CN109246767B

CN109246767B - Data transfer method, device, network function entity and SMF entity

Info

Publication number: CN109246767B
Application number: CN201710458659.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王胡成
Original assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT
Current assignee: China Academy of Telecommunications Technology CATT; Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-06-16
Filing date: 2017-06-16
Publication date: 2021-02-05
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-16
Also published as: CN109246767A

Abstract

The invention provides a data transfer method, a device, a network function entity and an SMF entity, wherein the data transfer method comprises the following steps: acquiring a mapping relation between EPS bearing information and PDU session information, selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding, sending the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information to the SMF entity, and configuring a data forwarding tunnel by the SMF entity according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information. The scheme of the invention can avoid redundancy of the data transmission, reduce the time delay of data transmission and improve the efficiency of the data transmission.

Description

Data transfer method, device, network function entity and SMF entity

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a data transfer method, an apparatus, a network function entity, and an SMF entity.

Background

Currently, in order to secure the fifth generation mobile communication system (5G, 5)^thGeneration), the 5G network needs to support interoperation with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network of the universal mobile telecommunications technology, and an interoperation mode of a single registration mode enables a User Equipment (UE) to complete inter-system inter-RAT handover between the 5G network and the LTE network. In the switching process, because the data transmission mode of the 5G network is different from that of the LTE network, when data forwarding is performed between different systems, a core network functional entity supporting data forwarding is required to be able to correctly map data received from one system onto a transmission path of another system. In the current interoperation scheme, a PGW-U + UPF entity that supports both a public data network gateway user plane function PGW-U and a user plane function UPF is used to complete data forwarding. However, this method of routing the forwarding data to the PGW-U + UPF entity may cause redundant data routing and increase the delay of data forwarding.

In a network architecture supporting interoperation of a 5G network and an LTE network, an Nx interface between a Mobility Management Function (MME) Entity in the LTE network and an access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) Entity in the 5G network is optionally supported. When the network supports the Nx interface, the network can support handover between the 5G network and the LTE network, and context information of the UE needs to be transferred between the MME entity and the AMF entity, including a mobility context and a context of a session connection. When the UE accesses the network supporting the Nx interface, the network may configure its registration mode as a single registration mode, which is currently an operation mode that the UE is forced to support.

The switching process from the 5G network to the LTE network in the single registration mode mainly comprises the following steps:

s1: after receiving a handover request of a Radio Access Network (RAN), an AMF entity requests all Session Management Function (SMF) entities to return an Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer context generated by PDU Session context mapping;

s2: after receiving EPS bearing context returned by all SMF entities, the AMF entity generates UE context by combining the mobility context of the UE and transmits the UE context to the MME entity through an Nx interface;

s3: the target side MME entity regards the Nx interface as an S10 interface, namely, the AMF entity is regarded as an MME entity, and after receiving the UE context from the Nx interface, the target side MME entity continues the subsequent flow according to the S1 switching flow of the existing EPS system;

s4: when the SMF entity/PGW-C entity determines that the session of the UE is switched to the LTE network, a special bearer activation process may be initiated to establish a special bearer for some non-GRB QoS flows.

The preparation process for switching from the LTE network to the 5G network in the single registration mode mainly comprises the following steps:

s1: after receiving a switching request of an evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network E-UTRAN, an MME entity selects a target AMF entity and sends EPS bearing context to the AMF entity;

s2: after receiving a request of an MME entity, an AMF entity completes the conversion from an EPS mobility management context to a 5GS mobility management context, wherein the UE context provided by the MME entity comprises an EPS bearing context, and the EPS bearing context comprises the address of a PGW-C + SMF entity and the uplink tunnel information of the PGW-U + UPF entity;

s3: the AMF entity sends a request message to the PGW-C + SMF entity, and requests the PGW-C + SMF entity to return information such as a PDU session Identification (ID), a QoS rule, an EPS bearing list and the like;

s4: the AMF entity sends a switching request message to a next generation radio access network (NG RAN) in the 5G network to request to establish an air interface bearer;

s5: the NG RAN returns an ACK message to the AMF entity, and the message carries RAN side tunnel information of an N3 interface for data forwarding;

s6: the AMF entity sends a request message to the PGW-C + SMF entity, and the request message carries RAN side tunnel information of an N3 interface for data forwarding;

s7: the PGW-C + SMF entity returns a PDU session ID and an EPS bearing list to the AMF entity, wherein the EPS bearing list comprises bearing information established in the 5G system and core network tunnel information of a bearing needing data transfer;

s8: the AMF entity returns a response message to the MME entity, and the message carries an EPS bearing list, so that the MME entity can use the core network tunnel information of the bearing needing data transfer to request a Serving Gateway (SGW) to create a forwarding tunnel.

Currently, in an interoperation scenario of a 5G network and an LTE network, a PGW-U + UPF entity is used as a data transfer node, which requires that data sent by an anchor point of a session is rerouted back to the anchor point first and then forwarded to a target base station. Therefore, the existing data transfer method in the interoperation scenario may cause transmission redundancy of forwarded data, a long delay of data forwarding, and low efficiency of data transmission, especially in a roaming scenario using a home route.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a data forwarding method, an apparatus, a network function entity, and an SMF entity, so as to solve the problems of data transmission redundancy and data forwarding delay caused by the existing data forwarding method in an interoperation scenario.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data forwarding method, applied to a network function entity, including:

acquiring a mapping relation between EPS bearing information and PDU session information;

selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding;

and sending the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information to the SMF entity, and configuring a data forwarding tunnel by the SMF entity according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information.

Preferably, the network function entity is an AMF entity, or a PGW-C + SMF entity.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the obtaining of the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information includes:

and acquiring the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation.

Preferably, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and before obtaining the mapping relationship between the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, the method further includes:

and acquiring the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data from the MME entity.

Preferably, before the obtaining the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data from the MME entity, the method further includes:

and providing the ID of the EPS bearing needing to be selected and receiving the forwarding data to the MME entity.

Preferably, before providing the ID of the selected EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data to the MME entity, the method further includes:

acquiring a QoS flow ID of a PDU session needing data forwarding from an NG RAN of a 5G system;

acquiring a mapping relation between a QoS flow ID of a PDU session and an EPS bearing ID from a PGW-C + SMF entity;

and determining the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive and forward data to be selected corresponding to the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation needing to forward data according to the mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation and the EPS bearing ID.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the obtaining of the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information includes:

acquiring the ID of the PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS load.

Preferably, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and before acquiring the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relationship between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearer, the method further includes:

the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarded data is obtained from the NG RAN of the 5G system.

Preferably, before the obtaining the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data from the NG RAN of the 5G system, the method further includes:

and providing the ID of the QoS flow of the selected PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data to the NG RAN.

Preferably, before providing the ID of the QoS flow of the selected PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data to the NG RAN, the method further includes:

acquiring an ID of an EPS bearer which needs to perform data forwarding from an MME entity;

and determining the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation needing to be selected and receiving the forwarding data according to the ID of the EPS bearing needing to forward the data.

Preferably, the selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding includes:

selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding based on UE location information and/or PDU session information related to data forwarding;

the PDU session related to data forwarding is a PDU session needing data forwarding or a PDU session corresponding to an EPS bearer needing data forwarding;

the PDU session information includes one or more of: and the data network name corresponding to the PDU session and the network slice information to which the PDU session belongs.

Preferably, the network function entity is a PGW-C + SMF entity, and the selecting a session management function SMF entity for data forwarding includes:

receiving a request message sent by an AMF entity;

and selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding according to the request message.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data relay method, applied to an SMF entity, including:

receiving a mapping relation between EPS bearing information and PDU session information sent by an AMF entity or a PGW-C + SMF entity;

and configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, and the configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information includes:

selecting a UPF entity;

allocating a core network tunnel identifier for data forwarding for the PDU session, and configuring a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and an SGW for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of the 5G system;

and binding the QoS flow of the PDU session to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer needing to receive and forward the data according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive and forward the data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearer according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarded data and an ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and an ID of an EPS bearer, and the configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information includes:

selecting a UPF entity;

distributing tunnel endpoint identification for data forwarding for EPS bearing, and configuring a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of the 5G system;

and binding the EPS bearer to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the related QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearer, so that the UPF entity can mark a data packet received from the tunnel of the EPS bearer with a correct QoS flow ID and forward the data packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data transfer device, which is applied to a network function entity, and includes:

the first acquisition module is used for acquiring the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information;

the selection module is used for selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding;

and the SMF entity configures a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the first obtaining module is specifically configured to:

Preferably, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and the apparatus further includes:

a second obtaining module, configured to obtain, from the MME entity, an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:

a second sending module, configured to provide the selected ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data to the MME entity.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:

a third obtaining module, configured to obtain, from an NG RAN of the 5G system, a QoS flow ID of a PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding;

a fourth obtaining module, configured to obtain, from the PGW-C + SMF entity, a mapping relationship between a QoS flow ID of the PDU session and an EPS bearer ID;

and the first determining module is used for determining the ID of the EPS bearer which needs to receive the forwarding data and is to be selected corresponding to the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation needing data forwarding according to the mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation and the EPS bearer ID.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the first obtaining module is configured to:

and a fifth acquiring module, configured to acquire, from the NG RAN of the 5G system, an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:

and a third sending module, configured to provide the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session to be selected, where the PDU session needs to receive forwarding data, to the NG RAN.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises:

a sixth obtaining module, configured to obtain, from the MME entity, an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding;

and a second determining module, configured to determine, according to the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding, the ID of the QoS flow of the to-be-selected PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data.

Preferably, the selection module is specifically configured to:

Preferably, the network function entity is a PGW-C + SMF entity, and the selecting module is configured to:

and receiving a request message sent by the AMF entity, and selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding according to the request message.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data relay apparatus, which is applied to an SMF entity, and includes:

the receiving module is used for receiving the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information sent by the AMF entity or the PGW-C + SMF entity;

and the configuration module is used for configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, and the configuration module includes:

the first selection unit is used for selecting the UPF entity;

a first configuration unit, configured to allocate a core network tunnel identifier for data forwarding for a PDU session, and configure a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and an SGW for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between an NG RAN of a 5G system;

and the first binding unit is used for binding the QoS flow of the PDU session to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearer according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet.

Preferably, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarded data and an ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and an ID of an EPS bearer, and the configuration module includes:

the second selection unit is used for selecting the UPF entity;

a second configuration unit, configured to allocate a tunnel endpoint identifier for data forwarding for an EPS bearer, and configure a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of the 5G system;

and a second binding unit, configured to bind the EPS bearer to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session requiring to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the PDU session requiring to receive forwarding data and a mapping relationship between the ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of an EPS bearer, so that the UPF entity can mark a packet received from the tunnel of the EPS bearer with a correct QoS flow ID and forward the packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network function entity, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, where the processor implements the following steps when executing the program:

selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding;

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an SMF entity, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, where the processor implements the following steps when executing the program:

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the following steps:

selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding;

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the following steps:

According to the data transfer method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information is obtained, the SMF entity for data transfer is selected, the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information is sent to the SMF entity, and the SMF entity configures the data transfer tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information, so that the PGW-U + UPF entity can be prevented from being used as a data transfer node, the redundancy of data transfer is avoided, the time delay of data transfer is reduced, and the efficiency of data transfer is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments of the present invention will be briefly described 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 inventive labor.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a data relay method according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a data relay process according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a data relay process according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a data relay process according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a data relay process according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a data relay process according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another data relay method according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a data relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a second schematic structural diagram of a data forwarding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a third schematic view of a data relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a fourth schematic view of a data relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network functional entity according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. 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.

Referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data relay method, which is applied to a network function entity, and includes the following steps:

step 101: and acquiring the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information.

The network function entity in the embodiment of the present invention may be a core access and mobility management function AMF entity, or a PGW-C + SMF entity that supports both a public data network gateway control plane function PGW-C and an anchor SMF.

The data transfer method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applicable to the interoperation scene of the 5G network and the LTE network, and the data can be transferred to the LTE system from the 5G system and can also be transferred to the 5G system from the LTE system. When data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the obtaining of the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information may specifically be: and acquiring the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation. In addition, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the mapping relationship between the obtained EPS bearer information and the PDU session information may also be: and acquiring the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation needing data forwarding.

When data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the obtaining of the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information may specifically be: and acquiring the ID of the PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the related QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearer. In addition, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the mapping relationship between the obtained EPS bearer information and the PDU session information may also be: and acquiring the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer needing data forwarding and the ID of the PDU session and the ID of the related QoS flow in the PDU session.

Step 102: an SMF entity is selected for data forwarding.

The SMF entity selected in this step may be specifically an intermediate SMF entity. The network function entity may select the SMF entity for data forwarding based on location information of the UE and/or PDU session information related to data forwarding.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, step 102 may be:

selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding based on the UE location information and/or PDU session information related to the data forwarding.

The PDU session related to data forwarding is a PDU session which needs data forwarding, or a PDU session corresponding to an EPS bearer which needs data forwarding. And the PDU session information may include one or more of: and the Data Network Name (DNN) corresponding to the PDU session and the Network slice information to which the PDU session belongs.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when the network functional entity is a PGW-C + SMF entity, a process of the PGW-C + SMF entity selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding may be:

receiving a request message sent by an AMF entity;

and selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding according to the received request message.

In a specific implementation process, if the UE is in a non-roaming state, that is, in a home network, the selected SMF entity for data forwarding may be a PGW-C + SMF entity, and at this time, the step of sending the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information to the PGW-C + SMF entity may be omitted; if the UE is in a roaming state, i.e. in the visited network, the SMF entity selected for forwarding may be a V-SMF (receiver SMF) entity serving the PDU session in the prior art.

Step 103: and sending the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information to an SMF entity, and configuring a data forwarding tunnel by the SMF entity according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information.

When the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, the process of configuring the data forwarding tunnel by the SMF entity may specifically be: firstly, selecting a UPF entity; then, distributing core network tunnel identification for data forwarding for PDU session, and configuring a forwarding tunnel between UPF entity and SGW for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between NG RAN of 5G system; and finally, according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation, binding the QoS flow of the PDU conversation to the forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearing according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet.

When the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is the mapping relationship between the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data and the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearer, the process of configuring the data forwarding tunnel by the SMF entity may specifically be: firstly, selecting a UPF entity; then, a tunnel endpoint identifier for data forwarding is allocated to the EPS bearing, and a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and the NG RAN of the 5G system is configured; and finally, binding the EPS bearing to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearing, so that the UPF entity can mark the correct QoS flow ID on the data packet received from the tunnel of the EPS bearing and forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the PDU session.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, in order to obtain the mapping relationship between the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, the AMF entity may further obtain, from the MME entity, the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data before obtaining the mapping relationship between the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session.

Further, before acquiring the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data from the MME entity, the AMF entity may further provide the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data to be selected to the MME entity, so that the LTE network determines the final ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data according to the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data.

In the specific implementation process, optionally, the eNB in the LTE network determines the final ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data according to the mapping relationship between the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding and the EPS bearer generated by mapping, where the NG RAN in the source 5G network is encapsulated in the source-to-target transparent container.

Further, before providing the ID of the selected EPS bearer requiring to receive the forwarding data to the MME entity, the AMF entity needs to determine the ID of the selected EPS bearer requiring to receive the forwarding data. The process of determining the ID of the candidate EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data by the AMF entity may be:

and determining the ID of the EPS bearer which needs to receive the forwarding data and is to be selected corresponding to the QoS flow ID of the PDU session needing data forwarding according to the mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU session and the EPS bearer ID.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relationship between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the EPS bearer ID, in order to obtain the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relationship between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the EPS bearer ID, the AMF entity may further obtain the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data from the NG RAN of the 5G system before obtaining the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relationship between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the EPS bearer ID.

Further, before acquiring the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data from the NG RAN of the 5G system, the AMF entity may also provide the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data to be selected to the NG RAN, so that the NG RAN determines the final ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data according to the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data.

In a specific implementation process, optionally, the NG RAN determines an ID of a final QoS flow of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data according to a mapping relationship between an EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding and is encapsulated by an eNB in an LTE network in a source-to-target transparent container, and the mapping relationship is generated by mapping.

Further, before providing the ID of the selected QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data to the NG RAN, the AMF entity needs to determine the ID of the selected QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data. And the process of determining the ID of the QoS flow of the selected PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data by the AMF entity may be:

and determining the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation needing to receive the forwarding data to be selected according to the ID of the EPS bearing needing to forward the data.

Next, the data relay processes of the first to fifth embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to fig. 2 to 6, respectively.

Example one

Referring to fig. 2, a flowchart of a data forwarding process according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown. In example one, data is forwarded by the 5G system to the LTE system and a forwarding tunnel is requested to be created by the AMF entity. The data transfer process of the first embodiment comprises the following steps:

step 201: the NG RAN of the 5G system sends a switching request message to the AMF entity; wherein, the switching Request (Handover Request) message carries the QoS flow information of the PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding (or called data transfer), and the QoS flow information includes the ID of the QoS flow and the ID of the PDU session to which the QoS flow belongs;

step 202: the AMF entity determines a corresponding PGW-C + SMF entity according to the PDU session ID, and sends a session management Request (SM Request) message to the PGW-C + SMF entity; wherein, the session management request message carries the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session needing data forwarding;

step 203: the PGW-C + SMF entity determines the mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU session and the EPS load ID according to the mapping parameters of the EPS load and the QoS flow, determines the EPS load context corresponding to the QoS flow, and returns a session management Response (SM Response) message to the AMF entity; wherein, the session management response message carries the determined EPS bearing context;

step 204: the AMF entity forwards the mapped EPS bearing context provided by the PGW-C + SMF entity to the MME entity through a Forward relocation Request (Forward relocation Request) message; the EPS bearing context comprises EPS bearing information needing to receive forwarding data;

step 205: the MME entity sends a switching request message to a target eNB in the E-UTRAN according to the received EPS bearing information; wherein, the handover request message carries corresponding EPS bearer information, such as EPS bearer ID;

step 206: the target eNB allocates a forwarding Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) for a corresponding bearer according to the EPS bearer information, and returns the TEID to the MME entity in a Handover response (Handover Request ACK) message;

step 207: the MME entity creates an indirect data forwarding tunnel with the SGW by using the existing process and allocates TEID;

step 208: the MME entity sends a Forward relocation Response (Forward relocation Response) message to the AMF entity so as to return the TEID distributed by the SGW for data forwarding and the EPS bearing ID related to the TEID to the AMF entity;

step 209: the AMF entity selects an SMF (IWK SMF) entity for data forwarding for each PDU session based on the position information of the UE;

step 210: the AMF entity sends a Request (Create index DF Tunnel Request) message for creating the forwarding Tunnel to the selected SMF entity; wherein, a mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation is created in the forwarding tunnel request message, and EPS bearing context, such as the EPS bearing ID, SGW TEID corresponding to the EPS bearing and a QoS flow identification QFI (QoS flow ID);

step 211: the SMF entity selects a UPF entity, distributes core network tunnel identification of an N3 interface for data forwarding for the PDU session, establishes an N3PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and the NG RAN, configures a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and the SGW entity for data forwarding according to the SGW TEID corresponding to the EPS bearer, and binds QoS flow to the forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearer ID and the QoS flow ID of the PDU session, so that the UPF entity can map the data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel according to the QFI of the data packet;

step 212: the SMF entity sends a message of creating a forwarding Tunnel Response (Create index DF Tunnel Response) to the AMF entity; wherein, the created forwarding tunnel response message carries the core network tunnel identifier of the N3 interface for data forwarding;

step 213: the AMF entity sends a switching instruction (Handover Command, which can carry core network tunnel identification of an N3 interface for data forwarding) to the NG RAN, so that data cached on the NG RAN can be forwarded to the UPF, the UPF maps a data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel according to the QFI of a data packet header, the UPF strips the QFI of the data packet header and forwards the data to the SGW, namely the AMF entity completes a subsequent switching process;

step 214: the NG RAN sends a handover command to the UE.

Example two

Referring to fig. 3, a flowchart of a data relay process according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. In example two, data is forwarded by the 5G system to the LTE system, and a PGW-C + SMF entity requests creation of a forwarding tunnel. The data transfer process of the second embodiment includes the following steps:

step 301: the NG RAN sends a switching request message to the AMF entity; the switching request message carries QoS flow information of PDU conversation needing data forwarding, wherein the QoS flow information comprises ID of QoS flow and ID of PDU conversation belonging to the QoS flow;

step 302: the AMF entity determines a corresponding PGW-C + SMF entity according to the PDU session ID, and sends a session management request message to the PGW-C + SMF entity; wherein, the session management request message carries the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session needing data forwarding;

step 303: the PGW-C + SMF entity determines the mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU session and the EPS load ID according to the mapping parameters of the EPS load and the QoS flow, determines the EPS load context corresponding to the QoS flow and returns a session management response message to the AMF entity; wherein, the session management response message carries the determined EPS bearing context;

step 304: the AMF forwards the mapped EPS bearing context provided by the PGW-C + SMF entity to the MME entity through a forward relocation request message; the EPS bearing context comprises EPS bearing information needing to receive forwarding data;

step 305: the MME entity sends a switching request message to a target base station eNB in the E-UTRAN according to the received EPS bearing information; wherein, the handover request message carries corresponding EPS bearer information, such as EPS bearer ID;

step 306: the target eNB allocates a forwarding Tunnel Endpoint Identifier (TEID) for the corresponding bearer according to the EPS bearer information, and returns the TEID to the MME entity in the switching response message;

step 307: the MME entity creates an indirect data forwarding tunnel with a Serving Gateway (SGW) by using the existing process and allocates a TEID;

step 308: the MME entity sends a forward relocation response message to the AMF entity so as to return the TEID distributed by the SGW for data forwarding and the EPS bearing ID related to the TEID to the AMF entity;

step 309: the AMF entity sends a request message for establishing a forwarding tunnel to a PGW-C + SMF entity according to the received mapping relation between the EPS bearing ID and the QoS flow of the PDU session; the message for establishing the forwarding tunnel carries the EPS bearing ID and the SGW TEID corresponding to the EPS bearing;

step 310: the PGW-C + SMF entity selects an intermediate SMF entity for data forwarding for each PDU session based on the position information of the UE;

step 311: the PGW-C + SMF entity sends a request message for creating the forwarding tunnel to the selected intermediate SMF entity; wherein, a mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation and the SGW TEID corresponding to the EPS bearing are carried in the forwarding tunnel request message is created;

step 312: the intermediate SMF entity selects a UPF entity, distributes core network tunnel identification of an N3 interface for data forwarding for PDU conversation, establishes an N3PDU conversation tunnel between the UPF entity and the NG RAN, configures a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and the SGW entity for data forwarding according to SGW TEID corresponding to EPS bearing, and binds QoS flow to the forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearing according to the mapping relation of the EPS bearing ID and the QoS flow ID of PDU conversation, so that the UPF entity can map a data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet;

step 313: the intermediate SMF entity sends a response message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the PGW-C + SMF entity; wherein, the created forwarding tunnel response message carries the core network tunnel identifier of the N3 interface for data forwarding;

step 314: the PGW-C + SMF entity sends a response message for establishing the forwarding tunnel to the AMF entity; wherein, the created forwarding tunnel response message carries the core network tunnel identifier of the N3 interface for data forwarding;

step 315: the AMF entity sends a switching instruction (carrying a core network tunnel identifier of an N3 interface for data forwarding) to the NG RAN, so that data cached on the NG RAN can be forwarded to the UPF, the UPF maps a data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel according to the QFI of a data packet header, the UPF strips the QFI of the data packet header and forwards the data to the SGW, namely the AMF entity completes a subsequent switching process;

step 316: the NG RAN sends a handover command to the UE.

In the above example one and example two, the data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, but in addition to this data forwarding manner, the data may also be forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, for example, example three to example five.

Example three

Referring to fig. 4, a flowchart of a data relay process according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown. In the third example, the data is forwarded to the 5G system by the LTE system, and the mapping of the EPS bearer and the PDU session is completed locally by the AMF entity, and the forwarding tunnel is requested to be created. The data transfer process of example three includes the following steps:

step 401: an eNB in the E-UTRAN sends a switching request message to an MME entity; wherein, the switching request message carries the ID of the EPS bearing needing data forwarding;

step 402: the MME entity forwards the EPS bearing context to the AMF entity through the forward relocation request message, wherein the EPS bearing information needing data forwarding is carried;

step 403: the AMF entity maps the default bearing ID into PDU conversation ID according to the received EPS bearing up and down, maps all special bearing IDs into QoS flow ID, and determines the QoS flow contained in each PDU conversation;

step 404: the AMF entity determines PDU session information needing to receive the forwarding data according to the EPS bearing ID for data forwarding and the mapping relation in the step 403, and forwards the PDU session information to the target NG RAN through the switching request message;

step 405: the target NG RAN distributes an access network tunnel of an N3 interface for data forwarding for the corresponding PDU session according to the received PDU session information, and returns the access network tunnel to the AMF entity in a switching response message;

step 406: the AMF entity selects an SMF entity for data transfer for each PDU session needing to receive and forward data according to the information returned by the NG RAN, wherein the AMF entity selects the SMF entity based on the position information of the UE;

step 407: the AMF entity sends a request message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the SMF entity; wherein, the created forwarding tunnel request message carries the mapping relation between the EPS bearing ID and the QoS flow ID of the PDU session, the EPS bearing ID, QFI and the access network tunnel information of the N3 interface corresponding to the PDU session and used for data forwarding;

step 408: the SMF entity selects a UPF entity, allocates a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding for each EPS bearer, establishes an N3PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and the NG RAN, binds the EPS bearer to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to a PDU session, and establishes a mapping relation between the PDU session ID and the EPS bearer ID, so that the UPF entity can mark a data packet received from the GTP tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer with a correct QoS flow ID and map the data packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session;

step 409: the SMF entity sends a response message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the AMF entity; wherein, the response message of the created forwarding tunnel carries the allocated GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding;

step 410: the AMF entity sends a forward relocation response message to the MME entity; wherein, the GTP tunnel endpoint identification TEID is carried in the forward relocation response message;

step 411: the MME entity creates a forwarding tunnel between the MME entity and the SGW by using the existing process, namely, sends a request message for creating the forwarding tunnel to the SGW, carries a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID in the request message for creating the forwarding tunnel, and receives a response message for creating the forwarding tunnel sent by the SGW;

step 412: the MME entity sends a switching instruction to the NG RAN, and can carry the SGW TEID used for data forwarding, namely the MME entity completes a subsequent switching process;

step 413: the NG RAN sends a handover command to the UE.

Example four

Referring to fig. 5, a flowchart of a data relay process according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown. In example four, data is forwarded by the LTE system to the 5G system, and creation of a forwarding tunnel is requested by the AMF entity. The data relay process of example four includes the following steps:

step 501: an eNB in the E-UTRAN sends a switching request message to an MME entity; wherein, the switching request message carries the ID of the EPS bearing needing data forwarding;

step 502: the MME entity forwards the EPS bearing ID to the AMF entity through a forward relocation request message;

step 503: the AMF entity determines a PGW-C + SMF entity serving the EPS bearer according to the received EPS bearer ID, and sends a session management request message to the PGW-C + SMF entity; wherein, the session management request message carries an EPS bearing ID;

step 504: the PGW-C + SMF entity determines the QoS flow ID mapped by the EPS load and the PDU session ID to which the QoS flow belongs according to the mapping parameters of the EPS load and the QoS flow, and returns the QoS flow ID and the PDU session ID to the AMF entity through a session management response message;

step 505: the AMF entity sends a switching request message to a target NG RAN according to PDU session information returned by the SMF entity, wherein the switching request message carries a PDU session ID;

step 506: the target NG RAN distributes an access network tunnel of an N3 interface for data forwarding for the corresponding PDU session according to the received PDU session information, and returns the access network tunnel to the AMF entity in a switching response message;

step 507: the AMF entity selects an SMF entity for data transfer for each PDU session according to the information returned by the NG RAN, wherein the AMF entity selects the SMF entity based on the position information of the UE;

step 508: the AMF entity sends a request message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the SMF entity; wherein, the created forwarding tunnel request message carries the mapping relation between the EPS bearing ID and the QoS flow ID of the PDU session, the EPS bearing ID, QFI and the access network tunnel information of the N3 interface corresponding to the PDU session and used for data forwarding;

step 509: the SMF entity selects a UPF entity, allocates a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding for each EPS bearer, establishes an N3PDU session tunnel between the EPS bearer and the NG RAN, binds the EPS bearer to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session, and establishes a mapping relation list of the PDU session ID and the EPS bearer ID, so that the UPF can mark a data packet received from the GTP tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer with a correct QoS flow ID and map the data packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session;

step 510: the SMF entity sends a response message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the AMF entity; wherein, the response message of the created forwarding tunnel carries the allocated GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding;

step 511: the AMF entity sends a forward relocation response message to the MME entity; wherein, the GTP tunnel endpoint identification TEID is carried in the forward relocation response message;

step 512: the MME entity creates a forwarding tunnel between the MME entity and the SGW by using the existing process, namely, sends a request message for creating the forwarding tunnel to the SGW, carries a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID in the request message for creating the forwarding tunnel, and receives a response message for creating the forwarding tunnel sent by the SGW;

step 513: the MME entity sends a switching instruction to the NG RAN, and can carry the SGW TEID used for data forwarding, namely the MME entity completes a subsequent switching process;

step 514: the NG RAN sends a handover command to the UE.

Example five

Referring to fig. 6, a flow chart of a data relay process according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown. In example five, data is forwarded by the LTE system to the 5G system and a PGW-C + SMF entity requests creation of a forwarding tunnel. The data relay process of example five includes the following steps:

step 601: an eNB in the E-UTRAN sends a switching request message to an MME entity; wherein, the switching request message carries the ID of the EPS bearing needing data forwarding;

step 602: the MME entity forwards the EPS bearing ID to the AMF entity through a forward relocation request message;

step 603: the AMF entity determines a PGW-C + SMF entity serving the EPS bearer according to the received EPS bearer ID, and sends a session management request message to the PGW-C + SMF entity; wherein, the session management request message carries an EPS bearing ID;

step 604: the PGW-C + SMF entity determines the QoS flow ID mapped by the EPS load and the PDU session ID to which the QoS flow belongs according to the mapping parameters of the EPS load and the QoS flow, and returns the QoS flow ID and the PDU session ID to the AMF entity through a session management response message;

step 605: the AMF entity sends a switching request message to a target NG RAN according to PDU session information returned by the SMF entity, wherein the switching request message carries a PDU session ID;

step 606: the target NG RAN distributes an access network tunnel of an N3 interface for data forwarding for each PDU session needing to receive and forward data according to the received PDU session information, and returns the access network tunnel to the AMF entity in a switching response message;

step 607: the AMF entity sends a request message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the PGW-C + SMF entity according to the information returned by the NG RAN, and requests the PGW-C + SMF entity to select the SMF entity for data transfer; the message for establishing the forwarding tunnel carries an EPS bearing ID and access network tunnel information which is used for data forwarding and corresponds to a PDU session corresponding to the EPS bearing;

step 608: the PGW-C + SMF entity selects an SMF entity for data transfer based on the position information of the UE;

step 609: the PGW-C + SMF entity sends a request message for creating a forwarding tunnel to the SMF entity; wherein, the created forwarding tunnel request message carries the mapping relation between the EPS bearing ID and the QoS flow ID of the PDU session, the EPS bearing ID, QFI and the access network tunnel information of the N3 interface corresponding to the PDU session and used for data forwarding;

step 610: the SMF entity selects a UPF entity, allocates a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding for each EPS bearer, establishes an N3PDU session tunnel between the EPS bearer and the NG RAN, binds the EPS bearer to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session, and establishes a mapping relation list of the PDU session ID and the EPS bearer ID, so that the UPF can mark a data packet received from the GTP tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer with a correct QoS flow ID and map the data packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session;

step 611: the SMF entity sends a response message for creating the forwarding tunnel to the PGW-C + SMF entity; wherein, the response message of the created forwarding tunnel carries the allocated GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding;

step 612: the PGW-C + SMF entity sends a response message for establishing a forwarding tunnel to the AMF entity, and carries a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID for data forwarding;

step 613: the AMF entity sends a forward relocation response message to the MME entity; wherein, the GTP tunnel endpoint identification TEID is carried in the forward relocation response message;

step 614: the MME entity creates a forwarding tunnel between the MME entity and the SGW by using the existing process, namely, sends a request message for creating the forwarding tunnel to the SGW, carries a GTP tunnel endpoint identifier TEID in the request message for creating the forwarding tunnel, and receives a response message for creating the forwarding tunnel sent by the SGW;

step 615: the MME entity sends a switching instruction to the NG RAN, and can carry the SGW TEID used for data forwarding, namely the MME entity completes a subsequent switching process;

step 616: the NG RAN sends a handover command to the UE.

Referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a data relay method, which is applied to an SMF entity, and includes the following steps:

step 701: and receiving the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information sent by the AMF entity or the PGW-C + SMF entity.

The embodiment of the invention is applicable to the interoperation scene of the 5G network and the LTE network, and data can be forwarded to the LTE system from the 5G system and can also be forwarded to the 5G system from the LTE system. When data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information may specifically be: the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer which needs to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session is needed. When data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information may specifically be: the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarded data and the mapping relationship between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearer.

Step 702: and configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information.

When the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, the process of configuring the data forwarding tunnel in step 702 may be:

selecting a UPF entity;

allocating a core network tunnel identifier for data forwarding for the PDU session, and configuring a forwarding tunnel between a UPF entity and an SGW for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between an NG RAN of a 5G system;

and binding the QoS flow of the PDU session to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearer according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet.

When the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is the mapping relationship between the ID of the PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data and the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearer, the process of configuring the data forwarding tunnel in step 702 may be:

selecting a UPF entity;

distributing tunnel endpoint identification for data forwarding for EPS bearing, and configuring a PDU session tunnel between a UPF entity and an NG RAN of a 5G system;

and binding the EPS bearing to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the related QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearing, so that the UPF entity can mark the correct QoS flow ID on the data packet received from the tunnel of the EPS bearing and forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the PDU session.

Therefore, the data transfer method of the embodiment of the invention can avoid redundancy of data transfer, reduce time delay of data transfer and improve efficiency of data transfer on the basis of accurately finishing data transfer.

The data relay method according to the present invention is explained in the above embodiments, and the data relay device according to the present invention will be explained with reference to the embodiments and the drawings.

Referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a data relay apparatus, which is applied to a network function entity, and includes:

a first obtaining module 801, configured to obtain a mapping relationship between EPS bearer information and PDU session information;

a selecting module 802, configured to select an SMF entity for data forwarding;

a first sending module 803, configured to send the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information to the SMF entity, where the SMF entity configures a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information.

According to the data transfer device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information is obtained, the SMF entity for data transfer is selected, the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information is sent to the SMF entity, the SMF entity configures the data transfer tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information, and the PGW-U + UPF entity can be prevented from being used as a data transfer node, so that the redundancy of data transfer is avoided, the time delay of data transfer is reduced, and the efficiency of data transfer is improved.

The network function entity may be an AMF entity or a PGW-C + SMF entity.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the first obtaining module 801 is specifically configured to:

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and as shown in fig. 9, the apparatus further includes:

a second obtaining module 804, configured to obtain, from the MME entity, an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data.

Further, referring to fig. 9, the apparatus further includes:

a second sending module 805, configured to provide the selected ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarding data to the MME entity.

Further, referring to fig. 9, the apparatus further includes:

a third obtaining module 806, configured to obtain a QoS flow ID of a PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding from an NG RAN of the 5G system;

a fourth obtaining module 807, configured to obtain, from the PGW-C + SMF entity, a mapping relationship between a QoS flow ID of the PDU session and an EPS bearer ID;

a first determining module 808, configured to determine, according to the mapping relationship between the QoS flow ID of the PDU session and the EPS bearer ID, an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data to be selected, which corresponds to the QoS flow ID of the PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the first obtaining module 801 is specifically configured to:

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network function entity is an AMF entity, as shown in fig. 10, the apparatus further includes:

a fifth obtaining module 809 is configured to obtain, from the NG RAN of the 5G system, the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarding data.

Further, referring to fig. 10, the apparatus further includes:

a third sending module 810, configured to provide the NG RAN with an ID of a QoS flow of a selected PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data.

Further, referring to fig. 10, the apparatus further includes:

a sixth obtaining module 811, configured to obtain, from the MME entity, an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding;

a second determining module 812, configured to determine, according to the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding, the ID of the QoS flow of the to-be-selected PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the selecting module 802 is specifically configured to:

In this embodiment of the present invention, the network function entity is a PGW-C + SMF entity, and the selection module 802 is specifically configured to:

Referring to fig. 11, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a data relay apparatus, which is applied to an SMF entity, and includes:

a receiving module 111, configured to receive a mapping relationship between EPS bearer information and PDU session information sent by an AMF entity or a PGW-C + SMF entity;

a configuration module 112, configured to configure a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information.

In this embodiment of the present invention, when data is forwarded from a 5G system to an LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, where the configuration module includes:

the first selection unit is used for selecting the UPF entity;

In this embodiment of the present invention, when data is forwarded from an LTE system to a 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarded data and an ID of a related QoS flow in the PDU session and an EPS bearer ID, where the configuration module includes:

the second selection unit is used for selecting the UPF entity;

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network function entity, which includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, where the processor implements the following steps when executing the program:

selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding;

The embodiment of the present invention further provides an SMF entity, which includes a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and operable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the following steps when executing the program:

Specifically, referring to fig. 12, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network function entity, where the network function entity includes a bus 121, a transceiver 122, an antenna 123, a bus interface 124, a processor 125, and a memory 126.

The processor 125 is configured to read the program in the memory 126, and execute the following processes:

acquiring a mapping relation between EPS bearer information and PDU session information, selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding, controlling the transceiver 122 to send the mapping relation between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information to the SMF entity, and configuring a data forwarding tunnel by the SMF entity according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information.

A transceiver 122 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 125.

Specifically, the network functional entity is an AMF entity, or a PGW-C + SMF entity.

Specifically, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the processor 125 is further configured to: and acquiring the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation.

Specifically, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 acquires the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarded data from the MME entity.

Specifically, the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 provides the selected ID of the EPS bearer that needs to receive the forwarded data to the MME entity.

Specifically, the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 acquires a QoS flow ID of a PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding from an NG RAN of the 5G system, acquires a mapping relationship between the QoS flow ID of the PDU session and an EPS bearer ID from a PGW-C + SMF entity, and determines, according to the mapping relationship between the QoS flow ID of the PDU session and the EPS bearer ID, an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data to be selected and corresponds to the QoS flow ID of the PDU session that needs to perform data forwarding.

Specifically, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the processor 125 is further configured to: acquiring the ID of the PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS load.

Specifically, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 acquires the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session required to receive the forwarding data from the NG RAN of the 5G system.

Specifically, the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 provides the NG RAN with the ID of the QoS flow of the selected PDU session that needs to receive forwarded data.

Specifically, the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 obtains the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding from the MME entity, and determines the ID of the QoS flow of the to-be-selected PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the EPS bearer that needs to perform data forwarding.

Specifically, the processor 125 is further configured to: selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding based on UE location information and/or PDU session information related to data forwarding; the PDU session related to data forwarding is a PDU session needing data forwarding or a PDU session corresponding to an EPS bearer needing data forwarding; the PDU session information includes one or more of: and the data network name corresponding to the PDU session and the network slice information to which the PDU session belongs.

Specifically, the network functional entity is a PGW-C + SMF entity, and the processor 125 is further configured to: the control transceiver 122 receives a request message sent by the AMF entity, and selects the SMF entity for data forwarding according to the request message.

In addition, the network function entity shown in fig. 12 may also be an SMF entity. When the network functional entity shown in fig. 12 can also be an SMF entity, the processor 125 can execute the following processes by reading the program in the memory 126:

the control transceiver 122 receives a mapping relationship between EPS bearer information and PDU session information sent by an AMF entity or a PGW-C + SMF entity, and configures a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information.

Specifically, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, and the processor 125 is further configured to: selecting a UPF entity, allocating a core network tunnel identifier for data forwarding for a PDU session, configuring a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and an SGW for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of a 5G system, and binding the QoS flow of the PDU session to the forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearer according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet.

Specifically, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarded data and an ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and an ID of an EPS bearer, and the processor 125 is further configured to: selecting a UPF entity, allocating tunnel endpoint identifiers for data forwarding to EPS bearing, configuring a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of a 5G system, and binding the EPS bearing to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearing, so that the UPF entity can mark a data packet received from the tunnel of the EPS bearing with a correct QoS flow ID and forward the data packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session.

In FIG. 12, a bus architecture (represented by bus 121), the bus 121 may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with the bus 121 linking together various circuits including one or more processors, represented by processor 125, and memory, represented by memory 126. The bus 121 may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. A bus interface 124 provides an interface between the bus 121 and the transceiver 122. The transceiver 122 may be one element or may be multiple elements, such as multiple receivers and transmitters, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The data processed by the processor 125 is transmitted over a wireless medium via the antenna 123, and further, the antenna 123 receives the data and transmits the data to the processor 125.

The processor 125 is responsible for managing the bus 121 and general processing, and may also provide various functions including timing, peripheral interfaces, voltage regulation, power management, and other control functions. And memory 126 may be used to store data used by processor 125 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 125 may be a CPU, ASIC, FPGA or CPLD.

Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the following steps:

selecting an SMF entity for data forwarding;

Optionally, the network functional entity is an AMF entity or a PGW-C + SMF entity.

Optionally, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: and acquiring the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation.

Optionally, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and when executed by the processor, the program may further implement the following steps: and acquiring the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data from the MME entity.

Optionally, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: and providing the ID of the EPS bearing needing to be selected and receiving the forwarding data to the MME entity.

Optionally, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: the method comprises the steps of obtaining a QoS flow ID of a PDU conversation needing data forwarding from an NG RAN of a 5G system, obtaining a mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation and an EPS bearing ID from a PGW-C + SMF entity, and determining the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive forwarding data to be selected corresponding to the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation needing data forwarding according to the mapping relation between the QoS flow ID of the PDU conversation and the EPS bearing ID.

Optionally, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: acquiring the ID of the PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of the relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS load.

Optionally, the network function entity is an AMF entity, and when executed by the processor, the program may further implement the following steps: the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session that needs to receive the forwarded data is obtained from the NG RAN of the 5G system.

Optionally, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: and providing the ID of the QoS flow of the selected PDU session needing to receive the forwarding data to the NG RAN.

Optionally, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: and acquiring the ID of the EPS bearing needing data forwarding from an MME entity, and determining the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU conversation needing to be selected and receiving the forwarding data according to the ID of the EPS bearing needing data forwarding.

Optionally, the program when executed by the processor may further implement the steps of: selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding based on UE location information and/or PDU session information related to data forwarding; the PDU session related to data forwarding is a PDU session needing data forwarding or a PDU session corresponding to an EPS bearer needing data forwarding; the PDU session information includes one or more of: and the data network name corresponding to the PDU session and the network slice information to which the PDU session belongs.

Optionally, the network function entity is a PGW-C + SMF entity, and when executed by the processor, the program may further implement the following steps: and receiving a request message sent by the AMF entity, and selecting the SMF entity for data forwarding according to the request message.

Optionally, when data is forwarded from the 5G system to the LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, and when the program is executed by the processor, the following steps may be further implemented: selecting a UPF entity, allocating a core network tunnel identifier for data forwarding for a PDU session, configuring a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and an SGW for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of a 5G system, and binding the QoS flow of the PDU session to the forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearer according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet.

Optionally, when data is forwarded from the LTE system to the 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and an ID of an EPS bearer, and when being executed by the processor, the program may further implement the following steps: selecting a UPF entity, allocating tunnel endpoint identifiers for data forwarding to EPS bearing, configuring a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of a 5G system, and binding the EPS bearing to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data according to the ID of the PDU session needing to receive forwarding data and the mapping relation between the ID of relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and the ID of the EPS bearing, so that the UPF entity can mark a data packet received from the tunnel of the EPS bearing with a correct QoS flow ID and forward the data packet to the forwarding tunnel of the correct PDU session.

Computer-readable media, which include both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement the information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, a computer readable medium does not include a transitory computer readable medium such as a modulated data signal and a carrier wave.

It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the method of the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases, the former is a better implementation manner. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling a terminal device (such as a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention.

The foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, various modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A data transfer method is applied to an SMF entity, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information;

when data is forwarded from a 5G system to an LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is the mapping relationship between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, and the configuring of the data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information comprises the following steps:

selecting a User Plane Function (UPF) entity;

allocating a core network tunnel identifier for data forwarding for the PDU session, and configuring a forwarding tunnel between the UPF entity and a Service Gateway (SGW) for data forwarding and a PDU session tunnel between the UPF entity and an NG RAN of a 5G system;

according to the mapping relation between the ID of the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, the QoS flow of the PDU session is bound to the forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearing needing to receive the forwarding data, so that the UPF entity can forward the data packet to the correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearing according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet;

when data is forwarded from an LTE system to a 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and an ID of an EPS bearer, and configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and PDU session information includes:

selecting a UPF entity;

2. A data transfer device is applied to an SMF entity, and is characterized by comprising:

the configuration module is used for configuring a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relation between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information;

when data is forwarded from a 5G system to an LTE system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and the PDU session information is the mapping relationship between the ID of the EPS bearer needing to receive the forwarding data and the ID of the QoS flow of the PDU session, and the configuration module comprises:

the first selection unit is used for selecting the UPF entity;

a first binding unit, configured to bind, according to a mapping relationship between an ID of an EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS flow of a PDU session, the QoS flow of the PDU session to a forwarding tunnel corresponding to the EPS bearer that needs to receive forwarding data, so that the UPF entity can forward a data packet to a correct forwarding tunnel of the EPS bearer according to the QoS flow ID of the data packet;

when data is forwarded from an LTE system to a 5G system, the mapping relationship between the EPS bearer information and PDU session information is a mapping relationship between an ID of a PDU session that needs to receive forwarding data and an ID of a relevant QoS flow in the PDU session and an ID of an EPS bearer, and the configuration module includes:

the second selection unit is used for selecting the UPF entity;

3. An SMF entity comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on said memory and executable on said processor, wherein said processor when executing said program performs the steps of:

when data is forwarded from a fifth generation mobile communication 5G system to a long term evolution LTE system, the mapping relationship between EPS bearing information of the evolved packet system and PDU session information is the mapping relationship between an identification ID of an EPS bearing needing to receive forwarding data and an ID of a QoS (quality of service) flow of a PDU session, and the configuration of a data forwarding tunnel according to the mapping relationship between the EPS bearing information and the PDU session information comprises the following steps:

selecting a User Plane Function (UPF) entity;

selecting a UPF entity;

4. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which program, when executed by a processor, carries out the steps of:

selecting a User Plane Function (UPF) entity;

selecting a UPF entity;