 and S727 may be performed according to the second interaction module in fig. 5.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, after the PCRF transfers the session information, the following may be further performed:

s729, the uplink data flow of the user passes through the target network forwarding device, and the target gateway forwarding device receives the uplink data flow of the user.

S731, the downlink data stream of the user arrives at the source gateway forwarding device, and the source gateway forwarding device receives the downlink data stream.

And S733, the source gateway forwarding equipment forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding equipment according to the destination IP address of the downlink data stream and the corresponding relation between the stored UE1IP address and the address information of the target gateway forwarding equipment, and stops carrying out usage statistics on the user. And the target gateway forwarding equipment receives the downlink data stream of the user. Wherein, S727 and S733 are not divided in sequence.

Therefore, the usage amount statistics is carried out by the target gateway forwarding equipment no matter the uplink data flow of the user or the downlink data flow of the user, and the usage amount statistics method for the user is realized in the switching process of the strategy and charging control gateway accessed by the user. In addition, since the usage statistics is performed on the data stream (including the upstream data stream and the downstream data stream) of the user by using one device, namely the target gateway forwarding device, the usage statistics can be performed on the user more effectively.

In addition, after the target gateway forwarding device receives the data stream of the user, the target gateway forwarding device can also execute a strategy on the data stream of the user. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, by sending all the data streams of the user to the target gateway forwarding device, after the source gateway forwarding device forwards the downlink data streams to the target gateway forwarding device, the source gateway forwarding device stops executing the policy on the user, and it is also possible to implement that the target gateway forwarding device executes the policy on the user in a unified manner in the switching process, which not only provides a method for executing the policy on the user in the switching process of the policy and charging control gateway accessed by the user, but also implements the policy on the user by using one device, the target gateway forwarding device, so that the policy is further implemented effectively.

The strategy is executed for the user by adopting the equipment of the target gateway forwarding equipment, so that the strategy can be correctly executed under the condition that the service usage of the data stream is counted according to the time length or the flow.

In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the management device may not be the PCRF but the OCS. The process flow is similar to that shown in fig. 7. The difference is that in step S703, an online charging session is established. In addition, after the target gateway forwarding equipment receives the data stream of the user, the target gateway forwarding equipment can also charge the user. Therefore, the data stream of the user is sent to the target gateway forwarding device, after the source gateway forwarding device transfers the downlink data stream to the target gateway forwarding device, the source gateway forwarding device stops charging the user, and the target gateway forwarding device can uniformly charge the user data stream in the switching process.

As shown in fig. 8, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a schematic structural diagram of a management device. The management apparatus 800 includes: a receiving unit 801, a transferring unit 803 and a transmitting unit 805.

The receiving unit 801 is configured to receive a session establishment request from a target gateway, where the session establishment request carries an identifier of a user. A transferring unit 803, configured to determine that the session establishment request carries a handover indication indicating that a policy for user access and a charging control gateway are handed over, find, according to the identifier of the user, a session between the management device and a source gateway that the user already has, and transfer session information of the session between the management device and the source gateway to a session between the management device and a target gateway. A sending unit 805, configured to send a session establishment response message to the target gateway. The receiving unit 801 is further configured to receive a handover completion notification message from the target gateway, where the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway when knowing that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway. The sending unit 805 is further configured to send a session termination request message to the source gateway after the receiving unit receives the handover completion notification message. Further, the source gateway releases and manages the session between the devices.

In the present embodiment, the management apparatus 800 is presented in the form of a functional unit. An "element" may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art will recognize that the management device 800 may take the form shown in FIG. 5. The receiving unit 801, the transferring unit 803 and the sending unit 805 may be implemented by a processor and a memory of fig. 5, and specifically, the receiving unit 801 and the sending unit 805 may be implemented by a processor executing a first interacting module, and the transferring unit 803 may be implemented by a processor executing a first transferring module.

As shown in fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a schematic structural diagram of a management device. The management apparatus 900 includes: a receiving unit 901, a transferring unit 903 and a transmitting unit 905.

The receiving unit 901 is configured to receive a session establishment request from a target gateway control device, where the session establishment request carries an identifier of a user. A transferring unit 903, configured to determine that the session establishment request carries a handover indication indicating that a policy for user access and a charging control gateway are handed over, find, according to the identifier of the user, a session between the existing management device and the source gateway control device of the user, and transfer session information of the session between the management device and the source gateway control device to the session between the management device and the target gateway control device. A sending unit 905, configured to send a session establishment response message to the target gateway control device. The receiving unit 901 is further configured to receive a handover completion notification message from the target gateway control device, where the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway control device when knowing that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by a source gateway forwarding device. The sending unit 905 is further configured to send a session termination request message to the source gateway control device after the receiving unit receives the handover completion notification message. Further, the source gateway releases and manages the session between the devices.

In the present embodiment, the management apparatus 900 is presented in the form of a functional unit. An "element" may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that may provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, one skilled in the art will recognize that the management device 900 may take the form shown in FIG. 5. The receiving unit 901, the transferring unit 903 and the sending unit 905 may be implemented by a processor and a memory of fig. 5, specifically, the receiving unit 901 and the sending unit 905 may be implemented by executing the second interactive module by the processor, and the transferring unit 903 may be implemented by executing the second transferring module by the processor.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for the management device shown in fig. 8 or 9, which includes a program designed to execute the method embodiments. By executing the stored program, user session switching can be achieved.

Another computer storage medium for storing computer software instructions for the source gateway and the target gateway includes a program designed to perform the method embodiments. By executing the stored program, user session switching can be achieved.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides another computer storage medium, which is used to store computer software instructions for the source gateway forwarding device, the source gateway control device, the target gateway forwarding device, and the target gateway control device, and which contains a program designed to execute the method embodiment. By executing the stored program, session switching of the user can be realized.

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

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, apparatus (device), or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein. A computer program stored/distributed on a suitable medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, may also take other distributed forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems.

The present invention has been described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (devices) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

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

Claims

1. A method of session handoff, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a management device receives a session establishment request message from a target gateway, wherein the session establishment request message carries an identifier of a user, the target gateway comprises a target gateway control device and a target gateway forwarding device, and the session establishment request message is sent by the target gateway control device;

the management equipment determines that the session establishment request carries a switching indication for indicating that a policy accessed by a user and a charging control gateway are switched, finds the session between the management equipment and a source gateway existing in the user according to the identification of the user, and transfers the session information of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway to the session between the management equipment and a target gateway; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway;

the management equipment receives a switching completion notification message from the target gateway and sends a session termination request message to a source gateway; wherein, the switching completion notification message is sent by the target gateway under the condition that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway;

the source gateway comprises source gateway control equipment and source gateway forwarding equipment, the source gateway control equipment and the target gateway control equipment are the same equipment or different equipment, the existing session between the management equipment and the source gateway of the user is found according to the identification of the user, and the session information of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway is transferred to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway comprises:

the management equipment finds the existing session between the management equipment and source gateway control equipment of the user according to the identification of the user, and transfers the session between the management equipment and the source gateway control equipment to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway control equipment; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway control device;

the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway under the condition that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway, and includes:

the switching completion notification message is sent by the target gateway control device under the condition that the target gateway control device receives an indication message reported by the target gateway forwarding device, wherein the indication message is reported to the target gateway control device when the target gateway forwarding device detects that a user downlink data stream at a receiving end is not from a source gateway forwarding device; or

The handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway control device upon receiving a message from a global name system GNS or an opposite user terminal to notify that the new location of the user is known.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein after the management device determines that the handover indication is carried in the session establishment request, the method further comprises:

the management equipment sends a request message to the source gateway;

receiving the user fragment usage amount sent by the source gateway according to the request message;

determining usage fragmentation information according to current quota information of a user, and sending the usage fragmentation information to the target gateway, wherein the usage fragmentation information is used for enabling the target gateway to carry out usage statistics on the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining usage fragmentation information based on current quota information for a user comprises: and determining the usage fragmentation information according to the user fragmentation usage and the current quota information of the user.

4. The method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said session establishment response message also carries said target gateway address information, then said method further comprises: and the management equipment sends the target gateway address information to the source gateway so that the source gateway forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway according to the target gateway address information.

5. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the management device is a policy and charging rules function, PCRF.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: and the PCRF carries a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway in the session establishment response message and sends the PCC rule to the target gateway, wherein the PCC rule is used for enabling the target gateway to execute a policy on the received uplink data flow and the received downlink data flow of the user.

7. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the managing device is an online charging system, OCS.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the session establishment request message may further carry access point name APN information;

finding the existing session between the management device and the source gateway according to the identifier of the user comprises: and searching the existing session between the management equipment and the source gateway according to the identification of the user and the APN information.

9. A method for session handoff, the method comprising:

the target gateway learns that a user accesses the target gateway and sends a session establishment request message to management equipment, wherein the target gateway comprises target gateway control equipment and target gateway forwarding equipment, and the session establishment request message is sent by the target gateway control equipment;

the target gateway receives a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment, wherein the session establishment response message is received by the target gateway control equipment;

the target gateway acquires that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway, and sends a switching completion notification message to the management equipment;

the source gateway receives a session termination request message from the management device;

the source gateway includes a source gateway control device and a source gateway forwarding device, where the source gateway control device and the target gateway control device are the same device or different devices, and the target gateway learns that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway, and sending a handover completion notification message to the management device includes:

when receiving an indication message sent by the target gateway forwarding device, the target gateway control device sends a switching completion notification message to the management device, wherein the indication message is sent to the target gateway control device when the target gateway forwarding device detects that the received user downlink data stream is not from the source gateway forwarding device; or

And the target gateway control equipment receives a message for notifying that the new position of the user is known from a Global Name System (GNS) or an opposite terminal user terminal.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

the source gateway receives a request message sent by the management equipment;

the source gateway sends the usage amount of the user fragments to the management equipment according to the request message;

correspondingly, the session establishment response message also carries usage fragmentation information determined by the management device according to the current quota information of the user, wherein the usage fragmentation information is used for enabling the target gateway to perform usage statistics on the user.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the session establishment request message also carries address information of the target gateway, the method further comprising:

the source gateway receives the target gateway address information sent by the management equipment;

and the source gateway forwards the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway according to the target gateway address information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein forwarding the received downstream data stream of the user to the target gateway comprises: and when the destination address in the source gateway matching downlink data stream is the IP address of the user, the source gateway sends the downlink data stream to the target gateway.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, further comprising: and after forwarding the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway, the source gateway stops performing usage statistics on the user.

14. The method of any of claims 11 or 12, further comprising: and after forwarding the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway, the source gateway stops executing the policy on the user, and the management device is a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF).

15. A system for session handoff, the system comprising: a source gateway and a target gateway,

the target gateway is used for acquiring the access of a user to the target gateway and sending a session establishment request message to the management equipment; receiving a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment; acquiring that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through a source gateway, and sending a switching completion notification message to the management device;

the source gateway is further used for receiving a session termination request message from the management device;

the target gateway comprises a target gateway control device and a target gateway forwarding device, the source gateway comprises a source gateway control device and a source gateway forwarding device, the source gateway control device and the target gateway control device are the same device or different devices,

the target gateway control equipment is used for acquiring that a user accesses the target gateway and sending a session establishment request message to the management equipment; receiving a session establishment response message sent by the management equipment; acquiring that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through a source gateway forwarding device, and sending a switching completion notification message to the management device;

the source gateway control device is used for receiving a session termination request message from the management device;

the learning that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway forwarding device includes:

when the target gateway control equipment receives the indication message sent by the target gateway forwarding equipment, determining that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded by the source gateway forwarding equipment; or

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the source gateway is further configured to receive a request message sent by the management device; sending the usage amount of the user fragments to the management equipment according to the request message;

17. The system of claim 15, wherein said session establishment request message further carries destination gateway address information, then

And the source gateway is also used for receiving the address information of the target gateway sent by the management equipment and forwarding the received user downlink data stream to the target gateway according to the address information of the target gateway.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the source gateway is configured to forward the received downlink data stream of the user to the target gateway according to the address information of the target gateway, and specifically includes:

and the source gateway is used for sending the downlink data stream to the target gateway when the destination address in the matched downlink data stream is the IP address of the user.

19. The system of claim 17 or 18, wherein the source gateway is further configured to stop usage statistics for the user after forwarding the received downstream data stream of the user to the target gateway.

20. The system of any one of claims 17 or 18, wherein the source gateway is further configured to stop performing policy on the user after forwarding the received user downstream data flow to the target gateway, and the management device is a policy and charging rules function entity, PCRF.

21. A management device, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a session establishment request from a target gateway, where the session establishment request carries an identifier of a user, where the target gateway includes a target gateway control device and a target gateway forwarding device, and a session establishment request message is sent by the target gateway control device;

a transfer unit, configured to determine that the session establishment request carries a handover indication indicating that a policy for user access and a charging control gateway are handed over, find, according to the identifier of the user, a session between the management device and a source gateway that is already owned by the user, and transfer session information of the session between the management device and the source gateway to a session between the management device and a target gateway;

a sending unit, configured to send a session establishment response message to the target gateway;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a handover completion notification message from the target gateway, where the handover completion notification message is sent by the target gateway when it is known that the downlink data stream of the user is not forwarded through the source gateway;

the sending unit is further configured to send a session termination request message to the source gateway after the receiving unit receives the handover completion notification message;

the source gateway device comprises a source gateway control device and a source gateway management device, the source gateway control device and the target gateway control device are the same device or different devices, the existing session between the management device and the source gateway of the user is found according to the user identification, and the session information of the session between the management device and the source gateway is transferred to the session between the management device and the target gateway; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway comprises:

searching the existing session between the management equipment and the source gateway control equipment of the user according to the identification of the user, and transferring the session between the management equipment and the source gateway control equipment to the session between the management equipment and the target gateway control equipment; sending a session establishment response message to the target gateway control device;

22. The management device according to claim 21, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send a request message to the source gateway after determining that the session establishment request carries the handover indication;

the receiving unit is further configured to receive a user fragment usage amount sent by the source gateway according to the request message;

the sending unit is further configured to determine usage fragmentation information according to current quota information of a user, and send the usage fragmentation information to the target gateway, where the usage fragmentation information is used to enable the target gateway to perform usage statistics on the user.

23. The management device of claim 22, wherein said determining usage fragmentation information based on current quota information for a user comprises: and determining the usage fragmentation information according to the user fragmentation usage and the current quota information of the user.

24. The management device according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein if said session establishment message further carries said destination gateway address information, then

The sending unit is further configured to send the destination gateway address information to the source gateway, so that the source gateway forwards the received user downlink data stream to the destination gateway according to the destination gateway address information.

25. The management device according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the management device is a policy and charging rules function, PCRF.

26. The management device of claim 25, further comprising: and the PCRF carries a Policy and Charging Control (PCC) rule of the session between the management equipment and the source gateway in the session establishment response message and sends the PCC rule to the target gateway, wherein the PCC rule is used for enabling the target gateway to execute a policy on the received uplink data flow and the received downlink data flow of the user.

27. The management device according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the management device is an online charging system, OCS.

28. The management device according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the session establishment request message may further carry access point name APN information;

the transferring unit is configured to find an existing session between the management device and the source gateway according to the identifier of the user, and specifically includes: the transfer unit is used for finding the existing session between the management equipment and the source gateway according to the identification of the user and the APN information.