CN107438245B

CN107438245B - Network slice identifier updating method, network element and terminal

Info

Publication number: CN107438245B
Application number: CN201610366317.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 孙滔; 王丹; 陈炜
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2016-05-27
Filing date: 2016-05-27
Publication date: 2022-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2036-05-27
Also published as: CN107438245A; WO2017202269A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a method for updating a slice identifier, which comprises the following steps: when a slice identifier ID stored in a terminal has an updating requirement, receiving a currently available slice ID of the terminal provided by a storage network element; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; sending a control signaling carrying the current available slice ID to the terminal; the control plane signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations. And updating the slice ID stored in the terminal through the control plane instruction, so that on one hand, dynamic updating can be realized, and on the other hand, a special client does not need to be installed in the terminal. The embodiment of the invention also discloses a network element and a terminal.

Description

Network slice identifier updating method, network element and terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a method, a network element, and a terminal for updating a slice identifier.

Background

Network Slicing (NS) is a logical independent virtual Network structure formed by a combination of Network functions. The Identity (ID) of the network slice may be referred to simply as the slice ID.

The application scenario of slice ID may include: when the terminal accesses the network, the initial access message carries the slice ID, and the network side performs authentication based on the slice ID and other information to determine whether the terminal is allowed to access. The terminal can determine the slice of the network slice which can be accessed according to the obtained corresponding slice ID. The method for acquiring the slice ID by the terminal generally includes the following two ways:

the first method comprises the following steps: pre-configuring on a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) of a terminal;

and the second method comprises the following steps: the communications carrier is configured by Over Air Technology (OTA) means.

The above two methods have the following problems:

the first method comprises the following steps: dynamic slice updating cannot be realized, and if updating is needed, the terminal is possibly required to hold the terminal to a communication business hall for updating.

And the second method comprises the following steps: with the second method, the slice ID sent by the OTA can be correctly parsed only if a dedicated application client is installed in the terminal or supported by an operating system of the terminal. Further, it has been found that, with the second method, dynamic configuration of the slice ID of the terminal cannot be realized even when the terminal roams to a foreign location.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, embodiments of the present invention are to provide a slice identifier updating method, a network element, and a terminal, which at least solve the above problem.

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

a first aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for updating a slice identifier, where when a slice identifier ID stored in a terminal has an update demand, a slice ID currently available to the terminal and provided by a storage network element is received; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

and sending a control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

Based on the above scheme, when the slice ID stored in the terminal has an update requirement, receiving the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element includes:

and receiving a control signaling which is sent by a control network element and carries the currently available slice ID.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

receiving a control plane instruction which is sent by an access network element and carries a currently available slice identifier ID; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

and updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

when the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal is determined to be changed, updating the currently available slice ID stored in the subscription database; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

and providing the currently available slice ID to a terminal.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a method for updating a slice identifier, including:

receiving a slice identifier ID currently available for a terminal from a subscription database; wherein, the slice ID is the identifier of the network slice;

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a network element, where the network element is an access network element, and the network element includes:

the terminal comprises a first receiving unit, a second receiving unit and a processing unit, wherein the first receiving unit is used for receiving the slice ID which is provided by the storage network element and is currently available for the terminal when the slice ID stored in the terminal has an updating requirement;

a first sending unit, configured to send a control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

A sixth aspect of the present embodiment provides a terminal, where the terminal includes:

a second receiving unit, configured to receive a control plane instruction carrying a currently available slice identifier ID sent by an access network element;

and the first updating unit is used for updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID.

A seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a network element, where the network element is a storage network element, and the storage network element includes a subscription database, where the subscription database includes:

the second updating unit is used for updating the currently available slice ID stored in the subscription database when the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal is determined to change; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

and a third sending unit, configured to provide the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

An eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a network element, where the network element is a storage network element, the storage network element includes a slice configuration server, and the slice configuration server includes:

a fourth receiving unit, configured to receive, from the subscription database, a slice identifier ID currently available to the terminal; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

and the third updating unit is used for updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID.

According to the slice identifier updating method, the network element and the terminal provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the slice ID stored in the terminal has an updating requirement, a control plane instruction is sent to the terminal, and the control plane instruction carries the currently available slice ID; any terminal capable of communicating with the access network element can identify the control plane instruction sent by the access network element, so that the terminal can acquire the currently available slice ID without installing a special client or operating system; on one hand, dynamic updating of the slice ID stored in the terminal is achieved, and on the other hand, convenience of dynamic updating of the slice ID in the terminal is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a first slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a second slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a third slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a fourth slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a fifth slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an access network element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a subscription database provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a slice configuration server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a controlling network element according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a sixth slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a seventh slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an eighth slice identifier updating method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Detailed Description

On the network side of the communication network, a slice ID authorized for use by the terminal is stored. The network elements included in the network side may include network element entities such as a subscription database, a mobility management entity MME, a base station, and the like. The embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, which includes: when the slice ID stored in the terminal has an updating requirement, providing the currently available slice ID of the terminal for an access network element; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; the currently available slice ID is used for the access network element to send to the terminal through a control signaling; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations.

The slice ID updating method described in this embodiment is a method for dynamically updating a slice ID stored in a terminal, and the method described in this embodiment may be a method applied to a storage network element. In this embodiment, the storage network element may be a subscription database; the subscription database may be a database provided in the home subscription server. The subscription database is used for storing subscription data. The subscription data may include various subscription data such as a communication number used by the terminal, a communication package selected for use, and the like. Certainly, the storage network element may also be a newly added dedicated network element in the network, and may be called a slice configuration server, where the slice configuration server is one of network elements on the network side, can be directly connected to the access network element, and is used to store a slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal, and is a database that stores the slice ID of the terminal.

In summary, in the storage network element in this embodiment, when it is determined that the slice ID stored in the terminal has an update requirement, the currently available slice ID of the terminal is sent to the access network element, and the access network element sends the currently available slice ID by sending a control plane instruction to the terminal.

Communication networks may be divided into control plane and data plane; typically, the control plane is used for transmitting control commands and the data plane is used for transmitting traffic data. In this embodiment, the access network element is one of the control network elements, and is a device capable of directly establishing a radio connection with a terminal, for example, an evolved node b eNB. The control plane instruction is information which can be directly identified and analyzed by the existing terminal, and identification and analysis of the current available ID can be completed without installing a special client or an operating system with a special function, so that dynamic update of the slice ID stored in the terminal is realized on one hand, and the update is more convenient on the other hand.

In addition, the storage network element is not a server such as a Device Management (DM) server corresponding to the OTA technology, which is a communication network element of the communication network. The DM server is a network device connected to the communication network, and is not a communication network element of the communication network. The information of the interaction between the communication network element and the terminal can be identified by the terminal with a communication operation system. And the communication network element is on the network side, can realize the information interaction of each communication network element in different cities and different PLMNs, thus the terminal still can access the storage network element through the communication network to the communication network element after roaming to other places, so as to assist the updating of the slice ID in the terminal.

When the slice identifier ID stored in the terminal needs to be updated, there are various situations, and two situations are provided as follows:

the first method comprises the following steps:

when the slice ID authorized for use by the terminal changes. Usually, the slice ID corresponds to a PLMN, and if the correspondence between the ID and the PLMN changes, the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal changes. Typically one said PLMN may correspond to one or more network slices, i.e. may correspond to one or more slice IDs. For another example, if the terminal is authorized to use all or part of the network slice corresponding to one PLMN, the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal may also change.

And the second method comprises the following steps:

and when the public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to the position of the terminal moves from the first public land mobile network PLMN to the second PLMN, the terminal needs to store the slice ID corresponding to the second PLMN.

For example, a terminal using a communication network of china mobile may only store a slice ID corresponding to a PLMN of china mobile, but at present, the terminal moves from a coverage of one PLMN to a coverage of another PLMN, and at this time, the terminal needs to use the slice ID corresponding to the currently located PLMN. Obviously, at this time, the ID stored in the terminal also needs to be updated.

In this embodiment, the method further includes: and jointly storing the slice ID authorized by the terminal and the subscription information of the terminal. In the embodiment, the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal and the subscription information of the terminal are stored together, so that on one hand, unified and centralized management of the information of the terminal can be facilitated, and on the other hand, other network elements do not need to be specially arranged to store the slice ID, which has great compatibility with the prior art; in addition, because the subscription information is stored in the subscription database, the subscription information is the whole communication network, and different network areas can be accessed, the slice ID can still be updated when the terminal roams.

The technical solution of the present invention is further described in detail with reference to the drawings and the specific embodiments of the specification.

The examples are as follows:

as shown in fig. 1, the present embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

step S110: when a slice identifier ID stored in a terminal has an updating requirement, receiving a slice ID currently available to the terminal and provided by a storage network element; wherein, the slice ID is the identifier of the network slice;

step S120: sending a control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations.

The slice identifier updating method described in this embodiment may be a method applied to an access network element. The access network element in this embodiment may include access devices of various wireless networks, for example, a base station.

The step S110 includes receiving the currently available slice ID of the terminal from the storage network element. In step S120, a control plane command is sent to the terminal, where the control plane command carries the currently available slice ID, and the control plane command received by the terminal can be analyzed without setting a special client or an operating system with a special analysis function, and the currently available slice ID can be extracted, so that the slice ID stored in the terminal can be updated.

In one embodiment, the step S110 includes:

receiving a control signaling which is sent by a control network element and carries the current available slice ID; wherein the currently available slice ID is provided by the storage network element when it is determined that the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal has an update requirement. When the storage network element detects that the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal changes, it certainly indicates that the slice ID stored in the terminal has an update requirement, and the storage network element actively sends the control plane instruction to the access network element through the control network element, where the control plane instruction carries the currently available slice ID.

Specifically, the step S110 may include: when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, sending a query request to the storage network element;

receiving the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element; wherein the currently available slice ID is provided by the storage network element based on the query request.

In this embodiment, when the terminal switches the PLMN or receives an update instruction, it may find that the slice ID stored by the terminal needs to be updated, and then send an access request to the access network element, where the request does not carry the slice ID, and at this time, the access network element knows that it is necessary to assist the terminal to query the currently available slice ID, and then send a query request to the storage network element; and then receiving the currently available slice ID returned by the storage network element.

The storage network element may comprise a subscription database or a slice configuration server. Therefore, the step S210 may specifically include: when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, sending the query request to the slice configuration server; receiving the currently available slice ID returned by the slice configuration server based on the query request.

Of course, the current available slice ID is determined by the slice configuration server querying a local database; wherein the currently available slice ID is received by the slice provisioning server from a subscription database in advance; or, the current available slice ID is determined by the slice provisioning server querying a subscription database. Here, the slice configuration server may obtain the latest slice ID from the subscription database, or may obtain the currently available slice ID by accessing the subscription database after receiving the query request.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving an update indication provided by the storage network element; sending the update indication to the terminal; the update indication is used for indicating the terminal to delete the slice ID currently stored in the terminal and sending the access request which does not carry the slice ID.

When the storage network element finds that the current available slice ID of the terminal changes, the storage network element actively sends an updating instruction, and the updating instruction triggers the terminal to initiate a slice ID updating process. The update indication is sent to the terminal via the access network element. After receiving the update instruction, the terminal initiates an access request without the slice ID, and at this time, the access network elements such as the base station know that the terminal needs to be assisted to query the currently available slice ID, so as to implement automatic update of the slice ID in the terminal.

In some embodiments, the sending, when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, an inquiry request to the storage network element includes: when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry slice ID, sending a query request to a subscription database through a control network element; the step S210 may include: receiving, by the control network element, the currently available slice ID provided by the subscription database. The control network element may be a mobility management entity MME, a connection management network element, or an access management network element.

In some embodiments, the step S120 may include:

when the terminal is in a connection state, sending a reconnection message carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal;

the reconnection message is used for indicating the terminal to release the current connection, updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the current available slice ID, and requesting access again by using the current available slice ID after the current connection is released.

In some embodiments, the step S120 may include:

when the terminal is in a connection state, sending an offline message carrying the current available slice ID to the terminal;

the offline message is used for indicating the terminal to release the current connection, updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the current available slice ID, and requesting access by using the current available slice ID when access is required next time.

Of course, when the terminal is in the non-connected state, the method further includes: when the terminal is in a non-connection state, sending a paging signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal;

the paging signaling is used for indicating the terminal to update the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID, and to request access with the currently available slice ID when access is required next time.

In this way, the terminal which is not in the connection state is switched to the connection state, and then the currently available slice ID stored in the terminal is updated through the control plane instructions such as the reconnection message or the offline message, so that the ID of the slice stored in the terminal can be dynamically updated in time.

Example two:

as shown in fig. 3, the present embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

step S210: receiving a control plane instruction which is sent by an access network element and carries a currently available slice identifier ID; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; the control signaling is a control instruction used for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operation;

step S220: and updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID. In particular implementations, the method may further include: step S230. The step S230 may include: responding to the control plane instruction based on the currently available slice ID.

The method described in this embodiment is a slice identifier updating method applied in a terminal. In this embodiment, the terminal receives the currently available slice ID through a receiving control plane network element, and updates the slice ID stored in the terminal according to the received currently available slice ID; and will respond to the control plane instructions. Obviously, the method in this embodiment can realize dynamic update of the slice ID stored in the middle-end, and simplifies dynamic update of the slice ID in the terminal without installing a special client or a special operating system with a special function in the terminal. In any embodiment of the present invention, the control plane instruction may be any control plane instruction, the currently available slice ID is carried in the control plane instruction, and the control signaling may include a signaling for sending the currently available slice ID in a dedicated manner, or may be a non-dedicated control signaling. The non-dedicated control signaling carries other control instructions in addition to the currently available slice ID. In this way, on the one hand, the control plane instruction can be used to execute the corresponding operation, on the other hand, the slice ID stored in the terminal can be updated, so that the number of times or the number of the transmission of the control signaling is reduced, and the signaling overhead can be reduced compared with the case of transmitting the currently available slice ID by using a dedicated control signaling.

For example, the control plane instruction comprises a reconnect message; the step S230 may include:

responding to the reconnection message, and releasing the current connection;

and after the current connection is released, sending an access request carrying the current available slice ID to the access network element.

For another example, the control plane instructions include a logoff message; the step S230 may include:

responding to the offline message and releasing the current connection;

and when a next access request exists, sending the access request carrying the currently available slice ID to the access network element.

Of course, when the terminal moves from one PLMN to another PLMN, the terminal may not store the slice ID of the PLMN corresponding to the current location, and the terminal may actively initiate an access request without the slice ID to trigger the operation of updating the slice ID. For example, the first PLMN and the second PLMN are different PLMNs, and the second PLMN may be regarded as the PLMN where the terminal is currently located. Specifically, the method further comprises: and when the public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to the position of the terminal is moved from a first public land mobile network PLMN to a second PLMN, and the terminal does not store the slice ID corresponding to the second PLMN, sending the access request without carrying the slice ID to the access network element.

In another case, the slice ID authorized for use by the terminal changes on the network side and is not visible to the terminal. At this time, the terminal may receive the update indication forwarded by the access network element. Therefore, in this embodiment, the method further includes: receiving an update indication sent by the access network element; wherein the update indication is provided by a storage network element; deleting the currently stored slice ID according to the updating indication; and sending the access request which does not carry the slice ID to the access network element. At this time, after the access network element receives the access request which does not carry the slice ID, the access network elements such as the base station and the like may send the control plane network element to the terminal. Namely, the step S210 includes: and after the terminal sends the access request which does not carry the slice ID, receiving the control plane instruction from an access network element.

In summary, in the slice identifier updating method provided in this embodiment, the step S210 may be: and the access network element receives a control plane instruction sent after receiving the access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry the slice ID.

In short, the embodiment provides a method for dynamically updating a slice ID stored in a terminal, and has the characteristic of simple and convenient implementation.

Example three:

as shown in fig. 3, this embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

step S310: when the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal is determined to be changed, updating the currently available slice ID stored in the subscription database; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

step S320: providing the currently available slice ID to a terminal; and the currently available slice ID is used for being carried by an access network element in a control plane network element and sent to the terminal.

The slice identifier updating method described in this embodiment may be a method applied to a subscription database. The subscription database stores the subscription information of the terminal and the slice ID authorized by the terminal together, so that information sharing in a communication network is facilitated.

In this embodiment, when it is found that the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal changes according to the peripheral input or the operator instruction in step S310 and the like, the currently available slice ID of the terminal stored in the subscription database is updated, and the currently available slice ID is provided to the terminal, which facilitates communication of subsequent terminals. Specifically, for example, the control plane instruction carrying the currently available slice ID is sent to the terminal through the control network element and the access network element, so that the terminal can easily and conveniently parse the control plane instruction,

in some embodiments, the step S320 may include:

sending the current available slice ID to a control network element;

the current available slice ID is used for the control network element to control the access network element to send a control signaling to the terminal; wherein the control signaling carries the currently available ID; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations. The control plane network element can be connected to the subscription database and the access network element respectively. In general, the subscription database and the access network element do not have a direct link before, where the direct link is a point-to-point link that does not pass through other communication nodes.

In other embodiments, the step S320 may include:

sending the currently available slice ID to a slice configuration server;

and the currently available slice ID is used for returning to the access network element when the slice configuration server receives an inquiry request of the access network element, and sending the inquiry request to the terminal through the access network element.

In this embodiment, the subscription server will update the currently available slice ID, which is convenient for the access network to query the slice configuration server directly connected to the subscription server, so that the need that the access network element must query the currently used slice ID in the subscription database through the control network element after receiving the access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry the slice ID is reduced, information interaction can be reduced, the update rate of the slice ID stored in the terminal is increased, and the delay is reduced.

Example four:

as shown in fig. 4, the present embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

step S410: receiving a slice identifier ID currently available for a terminal from a subscription database; wherein, the slice ID is the identifier of the network slice;

step S420: updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the current available slice ID; and the stored slice ID which is available currently is used for being sent to the terminal through an access network element.

The slice identifier updating method provided by this embodiment may be a method applied in a slice configuration server. In the step S410, the currently available slice ID of the terminal may be received from the subscription database, and the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server is updated, so that when the terminal initiates a slice ID update process, the update efficiency is improved.

The step S410 may include various implementations, two of which are provided below:

the first method comprises the following steps: the step S410 may include:

when receiving a query request sent by an access network element, sending an acquisition request to the subscription database;

receiving the currently available slice ID returned by the subscription data based on the acquisition request;

and the second method comprises the following steps:

and when the terminal database updates the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal, the current available slice ID is sent.

The method provided by the embodiment is applied to a slice configuration server, and the slice configuration server is a network element which is used for special storage and configuration of slice IDs authorized by a terminal and can be directly connected with an access network element.

Example five:

as shown in fig. 5, this embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, including:

step S510: receiving a slice identifier ID currently available for a terminal; the currently available slice ID is provided by a storage network element when a slice identifier ID stored in the terminal has an updating requirement;

step S520: sending the current available slice ID to an access network element;

wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; the currently available slice ID is used for the access network element to send to the terminal through a control signaling; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations.

The embodiment provides a slice identifier updating method, which can be an information processing method applied to a control network element. In this embodiment, the control network element may include a network entity such as an MME.

Step S510 may include receiving a slice ID currently available to the terminal, and transmitting the ID received from the storage network element to the access network element and transmitted to the terminal by the access network element in step S520. In this embodiment, the storage network element may include a subscription database or a slice configuration server.

Further, the method further comprises:

receiving a trigger message sent by a storage network element;

sending an updating instruction to the terminal through the access network element according to the trigger message;

the update indication is used for indicating the terminal to delete the slice ID currently stored in the terminal and sending the access request which does not carry the slice ID.

When the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal is updated in the subscription database, the control network element controls the access network element to send an update instruction to the terminal in the presence of the trigger message, and after receiving the update instruction, the terminal sends an access request which does not carry the slice ID, so as to trigger the update of the slice ID in the terminal.

Further, the method further comprises:

receiving an acquisition request sent by the access network element; the access network element sends the acquisition request when receiving an access request which does not carry a slice ID by the terminal;

sending the acquisition request to the storage network element;

the step S510 may include:

and receiving the currently available slice ID returned by the storage network element based on the acquisition request.

The control network element in this embodiment may include a mobility management entity and other network elements. The control plane network element can control the access network element to send a control plane instruction to the terminal, the current available slice ID is informed to the terminal in a control plane instruction mode, the stored slice ID is conveniently updated dynamically by the terminal, and an additional client does not need to be installed in the terminal.

Example six:

as shown in fig. 6, this embodiment provides a network element, where the network element is an access network element, and the network element includes:

a first receiving unit 110, configured to receive a slice ID currently available to a terminal, provided by a storage network element, when a slice ID stored in the terminal has an update requirement; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

a first sending unit 120, configured to send a control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations.

The network elements provided in this embodiment are access network elements such as a base station, and are network elements capable of directly performing wireless interaction with a terminal.

In this embodiment, both the first receiving unit 110 and the first sending unit 120 may correspond to a communication interface in an access network element such as a base station.

In the access network element of this embodiment, the control plane instruction is sent to the terminal, and the terminal is triggered to perform dynamic update of the slice ID, so that an additional client or an operating system does not need to be installed in the terminal, and the access network element is simple and efficient to implement.

In some embodiments, the first receiving unit 110 is specifically configured to receive a control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID and sent by a control network element; wherein the currently available slice ID is provided by the storage network element when it is determined that the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal has an update requirement.

In other embodiments, the first sending unit 120 is further configured to send, when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, an inquiry request to the storage network element; the first receiving unit 110 is further configured to receive the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element; wherein the currently available slice ID is provided by the storage network element based on the query request.

In addition, the first sending unit 120 is specifically configured to send the query request to the slice configuration server when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID;

the first receiving unit 110 is specifically configured to receive the currently available slice ID returned by the slice configuration server based on the query request.

The network element storing the slice ID authorized by the terminal may include a subscription database, a slice configuration server, and other network elements, but is not limited to these two network elements. When the access network element queries the currently available slice ID from a slice service configurator, the currently available slice ID is determined by the slice configuration server querying a local database; wherein the currently available slice ID is received by the slice provisioning server from a subscription database in advance; or, the current available slice ID is determined by the slice provisioning server querying a subscription database.

When the access network element obtains the currently available slice ID from a subscription database, the specific structures of the first sending unit 120 and the first receiving unit 110 can be seen as follows.

For example, the first receiving unit 110 is further configured to receive an update indication provided by the storage network element; the first sending unit 120 is further configured to send the update indication to the terminal; the update indication is used for indicating the terminal to delete the slice ID currently stored in the terminal and sending the access request which does not carry the slice ID. This triggers an update of the slice ID stored in the terminal by sending an update instruction to the terminal. In this example there is a storage network element triggering an update of the slice ID stored in the terminal.

For another example, the first sending unit 120 is further configured to send, when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, an inquiry request to a subscription database through a control network element; the first receiving unit 110 is further configured to receive, through the control network element, the currently available slice ID provided by the subscription database. In this case the updating of the slice ID is triggered by the terminal itself.

The control plane instructions may include control signaling such as a reconnect message, a drop message, or a physical downlink control message.

For example, the first sending unit 120 is specifically configured to send, to the terminal, a reconnection message carrying the currently available slice ID when the terminal is in a connected state;

wherein the reconnection message is used for instructing the terminal to release the current connection and to re-request access with the currently available slice ID after releasing the current connection.

For another example, the first sending unit is specifically configured to send, to the terminal, an offline message carrying the currently available slice ID when the terminal is in a connected state;

and the offline message is used for indicating the terminal to release the current connection and requesting access by the current available slice ID when access is required next time.

In this embodiment, if the sent control plane instruction is a reconnection message, the terminal inevitably re-initiates the connection within a predetermined time after disconnecting the current connection. If the sent control plane instruction is an offline message, the terminal disconnects the current connection, and when the next access request is required, the terminal sends a connection request, and the time interval between the time point of disconnecting the current connection and the time point of initiating the next access request is not fixed, which is determined by the access requirement of the terminal. Generally, a terminal has data transmission and has an access requirement, and if the terminal does not have the access requirement currently, the terminal does not immediately initiate an access request again.

Further, the first sending unit 120 is further configured to send a paging signaling to the terminal when the terminal is in a non-connected state; and the paging signaling is used for indicating the terminal to establish connection with the access network element and switching to the connection state. When the terminal is in the unconnected state, in order to update the slice ID in the terminal in time, in this embodiment, before sending the control plane instruction, the paging signaling is sent first, so that the terminal is prompted to enter the connected state.

In short, the access network element described in this embodiment can assist the terminal to perform dynamic update of the slice ID, and is simple to implement, and provides implementation hardware for the slice identifier update method described in the first embodiment.

Example seven:

as shown in fig. 7, the present embodiment provides a terminal, including:

a second receiving unit 210, configured to receive a control plane instruction carrying a currently available slice identifier ID sent by an access network element; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operation;

a first updating unit 220, configured to update the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID.

The terminal described in this embodiment may be various types of terminals. The terminal may be a multi-mode terminal or a single-mode terminal. The second receiving unit 210 may correspond to a receiving antenna of the terminal, and may receive the control plane instruction from the access network element, where the control plane instruction carries the currently available slice ID, and the terminal may not need to install a dedicated client or an operating system to identify the currently available slice ID, which obviously has a simple update process.

The first updating unit 220 may correspond to an information processing structure such as a processor or a processing circuit in the terminal, and the information processing structure may be a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a programmable array, an application-specific integrated circuit, or the like.

In some embodiments, the control plane instructions may include a reconnect message; the terminal further comprises: a connection unit for releasing the current connection in response to the reconnection message;

a second sending unit, configured to send, after releasing the current connection, an access request carrying the currently available slice ID to the access network element.

In this embodiment, both the connection unit and the second sending unit may be configured to communicate with an access network element, and in this embodiment, the control plane instruction is a reconnection message, and the terminal disconnects the current connection and accesses the terminal again.

In other embodiments, the control plane instructions may include a logoff message;

the terminal further comprises:

the connecting unit is used for responding to the offline message and releasing the current connection;

a second sending unit, configured to send, to the access network element, an access request carrying the currently available slice ID when there is a next access request.

In this embodiment, the connection unit and the second sending unit have the same or similar structures, but in this embodiment, the control plane instruction is an offline message. When the second sending unit sends the connection request, the access is not required immediately after the current connection is disconnected, and the access can be required when the terminal has an access requirement.

Further, the second receiving unit 210 is further configured to receive an update indication sent by the access network element; wherein the update indication is provided by a storage network element; the terminal further comprises: a second updating unit configured to delete the currently stored slice ID according to the update instruction; a connection unit, configured to send an access request that does not carry a slice ID to the access network element; the second receiving unit is specifically configured to receive the control plane instruction returned by the access network element based on the access request that does not carry the slice ID. In this embodiment, the update procedure of the slice ID is initiated by receiving an update indication provided by the storage network element from the access network element.

The terminal further comprises:

a second sending unit, configured to, when a public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to a location of the terminal is located, move from a first public land mobile network PLMN to a second PLMN, where a slice ID corresponding to the second PLMN is not stored in the terminal, and send the access request without carrying the slice ID to the access network element; the second receiving unit 210 is specifically configured to receive the control plane instruction returned by the access network element based on the access request that does not carry the slice ID. The thinning of the slice ID may be initiated by the terminal itself in this embodiment.

The terminal provided by this embodiment can be used at least in the implementation method to implement the slice ID updating method described above, and has the characteristic of simple implementation.

Example eight:

as shown in fig. 8, this embodiment provides a network element, where the network element is a storage network element, and the storage network element includes a subscription database, including:

a second updating unit 310, configured to update a currently available slice ID stored in the subscription database when it is determined that a slice identifier ID authorized to be used by the terminal changes; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice;

a third sending unit 320, configured to provide the currently available slice ID to a terminal; and the current available slice ID is used for being carried by the access network element in the control plane network element and sent to the terminal.

The network element provided in this embodiment is a subscription database, and the subscription database may correspond to network elements such as an HSS. The subscription database is originally a database in which the subscription data of the terminal is stored. In this embodiment, the subscription database is further configured to store a slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal.

The second updating unit 310 may correspond to various information processing structures of the subscription database, and the types of the information processing structures may refer to corresponding parts in the foregoing embodiments, which are not described in detail herein.

Further, the third sending unit 320 is specifically configured to send the currently available slice ID to a control network element; the current available slice ID is used for the control network element to control the access network element to send a control signaling to the terminal; wherein the control signaling carries the currently available ID; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operations. In this embodiment, the subscription database is not directly connected to the terminal and the access network element, and the currently available slice ID can be sent to the terminal only by sending the current available slice ID to the control network element and the access network element.

In another embodiment of franchise city, the second updating unit 310 is configured to send the currently available slice ID to a slice configuration server; and the currently available slice ID is used for returning to the access network element when the slice configuration server receives an inquiry request of the access network element, and sending the inquiry request to the terminal through the access network element.

In short, the subscription database of this embodiment not only stores the subscription data, but also stores the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal, so as to facilitate dynamic update of the slice ID in the terminal, and provide an implementation structure for the slice identifier update method provided in the third embodiment.

Example nine:

as shown in fig. 9, this embodiment provides a network element, where the network element is a storage network element, and the storage network element includes a slice configuration server, including:

a fourth receiving unit 410, configured to receive a slice identifier ID currently available to the terminal from the subscription database; wherein, the slice ID is the identifier of the network slice;

a third updating unit 420, configured to update the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID; and the stored slice ID which is available currently is used for being sent to the terminal through an access network element.

The fourth receiving unit 410 in this embodiment may correspond to a communication interface of the slice configuration server. The communication interface here may be a wired interface or a wireless interface. The slice configuration server can be connected with the subscription database at one end and connected with the access network element at the other end, and serves as an intermediate node of the subscription database and the access network element, so that when the access network element needs to inquire the currently available slice ID of the terminal, the access network element can be inquired from the subscription database, the access network element can also be inquired from the slice configuration server, and the access network element can be inquired from the slice configuration server.

In some embodiments, the network element further comprises:

a fourth sending unit, configured to send an acquisition request to the subscription database when receiving an inquiry request sent by an access network element; the fourth receiving unit is specifically configured to receive the currently available slice ID returned by the subscription data based on the acquisition request;

in other embodiments, the fourth receiving unit 410 is specifically configured to receive the currently available slice ID sent when the terminal database updates the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal.

In summary, the present embodiment provides a subscription database, which can assist a terminal to dynamically update a stored slice ID, and can be shared in a communication network in a whole network, and the slice ID can be updated even if the terminal roams from one area to another area.

Example ten:

as shown in fig. 10, this embodiment provides a network element, where the network element is a controlling network element, and the network element includes:

a fifth receiving unit 510, configured to receive a slice identifier ID currently available to the terminal; the currently available slice ID is provided by a storage network element when a slice identifier ID stored in the terminal has an updating requirement;

a fifth sending unit 520, configured to send the currently available slice ID to an access network element;

wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; the currently available slice ID is used for the access network element to send to the terminal through a control signaling; the control signaling is a control instruction for controlling the terminal to execute corresponding operation.

The network element in this embodiment is a control network element, and may correspond to an MME and other structures, and is a network element directly connected to an access network element, and is preferably a network element also directly connected to a subscription database. The control network element in this embodiment assists the terminal to dynamically update the slice ID.

The fifth receiving unit 510 and the fifth sending unit 520 may correspond to a communication interface of a control network element, and can be used for information interaction with other network elements.

In some embodiments, the fifth receiving unit 510 is further configured to receive a trigger message sent by a storage network element;

the fifth sending unit 520 is further configured to send an update instruction to the terminal through the access network element according to the trigger message; the update indication is used for indicating the terminal to delete the slice ID currently stored in the terminal and sending the access request which does not carry the slice ID. In this embodiment, the controlling network element may send an update indication to the terminal, so as to prompt the terminal to initiate an access request for slice ID update.

In other embodiments, the fifth receiving unit 510 is specifically configured to receive an obtaining request sent by the access network element; the access network element sends the acquisition request when receiving an access request which does not carry a slice ID by the terminal; the fifth sending unit 520 is further configured to send the obtaining request to the storage network element; the fifth receiving unit 510 is specifically configured to receive a currently available slice ID returned by the storage network element based on the obtaining request. In this embodiment, when receiving an access request that does not carry a slice ID, the control network element may consider that the terminal initiates an update procedure of the slice ID.

Several specific examples are provided below in connection with any of the embodiments described above:

example one:

the present example provides a method for updating a slice ID stored in a terminal, including:

when the slice authorization information of the terminal accessible to the network changes, for example, the access authority of a slice ID of a certain terminal under a certain PLMN changes; and sending a control signaling to the terminal, wherein the control signaling carries the slice ID currently available for the terminal after the change. For example, the terminal is prompted to perform connection re-access, and the terminal acquires new slice ID access configuration information and accesses the network with the new slice ID.

Example two:

1) a certain functional entity or network element in the network, which is a slice access authorization storage entity of the terminal, such as an HSS signed by the terminal, stores information of a slice ID that can be used by a terminal under a certain network (such as a PLMN), that is, network slice access authorization information, corresponding to the storage network element. Such as a list of available slice IDs for a certain PLMN corresponding to a certain terminal IMSI.

2) When the slice ID configuration information of a certain terminal in the slice access authorization storage entity changes, for example, the corresponding relationship of the slice ID under a certain PLMN is added or deleted. When the authorized storage entity judges that the terminal is currently accessed to the network by a certain slice ID and the authority of the terminal to use the slice ID is modified, the subscription information network element (or the network function) informs the first entity of the network.

The first entity of the network may be a certain control plane network element or a related network function, such as a mobility management MME, a connection management function, and the like, related to terminal connection management. The first entity here may correspond to the aforementioned controlling network element or the like.

When a network has a slice ID configuration server, the first entity of the network may also be a slice configuration server. The slice ID configuration server is an entity capable of configuring a terminal slice ID.

3) The first entity of the network provides a reconnect message or a disconnect message to the terminal. The message cause value is caused by a change in the slice subscription, such as a slice ID change. When the terminal is in a certain signaling non-connection state, the terminal can be reached by paging and the like, namely, the terminal is in a connection state.

The subsequent processing operation corresponding to the slice ID may include a variety of ways, described separately below:

as shown in fig. 11, there is provided a first subsequent processing operation comprising:

4.1) the first entity directly carries the PLMN and the updated slice ID in the reconnection message or the offline message, and sends the PLMN and the updated slice ID to the terminal through the access network element. Step 4.1 may be performed after receiving an indication of the core network trigger slice ID. The indication may be an indication for triggering the control plane network element and directly sending a control plane instruction to the terminal through the access network element.

5.1) after the UE receives the slice ID, updating the information of the slice ID corresponding to the PLMN and configured on the mobile phone card

6.1) the terminal re-initiates a connection establishment request and carries a new slice ID in the connection message; the network provides it with the slice ID service. The connection establishment request initiated in this step is the reconnection request in fig. 11.

As shown in fig. 12, a second subsequent processing operation is provided herein, comprising:

and 4.2) the control plane network element carries a slice ID updating indication in the reconnection or offline message and sends the slice ID updating indication to the terminal.

5.2) after the terminal receives the control plane instruction, deleting the slice ID list which is stored on the terminal and can be accessed by the terminal under the PLMN; the slice ID list here is a table storing one or more slice IDs.

6.2) the terminal initiates an access flow, and the slice ID field is empty. The network queries a new slice ID list corresponding to the PLMN from the slice ID configuration server. The slice ID field is empty, i.e., indicates that no slice ID is carried.

7.2) the slice configuration server inquires the corresponding slice ID list of the terminal under the PLMN from the subscription information. And the slice configuration server informs the terminal of the new slice authorization access information through signaling.

And 8.2) after receiving the slice ID, the terminal re-initiates an access network process, wherein the access network process contains information of the slice ID.

As shown in fig. 13, a third subsequent processing operation is provided herein, including:

the slice configuration server may be a database storing terminal slice IDs; or may be a control network element or a network function (a network element entity or function having functions similar to MME, connection management, access management, etc.) for performing terminal slice access authentication and ID configuration.

4.3) when the slice ID configuration information of the terminal changes, signaling sent to the slice configuration server informs that the slice configuration information of the terminal changes, namely, the subscription database sends an update instruction to the slice configuration server;

5.3) the slice configuration server further sends a control plane instruction to the related control plane network element, or directly sends the control plane instruction to the access network element; namely, the slice configuration server sends an update indication to the control network element.

6.3) after the terminal receives the control plane instruction, deleting the slice ID list which is stored on the terminal and can be accessed by the terminal under the PLMN; the slice ID list here is a table storing one or more slice IDs.

7.3) the terminal initiates an access flow, and the slice ID field is empty. The network queries the slice ID configuration server for a new slice ID list corresponding to the PLMN. The slice ID field is empty, i.e., indicates that no slice ID is carried.

8.3) the slice configuration server inquires the corresponding slice ID list of the terminal under the PLMN from the subscription information. And the slice configuration server informs the terminal of the new slice authorization access information through signaling.

In step 8.3, the provisioning server may access a slice ID storage device (e.g., a subscription information repository) to query the slice subscription information of the terminal for the slice ID.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. The above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, for example, the division of the unit is only one logical function division, and there may be other division ways in actual implementation, such as: multiple units or components may be combined, or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling or communication connection between the components shown or discussed may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the devices or units may be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

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

In addition, all the functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing module, or each unit may be separately used as one unit, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit; the integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, or in a form of hardware plus a software functional unit.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or part of the steps for implementing the method embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to program instructions, and the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when executed, the program performs the steps including the method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: a mobile storage device, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

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

Claims

1. A slice identifier updating method is applied to an access network element, and comprises the following steps:

when a slice identifier ID stored in a terminal has an updating requirement, receiving a currently available slice ID of the terminal provided by a storage network element; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; wherein the storage network element comprises: a slice configuration server and/or a subscription database;

2. The method of claim 1,

when the slice ID stored in the terminal needs to be updated, the receiving the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element includes:

3. The method of claim 1,

when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, sending a query request to the storage network element;

receiving the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element.

4. The method of claim 3,

when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, the sending a query request to the storage network element includes:

when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, sending the query request to a slice configuration server;

the receiving the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element includes:

receiving the currently available slice ID returned by the slice configuration server based on the query request.

5. The method of claim 3,

the method further comprises the following steps:

receiving an update indication provided by the storage network element;

and sending the updating indication to the terminal.

6. The method of claim 3,

when receiving an access request which is sent by the terminal and does not carry slice ID, sending a query request to a subscription database through a control network element;

receiving, by the control network element, the currently available slice ID provided by the subscription database.

7. The method of claim 1,

the sending the control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal includes:

or

And when the terminal is in a connection state, sending an offline message carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

8. The method of claim 7,

when the terminal is in a non-connected state, the method further comprises:

and sending a paging signaling to the terminal before sending the control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

9. The method of claim 7,

the control signaling also comprises a message reason value; wherein, the message reason value is used for indicating the reason for releasing the current connection by the terminal.

10. A slice identifier updating method is applied to a terminal and comprises the following steps:

receiving a control signaling which is sent by an access network element and carries a currently available slice identifier ID; wherein the slice ID is an identifier of a network slice; the currently available slice ID is from a storage network element; the storage network element comprises: a slice configuration server and/or a subscription database;

11. The method of claim 10,

the control signaling comprises a reconnection message;

the method further comprises the following steps:

responding to the reconnection message, and releasing the current connection;

12. The method of claim 10,

the control signaling comprises an offline message;

the method further comprises the following steps:

responding to the offline message and releasing the current connection;

13. The method of claim 10,

the method further comprises the following steps:

receiving an update indication sent by the access network element;

deleting the currently stored slice ID according to the updating indication;

sending an access request which does not carry slice ID to the access network element;

the receiving of the control signaling carrying the currently available slice identifier ID sent by the access network element includes:

and receiving the control signaling returned by the access network element based on the access request which does not carry the slice ID.

14. The method of claim 10,

the method further comprises the following steps:

when a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) corresponding to the position of a terminal is located, the PLMN moves from a first Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) to a second PLMN, and a slice ID corresponding to the second PLMN is not stored in the terminal, an access request without the slice ID is sent to an access network element;

15. A slice identifier updating method is characterized in that the method is applied to a storage network element, and the storage network element comprises a subscription database; the method comprises the following steps:

when the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal is determined to be changed, updating the currently available slice ID stored in the subscription database; wherein, the slice ID is the identifier of the network slice;

and providing the control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal through an access network element.

16. The method of claim 15,

the providing the control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID of the terminal to the terminal includes:

sending the current available slice ID to a control network element;

or

And sending the currently available slice ID to a slice configuration server.

17. A slice identification updating method is applied to a storage network element, wherein the storage network element comprises a slice configuration server; the method comprises the following steps:

updating the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID; and the stored slice ID which is currently available is used for the access network element to send to the terminal through a control signaling.

18. The method of claim 17,

the receiving of the slice identifier ID currently available to the terminal from the subscription database includes:

or the like, or, alternatively,

and receiving the currently available slice ID sent when the terminal database updates the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal.

19. A network element, wherein the network element is an access network element, comprising:

the terminal comprises a first receiving unit, a second receiving unit and a processing unit, wherein the first receiving unit is used for receiving the slice ID which is provided by the storage network element and is currently available for the terminal when the slice ID stored in the terminal has an updating requirement; wherein the storage network element comprises: a slice configuration server and/or a subscription database;

20. The network element of claim 19,

the first receiving unit is specifically configured to receive a control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID sent by a control network element.

21. The network element of claim 19,

the first sending unit is further configured to send an inquiry request to the storage network element when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID;

the first receiving unit is further configured to receive the currently available slice ID provided by the storage network element.

22. The network element of claim 21,

the first sending unit is specifically configured to send the query request to a slice configuration server when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID;

the first receiving unit is specifically configured to receive the currently available slice ID returned by the slice configuration server based on the query request.

23. The network element of claim 21,

the first receiving unit is further configured to receive an update indication provided by the storage network element;

the first sending unit is further configured to send the update indication to the terminal.

24. The network element of claim 19,

the first sending unit is further configured to send, when receiving an access request that is sent by the terminal and does not carry a slice ID, an inquiry request to a subscription database through a control network element;

the first receiving unit is further configured to receive, through the control network element, the currently available slice ID provided by the subscription database.

25. The network element of claim 19,

the first sending unit is specifically configured to send, to the terminal, a reconnection message carrying the currently available slice ID when the terminal is in a connected state; or, specifically, when the terminal is in a connected state, sending an offline message carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

26. The network element of claim 25,

the first sending unit is further configured to send, when the terminal is in a non-connected state, a paging signaling to the terminal before sending the control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal.

27. The network element of claim 26,

28. A terminal, characterized in that the terminal comprises:

a second receiving unit, configured to receive a control signaling carrying a currently available slice identifier ID sent by an access network element; the currently available slice ID is from a storage network element; the storage network element comprises: a slice configuration server and/or a subscription database;

29. The terminal of claim 28,

the control signaling comprises a reconnection message;

the terminal further comprises:

a connection unit for releasing the current connection in response to the reconnection message;

30. The terminal of claim 29,

the control signaling comprises an offline message;

the terminal further comprises:

31. The terminal of claim 29,

the second receiving unit is further configured to receive an update instruction sent by the access network element; wherein the update indication is provided by a storage network element;

the terminal further comprises:

a second updating unit configured to delete the currently stored slice ID according to the update instruction;

a connection unit, configured to send an access request that does not carry a slice ID to the access network element;

the second receiving unit is specifically configured to receive the control signaling returned by the access network element based on the access request that does not carry the slice ID.

32. The terminal of claim 29,

the terminal further comprises:

a second sending unit, configured to, when a public land mobile network PLMN corresponding to a location of the terminal moves from a first public land mobile network PLMN to a second PLMN, where a slice ID corresponding to the second PLMN is not stored in the terminal, send the access request without carrying the slice ID to the access network element;

33. A network element, wherein the network element is a storage network element, wherein the storage network element comprises a subscription database, and wherein the subscription database comprises:

the second updating unit is used for updating the currently available slice ID stored in the subscription database when the slice ID authorized to be used by the terminal is determined to change; wherein, the slice ID is the identifier of the network slice;

a third sending unit, configured to provide the control signaling carrying the currently available slice ID to the terminal; and the currently available slice ID is used for the access network element to send to the terminal through a control signaling.

34. A network element, wherein the network element is a storage network element, wherein the storage network element comprises a slice configuration server, and wherein the slice configuration server comprises:

a third updating unit, configured to update the slice ID stored in the slice configuration server according to the currently available slice ID; and the stored slice ID which is currently available is used for the access network element to send to the terminal through a control signaling.