CN109842895B

CN109842895B - Network reliability configuration method, information transmission method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN109842895B
Application number: CN201910213055.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王涛; 张云飞
Original assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-20
Filing date: 2019-03-20
Publication date: 2020-07-28
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-20
Also published as: CN109842895A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a network reliability configuration method, an information transmission device and a network reliability configuration system, which are used for guaranteeing network reliability according to the requirements of user equipment. The embodiment of the application provides a network reliability configuration method, which is applied to a PCF entity and comprises the following steps: the PCF entity obtains reliability request information generated by the AF entity, wherein the reliability request information comprises: the AF entity sets a reliability index for the service flow on the UE; the PCF entity acquires the reliability index from the reliability request information; the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index; and the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

Description

Network reliability configuration method, information transmission method, device and system

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a network reliability configuration method, an information transmission device and an information transmission system.

Background

In a fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) core network architecture of Release 16(Release 16, R16), a Policy Control Function (PCF) entity needs to consider Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of a Service to determine whether to establish a redundant transmission path and how to establish the redundant transmission path, so as to guarantee network reliability by establishing a redundant transmission path.

For the configuration scheme of the redundant transmission path, the problem that the network reliability guarantee effect cannot be perceived exists, and if the network reliability guarantee is excessive, the waste of network resources can be caused; if the network reliability guarantee is insufficient, the service experience of the user is affected, and the network reliability requirement of the user equipment cannot be met. Therefore, how to effectively configure a reasonable network reliability guarantee scheme is still an unsolved problem.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a network reliability configuration method, an information transmission device and a network reliability configuration system, which are used for realizing effective network reliability guarantee for service flows on user equipment.

The embodiment of the application provides the following technical scheme:

in one aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network reliability configuration method, where the method is applied to a policy control function PCF entity, and the method includes:

the PCF entity obtains reliability request information generated by an Application Function (AF) entity, wherein the reliability request information comprises: the AF entity sets a reliability index for a service flow on User Equipment (UE);

the PCF entity acquires the reliability index from the reliability request information;

the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index;

and the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides an information transmission method, where the information transmission method is applied to an application function AF entity, and the method includes:

the AF entity determines the guarantee requirement of service flow on user equipment on the network reliability;

the AF entity generates a reliability index according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the reliability index is used for indicating the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability;

and the AF entity sends reliability request information to a policy control function PCF entity, wherein the reliability request information carries the reliability index.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a network reliability configuration device, where the network reliability configuration device is applied in a policy control function PCF entity, and the network reliability configuration device includes:

a transceiver module, configured to acquire reliability request information generated by an application function AF entity, where the reliability request information includes: the AF entity sets a reliability index for a service flow on User Equipment (UE);

the processing module is used for acquiring the reliability index from the reliability request information;

the processing module is used for determining the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index;

and the processing module is used for determining a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

In the foregoing aspect, the constituent modules of the network reliability configuration apparatus may further execute the steps described in the foregoing method performed by the PCF entity and in various possible implementations, for details, see the foregoing description of the foregoing aspect and various possible implementations.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission apparatus, where the information transmission apparatus is applied to an application function AF entity, and the information transmission apparatus includes:

the processing module is used for determining the guarantee requirement of service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability;

the processing module is configured to generate a reliability index according to a guarantee requirement of a service flow on the user equipment on network reliability, where the reliability index is used to indicate the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on network reliability;

and the receiving and sending module is used for sending reliability request information to a policy control function PCF entity, wherein the reliability request information carries the reliability index.

In the foregoing aspect, the constituent modules of the information transmission apparatus may also perform the steps described in the foregoing method performed by the AF entity and in various possible implementations, for details, see the foregoing description of the foregoing another aspect and various possible implementations.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a network reliability configuration device, where the network reliability configuration device is applied in a policy control function PCF entity, and the network reliability configuration device includes: a processor, a memory; the memory is used for storing instructions; the processor is configured to execute the instructions in the memory to cause the network reliability configuration apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the preceding aspects.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network reliability configuration system, where the network reliability configuration system includes: a policy control function, PCF, entity and an application function, AF, entity, wherein,

the PCF entity, configured to perform the network reliability configuration method in the foregoing aspect;

the AF entity is configured to perform the information transmission method in another aspect.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission apparatus, where the information transmission apparatus is applied to an application function AF entity, and the information transmission apparatus includes: a processor, a memory; the memory is used for storing instructions; the processor is configured to execute the instructions in the memory to cause the information transmission apparatus to perform a method according to any one of the preceding further aspects.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity obtains reliability request information generated by the AF entity, where the reliability request information includes: the method comprises the steps that an AF entity sets a reliability index for a service flow on User Equipment (UE), a PCF entity obtains the reliability index from reliability request information, the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the UE on the network reliability according to the reliability index, the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the UE on the network reliability, and the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In this embodiment of the present application, an AF entity may set a reliability index for a user equipment, for example, the AF entity determines a network reliability guarantee effect from a terminal to a server according to an actual service carried on the user equipment to generate a reliability index, and a PCF entity obtains the reliability index through reliability request information generated by the AF entity, so that the PCF entity may determine a guarantee requirement of a service flow on the user equipment on network reliability, and then the PCF entity may generate a redundancy transmission policy or adjust an original redundancy transmission policy, where the redundancy transmission policy is used to instruct an SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity may generate or adjust the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, for example, according to the requirement of the actual service flow carried on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the service flow on the user equipment, thereby guaranteeing the reliability requirement of the service flow on the user equipment in a more flexible manner, and at the same time, saving network resources and avoiding the waste of network resources.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings according to these drawings.

Fig. 1a is a schematic structural diagram of a network reliability configuration system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 1b is a schematic structural diagram of another network reliability configuration system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 1c is a schematic structural diagram of another network reliability configuration system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of an interaction flow between a PCF entity and an AF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a network reliability configuration method performed by a PCF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating another network reliability configuration method performed by a PCF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating another network reliability configuration method performed by a PCF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating another network reliability configuration method performed by a PCF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a network reliability configuration method performed by an AF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8a is a schematic diagram of a system architecture applied to a network reliability configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8b is a schematic diagram of another system architecture applied to the network reliability configuration method according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic view of an interaction flow between a PCF entity, an AF entity, an SMF entity, and a NEF entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network reliability configuration apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an information transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a server to which the network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a server to which the information transmission method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied.

Detailed Description

The embodiment of the application provides a network reliability configuration method, an information transmission device and a network reliability configuration system, which are used for guaranteeing network reliability according to the requirements of user equipment.

In order to make the objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the embodiments described below are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, but not all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art based on the embodiments in the present application belong to the scope of protection of the embodiments in the present application.

The terms "comprises" and "comprising," and any variations thereof, in the description and claims of embodiments of the present application and the above-described drawings, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a Policy Control Function (PCF) entity in a 5G system, or other network devices having a Policy Control Function. The information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the Application can be applied to an Application Function (AF) entity in a 5G system or other devices with Application functions. The 5G system architecture is divided into an access network and a core network. The access Network is used for implementing functions related to wireless access, and includes a Radio Access Network (RAN). The core network mainly comprises the following key control plane logical network elements: an AF entity, a PCF entity, a Network Exposure Function (NEF) entity, and a Session Management Function (SMF) entity. Without limitation, the core network may further include: a Unified Data Management (UDM) entity, which is not illustrated schematically in fig. 1a to 1 c. Without limitation, a User Plane Function (UPF) entity is also included in the core network, and the UPF entity is not schematically illustrated in fig. 1a to 1 c. It is to be understood that the foregoing entities may be independent hardware device entities or software means for implementing the functions, and are not limited herein.

Referring to fig. 1a, fig. 1b, and fig. 1c, which are schematic structural diagrams of a network reliability configuration system, respectively, in fig. 1a, an AF entity may directly communicate with a PCF entity, for example, the AF entity communicates with the PCF entity through an N5 interface or a service interface. In fig. 1b, when direct communication cannot be performed between the AF entity and the PCF entity, intermediate data forwarding can be performed through the NEF entity. In fig. 1c, the network reliability configuration system may include an SMF entity in addition to the AF entity and the PCF entity, for example, the PCF entity may interact with the SMF entity through an N7 interface or a serving interface.

The SMF element is mainly responsible for session management in the mobile network, and for example, the specific functions of the SMF element may include: the method includes the steps of allocating an Internet Protocol (IP) address to a user, selecting a UPF network element providing a message forwarding function, and the like. The PCF network element is responsible for providing policy information, such as Quality of Service (QoS) policies, slice selection policies, redundant transmission policies, etc., to the SMF network element. The AF entity is used to provide information of the application layer, for example, send reliability request information, and the NEF is used to authenticate the AF entity, map and forward parameters when direct communication between the AF entity and the PCF entity is not possible. In addition, the UDM entity is used to store subscription information of the user.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments, the PCF entity may be referred to as PCF, and similarly, the AF entity may be referred to as AF, and the NEF entity may be referred to as NEF. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the network reliability refers to ensuring the network reliability based on redundant transmission (redundant transmission).

Next, an interaction flow between an AF entity and a PCF entity in a network reliability configuration system in an embodiment of the present application is first illustrated, please refer to fig. 2, where a network reliability configuration method and an information transmission method provided in an embodiment of the present application may include the following steps:

201. the AF entity determines the guarantee requirement of service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability.

In this embodiment of the present application, the AF entity may be configured to obtain a network reliability requirement of a service flow carried on user equipment, for example, the AF entity may obtain a guarantee requirement of the service flow on one or more user equipments on the network reliability. The requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability may be a real-time requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for the network reliability, and the service flow may be referred to as a service in the following example. In the embodiment of the present application, the user equipment may be configured to carry multiple service flows, where an AF entity may obtain a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability of a certain service flow on the user equipment, and the service flow may refer to different service flows in different application scenarios, for example, the service flow may be a teleoperation service flow, and the teleoperation service flow needs to guarantee network reliability. For example, the first service flow on the user equipment needs to guarantee reliability, and the second service flow on the user equipment does not need to guarantee reliability. The AF entity only needs to guarantee high reliability (that is, a redundant transmission path needs to be established) for the UE accessing some services of a certain Data Network Name (DNN) and Single Network slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI), or the AF entity needs to guarantee high reliability of some UEs as needed (that is, other UEs do not need high reliability), or guarantee high reliability in a specific time period, or the AF entity finds that the service reliability of a certain current UE does not meet the service requirement. In these cases, the AF entity can obtain the guaranteed network reliability requirements of the UE.

202. And the AF entity generates a reliability index according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the reliability index is used for indicating the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability.

In this embodiment of the application, after the AF entity obtains a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability by a service flow on user equipment, the AF entity may generate a reliability index according to the requirement for guaranteeing network reliability by the service flow on the user equipment, where the reliability index is used to indicate the requirement for guaranteeing network reliability by the service flow on the user equipment, and for example, the reliability index may indicate a reliability requirement expected by the AF entity. In practical applications, the reliability index generated by the AF entity may determine the content carried by the index according to the scene.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability indicator includes at least one of: the network reliability target value is used for indicating a network reliability threshold value which needs to be reached by an AF entity, the reliability guarantee requirement is used for indicating whether network reliability guarantee needs to be provided for user equipment, and the reliability guarantee standard reaching indication is used for indicating whether a current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the guarantee requirement of network reliability.

The reliability index comprises one or two or all of the following indexes: a network reliability target value, a reliability guarantee requirement and a reliability guarantee standard reaching indication. The network reliability target value refers to a network reliability threshold that the AF expects to reach. For example, the network reliability target value may be an absolute value, such as: 99.999 percent or 99.9999 percent, and the specific value of the network reliability target value can be determined according to the actual scene. The reliability guarantee requirement is used to indicate whether network reliability guarantee needs to be provided for the UE, for example, the reliability guarantee requirement may also indicate whether the UE requires reliability guarantee, for example, the reliability guarantee requirement may be represented by 1 if the UE requires reliability guarantee, and the reliability guarantee requirement may be represented by 0 if the UE does not require reliability guarantee. The reliability guarantee compliance indication is used for indicating whether the current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the guarantee requirement of the network reliability, for example, whether the current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the requirement of high reliability, for example, indicating that the current reliability guarantee scheme cannot meet the requirement of high reliability, and the network is required to further improve the reliability.

203. The AF entity sends reliability request information to the PCF entity, and the reliability request information carries reliability indexes.

In this embodiment of the present application, after generating the reliability index of the user equipment, the AF entity may further generate reliability request information, and the reliability request information carries the reliability index generated in step 202, and then the AF entity sends the reliability request information to the PCF entity, so that the PCF entity may receive the reliability request information. In the embodiment of the application, the AF entity may be used for feedback of an application layer, that is, the AF entity feeds back the reliability request to the PCF entity, and then the PCF entity guarantees the reliability of the service according to the actual requirement of the user equipment on network reliability guarantee and the network quality information.

In practical applications, the AF entity may also carry other contents in the reliability request message, which is described in the following embodiments for illustration.

204. The PCF entity obtains reliability request information generated by the AF entity, wherein the reliability request information comprises: and the AF entity sets a reliability index for the service flow on the UE.

In this embodiment of the present application, the PCF first obtains the reliability request information generated by the AF entity, and as can be known from the description in step 203, the reliability request information generated by the AF entity includes: for the detailed description of the reliability index, please refer to the description of the foregoing embodiment, which is not described herein again.

205. The PCF entity obtains the reliability index from the reliability request information.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity has the capability of identifying and analyzing the reliability request information, and by analyzing the reliability request information, the reliability index for the service flow on the user equipment can be obtained.

In practical applications, the AF entity may also carry other contents in the reliability request message, and at this time, the PCF entity may detect the other contents carried by the reliability request message from the reliability request message, as described in detail in the following embodiments.

206. And the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index.

In the embodiment of the application, after acquiring the reliability index set by the AF entity for the user equipment, the PCF entity may determine, based on the reliability index, a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability by a service flow on the user equipment. For example, the AF entity only needs to guarantee high reliability for UEs accessing certain DNN information and S-NSSAI services (i.e., other services of the UE do not need high reliability), or the AF entity needs to guarantee high reliability of certain UEs as needed (i.e., other UEs do not need high reliability), or the AF entity guarantees high reliability within a specific time period, or finds that the service reliability of a current UE does not meet the service requirement.

207. The PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment to the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating the SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

In this embodiment of the present application, after performing step 206, the PCF entity may determine a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for a service flow on the user equipment, and when determining the redundant transmission policy, the PCF entity may configure the policy according to the requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for the service flow on the user equipment, so that the redundant transmission policy carries the requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for the service flow on the user equipment. In the embodiment of the present application, a redundancy transmission policy generated by a PCF entity is used to instruct an SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path, and examples of the redundancy transmission policy are as follows.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiments of the present application in the foregoing embodiments, the PCF entity obtains the reliability request information generated by the AF entity, where the reliability request information includes: the method comprises the steps that an AF entity sets a reliability index for a service flow on User Equipment (UE), a PCF entity obtains the reliability index from reliability request information, the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the UE on the network reliability according to the reliability index, the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the UE on the network reliability, and the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In this embodiment of the present application, an AF entity may set a reliability index for a user equipment, for example, the AF entity determines a network reliability guarantee effect from a terminal to a server according to an actual service carried on the user equipment to generate a reliability index, and a PCF entity obtains the reliability index through reliability request information generated by the AF entity, so that the PCF entity may determine a guarantee requirement of a service flow on the user equipment on network reliability, and then the PCF entity may generate a redundancy transmission policy or adjust an original redundancy transmission policy, where the redundancy transmission policy is used to instruct an SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity may generate or adjust the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, for example, generate or adjust the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the actual service flow carried on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for reliability is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, and meanwhile, network resources can be saved and waste of network resources is avoided.

Next, a network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described from the perspective of a PCF entity, please refer to fig. 3, where the network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application mainly includes the following steps:

301. the PCF entity receives the reliability request information sent by the AF entity.

In fig. 1a, the AF entity may communicate directly with the PCF entity, for example, the AF entity communicates with the PCF entity via an N5 interface or a serving interface, and the AF entity may send the reliability request information directly to the PCF entity. For the content carried by the reliability request information, details are described in the foregoing embodiments, and details are not described here.

302. After the PCF entity obtains the reliability request information, the reliability request information is authenticated.

In the embodiment of the application, the PCF entity directly interacts with the AF entity, and after obtaining the reliability request information, the PCF entity authenticates the reliability request information. For example, the reliability request information may carry identification information of the AF entity and identification information of the user equipment, and perform authentication according to the identification information and by combining service subscription information stored in the PCF.

Without limitation, as shown in fig. 1b, if the PCF entity directly interacts with the NEF entity and the NEF entity directly interacts with the AF entity, the NEF entity may authenticate the reliability request information after acquiring the reliability request information.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability request information includes at least one of: identification information of the AF entity, a General Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI) of the user equipment, and external group identification information of the user equipment. The reliability request information may be configured according to a specific scenario to carry one or more of the above information, which is not limited herein.

When the reliability request information passes the authentication, the subsequent step 303 and step 304 are performed, respectively.

303. When the reliability request Information passes the authentication, the PCF entity maps the identification Information of the AF entity to Data Network Name (DNN) Information and/or Single Network slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI).

In this embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity further has an information conversion function, that is, maps the information carried in the reliability requirement information, for example, the identification information of the AF entity may include an AF Service Identifier (AF-Service-Identifier), may map the AF Service Identifier as DNN information and/or S-NSSAI, and may determine to map the identification information of the AF entity as DNN information, or as S-NSSAI, or as DNN information and S-NSSAI according to an actual application scenario.

304. The PCF entity obtains the reliability index from the reliability request information.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity has the capability of identifying and analyzing the reliability request information, and by analyzing the reliability request information, the reliability index can be obtained.

305. And the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index.

In the embodiment of the application, after acquiring the reliability index set by the AF entity for the user equipment, the PCF entity may determine, based on the reliability index, a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability by a service flow on the user equipment. For example, the AF entity only needs to guarantee high reliability for UEs accessing certain DNN information and S-NSSAI services (i.e., some services of the UE do not need to guarantee high reliability), or the AF entity needs to guarantee high reliability of some UEs as needed (i.e., other UEs do not need high reliability), or the AF entity guarantees high reliability within a specific time period, or finds that the service reliability of a current UE does not meet the service requirement.

306. The PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment to the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating the SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

In this embodiment of the present application, after performing step 306, the PCF entity may determine a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for a service flow on the user equipment, and when determining the redundant transmission policy, the PCF entity may configure the policy according to the requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for the service flow on the user equipment, so that the redundant transmission policy carries the requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for the service flow on the user equipment. In the embodiment of the present application, a redundancy transmission policy generated by a PCF entity is used to instruct an SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path, and examples of the redundancy transmission policy are as follows.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiments of the present application, the PCF entity may determine the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the user equipment for the reliability of the service flow is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, and meanwhile, network resources can be saved and the waste of network resources is avoided. In addition, the PCF entity may also perform information conversion, so as to convert the identification information carried by the network reliability request information sent by the AF into information that can be identified by other network functions or network elements.

Next, a network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described from the perspective of a PCF entity, please refer to fig. 4, where the network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application mainly includes the following steps:

401. the PCF entity receives the reliability request information sent by the AF entity.

402. After the PCF entity obtains the reliability request information, the reliability request information is authenticated.

Steps 401 to 402 are similar to steps 301 to 302 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, and are not repeated here.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability request information includes at least one of: identification information of the AF entity, a general public subscription identifier GPSI of the user equipment and external group identification information of the user equipment.

When the reliability request information passes the authentication, the

subsequent steps

403 and 405 are performed, respectively.

403. When the reliability request information passes the authentication, the PCF entity maps the GPSI of the user equipment to a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI).

The reliability request information sent by the AF entity may also carry a GPSI, which is an identifier of the user equipment, and/or external group identifier information of the user equipment, and in actual application, other identifiers of the user equipment may also be used instead of the GPSI, which is not limited herein. The role of the internal group identity is to be used internally in the communication network and the role of the external group identity is to be used when the communication network interacts with external entities. The PCF entity may obtain, from the reliability request message, a General Public Subscription Identifier (GPSI) of the ue and/or external group identification information of the ue. The SUPI is an identifier of the ue, and other identifiers of the ue may be used instead in practical applications, which is not limited herein.

404. The PCF entity maps the external group identity information of the user equipment to the internal group identity information.

If the internal group identifier is different from the external group identifier, mapping the external group identifier of the UE to the internal group identifier, and if the internal group identifier is the same as the external group identifier, mapping is not required.

Wherein, the

steps

403 and 404 can determine which step to execute or all the steps to execute according to the actual scene.

405. When the reliability request information passes the authentication, the PCF entity acquires the reliability index from the reliability request information.

406. And the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index.

Step 405 to step 406 are similar to step 304 to step 305 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, and are not described herein again.

407. The PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the network quality information, the subscription information of the user equipment and the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating the SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

In some embodiments of the present application, when determining the redundant transmission policy, the PCF entity may determine the redundant transmission policy according to network quality information and subscription information of the user equipment, where the network quality information refers to a situation of network deployment, the subscription information of the user equipment refers to subscription information configured when the user equipment accesses the network to describe services supported by the user equipment and specific requirements, and when determining the redundant transmission policy, the PCF entity needs to determine the redundant transmission policy according to the network quality information, the subscription information of the user equipment, and the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so as to generate a network reliability guarantee requirement that meets a current state of the network and meets a requirement of the user equipment configured as needed.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiments of the present application, the PCF entity may determine the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the user equipment for the reliability of the service flow is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, and meanwhile, network resources can be saved and the waste of network resources is avoided. In addition, the PCF entity can also carry out information conversion, thereby solving the problem that the identification information carried by the network reliability request information can not be identified.

Next, a network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described from the perspective of a PCF entity, please refer to fig. 5, where the network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application mainly includes the following steps:

501. the PCF entity receives the reliability request information sent by the NEF entity, and the NEF entity is used for receiving the reliability request information sent by the AF entity and sending the reliability request information to the PCF entity.

In fig. 1b, when the AF entity and the PCF entity cannot communicate directly, the NEF entity may forward the intermediate data, for example, the NEF entity receives the reliability request information sent by the AF entity and sends the reliability request information to the PCF entity. In addition, the NEF entity may also perform the aforementioned authentication and information conversion functions performed by the PCF entity.

502. The PCF entity obtains the reliability index from the reliability request information.

503. And the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index.

Step 502 to step 503 are similar to step 304 to step 305 in the embodiment shown in fig. 3, and are not described herein again.

504. The PCF entity acquires the guarantee effective time set by the AF entity for the service flow on the user equipment from the reliability request information.

The reliability request information sent by the AF entity may also carry guarantee effective time, where the guarantee effective time defines the effective time of the reliability guarantee, that is, in which time period the high reliability of a service of the UE needs to be guaranteed.

505. And the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability and the guarantee effective time, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating the SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

In the embodiment of the present application, if the PCF entity obtains the guaranteed effective time, the policy needs to be generated according to the guaranteed requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for network reliability and the guaranteed effective time when determining the redundant transmission policy, so as to ensure that the redundant transmission path generated based on the policy meets the requirement for guaranteeing the effective time. For example, the PCF determines whether to establish a redundant transmission path, establish several redundant transmission paths, delete an already established redundant transmission path, add a redundant transmission path to the original redundant transmission scheme, and guarantee the life cycle of the redundant transmission path corresponding to the effective time.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiments of the present application, the PCF entity may determine the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the user equipment for the reliability of the service flow is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, and meanwhile, network resources can be saved and the waste of network resources is avoided. In addition, the PCF entity may also configure a redundant transmission policy based on the guaranteed active time to ensure that the redundant transmission path generated based on the policy meets the requirements for the guaranteed active time.

Next, a network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described from the perspective of a PCF entity, please refer to fig. 6, where the network reliability configuration method provided in the embodiment of the present application mainly includes the following steps:

601. the PCF entity receives the reliability request information sent by the AF entity, and the NEF entity is used for receiving the reliability request information sent by the AF entity and sending the reliability request information to the PCF entity.

602. The PCF entity obtains the reliability index from the reliability request information.

603. And the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability according to the reliability index.

604. The PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of service flow on user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating the session management function SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path.

Step 601 to step 604 are similar to step 204 to step 207 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and are not repeated here.

605. The PCF entity sends a redundant transmission policy to the SMF entity.

In fig. 1c, the network reliability configuration system may include an SMF entity in addition to the AF entity and the PCF entity, for example, the PCF entity may interact with the SMF entity through an N7 interface.

If the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session of the service of the UE is established, the PCF initiates a PDU session modification request and sends the redundancy transmission strategy to the related SMF. And if the PDU session of the service of the UE is not established, the PCF sends the redundancy transmission strategy to the related SMF when the UE initiates the session establishment.

606. And the PCF entity receives a response message sent by the SMF entity, wherein the response message is used for indicating the configuration result of the SMF entity to the redundant transmission path.

Wherein, the SMF returns a response message whether the PDU session establishment or modification request is accepted to the PCF.

607. The PCF entity sends a response message to the AF entity so that the AF entity obtains the configuration result of the redundant transmission path.

The PCF entity may directly send a response message to the AF entity, and the AF entity obtains the configuration result of the redundant transmission path. For another example, the PCF entity sends a response message to the NEF entity, the NEF entity sends a response message to the AF entity, and the NEF may return a response to the AF whether the service reliability can be guaranteed, and return a cause value of failure. For example, the reasons for the failure may be that network resources are not satisfied, the reliability request does not match the service subscription of the UE, and so on.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiments of the present application, the PCF entity may determine the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the user equipment for the reliability of the service flow is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, and meanwhile, network resources can be saved and the waste of network resources is avoided. In addition, the PCF entity may also send a redundant transmission policy to the SMF entity, so that the SMF entity performs the configuration of the redundant transmission path, and the redundant transmission path configured based on the redundant transmission policy can guarantee the reliability requirements of the user equipment for the service flow.

Fig. 3 to fig. 6 illustrate a network reliability configuration method provided by the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of a PCF entity, and next, an information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described from an AF entity, please refer to fig. 7, where the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application mainly includes the following steps:

701. the AF entity determines the guarantee requirement of service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability.

702. And the AF entity generates a reliability index according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, wherein the reliability index is used for indicating the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability.

703. The AF entity sends reliability request information to the PCF entity, and the reliability request information carries reliability indexes.

Steps 701 to 703 are similar to steps 201 to 203 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and are not repeated here.

704. And the AF entity receives a response message sent by the PCF entity, wherein the response message is used for indicating the configuration result of the SMF entity to the redundant transmission path.

705. The AF entity acquires the configuration result of the redundant transmission path from the response information.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiment of the present application, in the embodiment of the present application, an AF entity may set a reliability index for a user equipment, and a PCF entity obtains the reliability index through reliability request information generated by the AF entity, so that the PCF entity may determine a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for a service flow on the user equipment, and further, the PCF entity may determine a redundancy transmission policy, where the redundancy transmission policy is used to instruct an SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In the embodiment of the application, the PCF entity may determine the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the user equipment for the reliability of the service flow is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, network resources can be saved, and the waste of network resources is avoided. In addition, the AF entity may also obtain a configuration result of the SMF entity on the redundant transmission path, so that the AF may determine a reliability guarantee result of the user equipment.

In order to better understand and implement the above-described scheme of the embodiments of the present application, the following description specifically illustrates a corresponding application scenario.

In addition, the embodiment of the present application may also implement the capability of reliability guarantee as needed, for example, a certain service may only need to guarantee high reliability for certain UEs in a certain time period, so that network reliability does not need to be guaranteed for all UEs, thereby avoiding waste of network resources. For another example, some services have high requirements on network reliability, and at this time, more redundant transmission paths can be provided to ensure high reliability of the network, and service experience of a user is prevented from being affected due to insufficient provisioning.

According to the embodiment of the application, the scheme for ensuring the network reliability as required is realized through the requirement and feedback of the AF entity. The embodiment of the application can also be used as a scheme for ensuring the network open reliability. The embodiment of the present application is an architecture based on interaction between an application program and a network, and as shown in fig. 8a and 8b, is a system architecture diagram applied to the network reliability configuration method provided by the embodiment of the present application. In the above architecture diagram, if an application function AF can interact directly with the PCF of the 5G core network, the AF can send the reliability request directly to the PCF, otherwise the AF needs to send the reliability request to the NEF. In the following schemes, the AF sends the reliability request to the NEF for illustration, and similarly, the corresponding schemes can be applied to the scheme in which the AF sends the reliability request to the PCF.

The reliability request for reliability guarantee sent by the AF to the network contains the following information: AF identification information, target UE identification, reliability index, guaranteed validity time, and flow descriptor, which are described below.

The AF identification information is used to indicate information of an AF, such as an AF Service Identifier (AF-Service-Identifier).

The target UE identity may be identity information of a certain UE, for example, GPSI of the UE, or identity information of a group of UEs, such as a group identifier (group identifier). If the target UE identification is not specified, the reliability request is applicable to all UEs, the reliability request does not carry any UE identification, and the reliability request can be indicated to be effective to all UEs.

The reliability indicator may indicate a network reliability target value desired by the AF, for example the network reliability target value may be an absolute value, such as: 99.9999 percent. The reliability index may also indicate whether a certain UE requires reliability guarantee, and in addition, the reliability index may also indicate whether the current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the requirement of high reliability of the service, for example, may indicate that the current reliability guarantee scheme cannot meet the requirement of high reliability, and the network is required to further improve the reliability of the service.

The guarantee effective time defines an effective time of the reliability guarantee, that is, a time period in which high reliability of a service of the UE needs to be guaranteed.

The flow descriptor may be used to describe the target traffic flow, and may be characterized, for example, by at least one of the following information: DNN, S-NSSAI, a service identifier (application identifier), and traffic filter information (traffic filter information), where the traffic filter information describes information of a traffic, such as an IP address, and the traffic filter information is used by the UPF to identify a specific traffic according to the information.

In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF may make a decision based on the reliability request sent by the AF. For example, the PCF determines, according to the network quality condition and the reliability request of the AF, whether a redundant transmission path needs to be established and several redundant transmission paths are established when the PDU session is established; if the guarantee effective time of the reliability guarantee is included, a redundant transmission path is established only in the time period. If the PDU session is established, the PCF judges whether the current service can meet the reliability requirement of the service according to the network quality condition and the reliability request of the AF, if not, the PCF initiates a PDU session modification request to the SMF to modify the reliability guarantee scheme, for example, a redundant transmission path is added to further improve the reliability of the service transmission.

Referring to fig. 9, a schematic view of an interaction flow among a PCF entity, an AF entity, an SMF entity, and an NEF entity provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown, and a flow of a network open reliability guarantee capability in the embodiment of the present application is described below:

s01, the AF sends a reliability request.

The AF sends a reliability request to the NEF. The request includes AF identification information, target UE identification, reliability index, guaranteed effective time and flow descriptor.

S02, NEF authenticates and processes the request.

The NEF authenticates the reliability request of the AF, and determines whether the reliability request of the AF can be accepted. If the authentication is passed, the step S03 is continued; if the authentication is not passed, the reliability request of the AF is rejected, steps S03 to S05 are skipped, and step S06 is directly executed.

If the authentication is passed, the NEF performs corresponding mapping according to the local policy of the NEF or the information of the UDM. For example, mapping the AF id to DNN and/or S-NSSAI information, mapping the GPSI of the UE to SUPI, and mapping the external group id of the UE to internal group id information, where the internal group id is used inside the communication network, the external group id is mainly used by the AF outside the communication network, and if the internal group id is different from the external group id, the external group id of the UE needs to be mapped to the internal group id, and if the internal group id is the same as the external group id, the mapping is not needed.

S03, NEF sends the reliability request to the PCF.

Wherein the NEF sends the AF request information to the PCF. If the NEF carries out information conversion, the information converted by the NEF is sent to the PCF. The NEF information conversion means that in step S02, the AF identifier is mapped to DNN and/or S-NSSAI information, the GPSI of the UE is mapped to SUPI, and the external group identifier of the UE is mapped to the internal group identifier.

For the case of direct interaction between AF and PCF, i.e. AF sends the reliability request directly to PCF, PCF will complete the function similar to NEF, authenticate the reliability request of AF and perform mapping of relevant parameters.

And the PCF determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the network quality information, the UE subscription information and the reliability request of the AF. In addition, the PCF may also update the QoS information of the service. The PCF determines whether to establish a redundant transmission path, establish several redundant transmission paths, delete an already established redundant transmission path, add a redundant transmission path, and when to establish a redundant transmission path, delete a redundant transmission path, and so on.

S04, PCF sends the redundant transmission strategy to SMF, SMF triggers the corresponding PDU conversation process.

If the PDU session of a certain service on the UE is established, the PCF initiates a PDU session modification request and sends the redundancy transmission strategy to the related SMF. And if the PDU session of the service of the UE is not established, the PCF sends the redundancy transmission strategy to the related SMF when the UE initiates the session establishment.

The SMF returns a response message to the PCF whether the PDU session establishment or modification request was accepted.

S05, the PCF sends a response message to the NEF.

According to the response message returned by SMF, PCF returns the information of whether to successfully establish the redundant transmission path to NEF.

S06, NEF returns a response message to AF.

The NEF may return a response to the AF on whether the service reliability can be guaranteed, and return a cause value of the failure. For example, the reason for the failure may be that the network resource does not meet the service requirement of the UE, or may be that the reliability request of the service of the UE does not match the service subscription of the UE, or the like.

The embodiment of the application provides a scheme of network open reliability guarantee capability, an AF (advanced fault tolerant network) can generate a reliability request and feed the reliability request back to a PCF (fiber-to-fiber switch), and the PCF can effectively establish, modify or delete a redundant transmission path according to a reliability index carried in the request, so that network resources are saved, resource waste is avoided, and the requirement of guaranteeing the reliability of an application program can be flexibly met.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the foregoing method embodiments are described as a series of acts or combination of acts, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present embodiment is not limited by the described order of acts, as some steps may occur in other orders or concurrently depending on the embodiment. Further, those skilled in the art should also appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments and that the acts and modules referred to are not necessarily required for the embodiments of the application.

To facilitate better implementation of the above-described aspects of the embodiments of the present application, the following also provides relevant means for implementing the above-described aspects.

Referring to fig. 10, in an embodiment of the present application, a network reliability configuration apparatus 1000 is provided, where the network reliability configuration apparatus 1000 is applied in a policy control function PCF entity, and the network reliability configuration apparatus 1000 includes: a transceiver module 1001 and a processing module 1002, wherein,

a transceiving module 1001, configured to acquire reliability request information generated by an application function AF entity, where the reliability request information includes: the AF entity sets a reliability index for a service flow on User Equipment (UE);

the processing module 1002 is configured to obtain the reliability index from the reliability request information;

the processing module 1002 is configured to determine, according to the reliability index, a requirement for guaranteeing network reliability for a service flow on the user equipment;

the processing module 1002 is configured to determine a redundant transmission policy according to a requirement of a service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing network reliability, where the redundant transmission policy is used to instruct a session management function SMF entity to configure a redundant transmission path.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability indicator includes at least one of: the network reliability target value is used for indicating a network reliability threshold value which needs to be reached by the AF entity, the reliability guarantee requirement is used for indicating whether network reliability guarantee needs to be provided for the user equipment, and the reliability guarantee standard reaching indication is used for indicating whether a current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the guarantee requirement of network reliability.

In some embodiments of the present application, the transceiver module 1001 is configured to receive reliability request information sent by the AF entity; or, receiving the reliability request information sent by a network open NEF entity, where the NEF entity is configured to receive the reliability request information sent by the AF entity, and send the reliability request information to the PCF entity.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module 1002 is configured to authenticate the reliability request information after acquiring the reliability request information; when the reliability request information passes the authentication, the following steps are triggered and executed: and acquiring the reliability index from the reliability request information.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability request information further comprises identification information of the AF entity, and the processing module 1002 is configured to map the identification information of the AF entity to data network name DNN information and/or single network slice selection assistance information S-NSSAI when the reliability request information passes authentication.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability request information further includes a general public subscription identifier, GPSI, of the user equipment, and/or external group identification information of the user equipment, and the processing module 1002 is configured to map the GPSI of the user equipment to a user subscription permanent identifier, SUPI, when the reliability request information passes authentication; and/or mapping the external group identification information of the user equipment into internal group identification information.

In some embodiments of the present application, the processing module 1002 is configured to generate the redundant transmission policy according to network quality information, subscription information of the user equipment, and a requirement of a service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing network reliability.

In some embodiments of the present application, after the transceiver module 1001 acquires the reliability request information generated by the AF entity, the processing module 1002 is configured to acquire a guaranteed effective time set by the AF entity for a service flow on the user equipment from the reliability request information; and generating the redundant transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability and the guarantee effective time.

In some embodiments of the present application, after the processing module 1002 determines a redundant transmission policy according to a requirement of a service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing network reliability, the transceiver module 1001 is configured to send the redundant transmission policy to the SMF entity;

the transceiver module 1001 is further configured to receive a response message sent by the SMF entity, where the response message is used to indicate a configuration result of the SMF entity on the redundant transmission path; and sending the response message to the AF entity so that the AF entity obtains the configuration result of the redundant transmission path.

Referring to fig. 11, in an information transmission apparatus 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application, the information transmission apparatus 1100 is applied to an application function AF entity, and the information transmission apparatus 1100 includes: a processing module 1101, a transceiver module 1102, wherein,

a processing module 1101, configured to determine a guarantee requirement of a service flow on a user equipment on network reliability;

the processing module 1101 is configured to generate a reliability index according to a guarantee requirement of a service flow on the user equipment on network reliability, where the reliability index is used to indicate the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability;

the transceiver module 1102 is configured to send reliability request information to a policy control function PCF entity, where the reliability request information carries the reliability index.

In some embodiments of the present application, the reliability request information includes at least one of: the identification information of the AF entity, the general public subscription identifier GPSI of the user equipment and the external group identification information of the user equipment.

In some embodiments of the present application, the transceiver module 1102 is configured to receive a response message sent by the PCF entity or a network open NEF entity, where the response message is used to indicate a configuration result of a session management function SMF entity on a redundant transmission path;

the processing module 1101 is configured to obtain a configuration result of the redundant transmission path from the response information.

As can be seen from the description of the embodiments of the present application in the foregoing embodiments, the PCF entity obtains the reliability request information generated by the AF entity, where the reliability request information includes: the method comprises the steps that an AF entity sets a reliability index for a service flow on User Equipment (UE), a PCF entity obtains the reliability index from reliability request information, the PCF entity determines the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the UE on the network reliability according to the reliability index, the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the UE on the network reliability, and the redundancy transmission strategy is used for indicating a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In this embodiment of the present application, an AF entity may set a reliability index for a user equipment, for example, the AF entity determines a network reliability guarantee effect from a terminal to a server according to an actual service carried on the user equipment to generate a reliability index, and a PCF entity obtains the reliability index through reliability request information generated by the AF entity, so that the PCF entity may determine a guarantee requirement of a service flow on the user equipment on network reliability, and then the PCF entity may generate a redundancy transmission policy or adjust an original redundancy transmission policy, where the redundancy transmission policy is used to instruct an SMF entity to configure a redundancy transmission path. In the embodiment of the present application, the PCF entity may generate or adjust the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the service flow on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, for example, generate or adjust the redundant transmission policy according to the requirement of the actual service carried on the user equipment for guaranteeing the network reliability, so that the configuration of the redundant transmission path can better meet the actual requirement of the user equipment, the requirement of the user equipment for the reliability of the service flow is guaranteed in a more flexible manner, and meanwhile, network resources can be saved and waste of network resources is avoided.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the server may be the PCF entity, and the PCF entity 1200 may have a relatively large difference due to different configurations or performances, and may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs) 1222 (e.g., one or more processors) and a memory 1232, and one or more storage media 1230 (e.g., one or more mass storage devices) storing applications 1242 or data 1244. Memory 1232 and storage media 1230 can be, among other things, transient storage or persistent storage. The program stored in the storage medium 1230 may include one or more modules (not shown), each of which may include a series of instruction operations for the server. Further, central processor 1222 may be arranged to communicate with storage medium 1230, to execute a series of instruction operations in storage medium 1230 on PCF entity 1200.

PCF entity 1200 may also include one or more power supplies 1226, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces 1250, one or more input-output interfaces 1258, and/or anOne or more operating systems 1241, e.g. Windows Server^TM，Mac OS X^TM，Unix^TM，Linux^TM，FreeBSD^TMAnd so on.

The steps of the network reliability securing method performed by PCF entity 1200 in the above embodiment may be based on the server structure shown in fig. 12.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a server according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, where the server may be the aforementioned AF entity, and the AF entity 1300 may have a relatively large difference due to different configurations or performances, and may include one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs) 1322 (e.g., one or more processors) and a memory 1332, and one or more storage media 1330 (e.g., one or more mass storage devices) storing an application program 1342 or data 1344. Memory 1332 and storage medium 1330 may be, among other things, transitory or persistent storage. The program stored on the storage medium 1330 may include one or more modules (not shown), each of which may include a sequence of instructions operating on a server. Still further, the central processor 1322 may be arranged to communicate with the storage medium 1330, executing a series of instruction operations in the storage medium 1330 on the AF entity 1300.

AF entity 1300 can also include one or more power supplies 1326, one or more wired or wireless network interfaces 1350, one or more input-output interfaces 1358, and/or one or more operating systems 1341, such as Windows Server^TM，Mac OS X^TM，Unix^TM，Linux^TM，FreeBSD^TMAnd so on.

The steps of the information transmission method performed by the AF entity 1300 in the above-described embodiment may be based on the server structure shown in fig. 13.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely schematic, where the units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the 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 modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the present embodiment. In addition, in the drawings of the device embodiments provided in the embodiments of the present application, a connection relationship between modules indicates that there is a communication connection therebetween, and may be specifically implemented as one or more communication buses or signal lines. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without inventive effort.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by software plus necessary general hardware, and certainly can also be implemented by special hardware including application specific integrated circuits, special CPUs, special memories, special components and the like. Generally, functions performed by computer programs can be easily implemented by corresponding hardware, and specific hardware structures for implementing the same functions may be various, such as analog circuits, digital circuits, or dedicated circuits. However, for the embodiments of the present application, the implementation of the software program is more preferable. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application may be embodied in the form of a software product, where the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk of a computer, and includes several instructions to enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the methods described in the embodiments of the present application.

In summary, the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the embodiments of the present application have been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the above embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and the modifications or the substitutions do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A network reliability configuration method is applied to a Policy Control Function (PCF) entity, and comprises the following steps:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reliability indicator comprises at least one of: the network reliability target value is used for indicating a network reliability threshold value which needs to be reached by the AF entity, the reliability guarantee requirement is used for indicating whether network reliability guarantee needs to be provided for the user equipment, and the reliability guarantee standard reaching indication is used for indicating whether a current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the guarantee requirement of network reliability.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the PCF entity obtaining the reliability request information generated by the AF entity comprises:

the PCF entity receives the reliability request information sent by the AF entity; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the PCF entity receives the reliability request information sent by a network open NEF entity, and the NEF entity is used for receiving the reliability request information sent by the AF entity and sending the reliability request information to the PCF entity.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after the PCF entity obtains the reliability request information, authenticating the reliability request information;

when the reliability request information passes authentication, the PCF entity triggers and executes the following steps: and the PCF entity acquires the reliability index from the reliability request information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reliability request information further comprises: a general public subscription identifier, GPSI, of the user equipment and/or external group identification information of the user equipment;

when the reliability request information passes authentication, the method further includes:

the PCF entity maps the GPSI of the user equipment into a user signing permanent identifier (SUPI); and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

and the PCF entity maps the external group identification information of the user equipment into internal group identification information.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the PCF entity determines a redundant transmission policy according to a guarantee requirement of a service flow on the user equipment for network reliability, comprising:

and the PCF entity generates the redundancy transmission strategy according to the network quality information, the subscription information of the user equipment and the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability.

7. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein after the PCF entity obtains the reliability request information generated by the AF entity, the method further comprises:

the PCF entity acquires the guarantee effective time set by the AF entity for the service flow on the user equipment from the reliability request information;

the PCF entity determines a redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability, and the redundancy transmission strategy comprises the following steps:

and the PCF entity generates the redundancy transmission strategy according to the guarantee requirement of the service flow on the user equipment on the network reliability and the guarantee effective time.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein after the PCF entity determines a redundant transmission policy according to the guarantee requirement of the traffic flow on the user equipment for network reliability, the method further comprises:

the PCF entity sends the redundancy transmission strategy to the SMF entity;

the PCF entity receives a response message sent by the SMF entity, wherein the response message is used for indicating the configuration result of the SMF entity to the redundant transmission path;

and the PCF entity sends the response message to the AF entity so that the AF entity obtains the configuration result of the redundant transmission path.

9. An information transmission method is applied to an Application Function (AF) entity, and the method comprises the following steps:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the reliability indicator comprises at least one of: the network reliability target value is used for indicating a network reliability threshold value which needs to be reached by the AF entity, the reliability guarantee requirement is used for indicating whether network reliability guarantee needs to be provided for the user equipment, and the reliability guarantee standard reaching indication is used for indicating whether a current reliability guarantee scheme can meet the guarantee requirement of network reliability.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the reliability request information comprises at least one of: the identification information of the AF entity, the general public subscription identifier GPSI of the user equipment and the external group identification information of the user equipment.

12. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the AF entity receives a response message sent by the PCF entity or a network open NEF entity, wherein the response message is used for indicating a configuration result of a Session Management Function (SMF) entity to a redundant transmission path;

and the AF entity acquires the configuration result of the redundant transmission path from the response information.

13. A network reliability configuration device, wherein the network reliability configuration device is applied in a policy control function PCF entity, and the network reliability configuration device comprises: a processor and a memory;

the memory to store instructions;

the processor, configured to execute the instructions in the memory, to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 8.

14. An information transmission apparatus, wherein the information transmission apparatus is applied in an Application Function (AF) entity, and the information transmission apparatus comprises: a processor and a memory;

the memory to store instructions;

the processor, configured to execute the instructions in the memory, to perform the method of any of claims 9 to 12.

15. A network reliability configuration system, the network reliability configuration system comprising: a policy control function, PCF, entity and an application function, AF, entity, wherein,

the PCF entity for performing the method of any of claims 1 to 8;

the AF entity for performing the method of any one of claims 9 to 12.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 12.