CN110831094B - Method and device for processing data transmission channel - Google Patents

Method and device for processing data transmission channel Download PDF

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Publication number
CN110831094B
CN110831094B CN201810925372.3A CN201810925372A CN110831094B CN 110831094 B CN110831094 B CN 110831094B CN 201810925372 A CN201810925372 A CN 201810925372A CN 110831094 B CN110831094 B CN 110831094B
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network element
transmission channel
data transmission
user plane
data
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CN110831094A (en
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陆伟
李欢
诸华林
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Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
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Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/0005—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off
    • H04W36/0011—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off for data sessions of end-to-end connection
    • H04W36/0027—Control or signalling for completing the hand-off for data sessions of end-to-end connection for a plurality of data sessions of end-to-end connections, e.g. multi-call or multi-bearer end-to-end data connections
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/10—Flow control; Congestion control
    • H04L47/24—Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
    • H04L47/2425—Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W76/00—Connection management
    • H04W76/10—Connection setup
    • H04W76/12—Setup of transport tunnels
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W76/00—Connection management
    • H04W76/10—Connection setup
    • H04W76/15—Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of communication, and discloses a method and a device for processing a data transmission channel, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a session management network element establishes an MA-PDU session for a terminal device, the MA-PDU session comprises a data transmission channel of a third generation partnership project 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology, and the MA-PDU session corresponds to a first user plane network element; and the session management network element selects a shunting network element for the MA-PDU session, and establishes a data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment.

Description

Method and device for processing data transmission channel
Technical Field
The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for processing a data transmission channel.
Background
In the next generation wireless communication system, for example: in a New Radio (NR) system, a terminal device establishes a protocol Packet Data Unit (PDU) session through a User Plane Function (UPF) network element, and transmits data of the terminal device using the PDU session. Further, an upstream splitter (UL CL) may be inserted in the PDU session, and the UL CL determines a transmission channel of the data stream according to a stream template filter of the data stream received from the SMF. For example, for an upstream data stream, the UL CL may route the data stream to two data transmission channels respectively according to a stream template filter of a data packet, so as to transmit the data stream to a Data Network (DN) through different UPFs respectively. For downlink data streams, the UL CL may aggregate data streams received from different UPFs and then send the aggregated data streams to the terminal device.
A terminal device may access a network through a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) or may access the network from a non-3GPP (non-3GPP or N3GPP) via an access gateway (e.g., a non-3GPP Interworking Function (N3 IWF) network element), in which case the established PDU session may be referred to as a multiple-access packet data unit (MA-PDU) session. It has been defined that UL CL can be inserted in the MA-PDU session, but after inserting UL CL, further research is needed on how to process the MA-PDU session.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of this, the present application provides a method and an apparatus for processing a data transmission channel, which are used to select a offload network element for an MA-PDU session and establish a data transmission channel between the offload network element and a user plane network element corresponding to the MA-PDU session for a terminal device.
In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a data transmission channel, including:
the method comprises the steps that a session management network element establishes an MA-PDU session for a terminal device, the MA-PDU session comprises a data transmission channel of a third generation partnership project 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology, and the MA-PDU session corresponds to a first user plane network element; and the session management network element selects a shunting network element for the MA-PDU session, and establishes a data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment. Based on the scheme, the session management network element can establish a data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment, so that the system network can be effectively simplified after the shunting network element is inserted into the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the establishing, by the session management network element, a transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element for a terminal device includes: the session management network element establishes a new data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment; or, the session management network element updates a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, the updating, by the session management network element, a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session includes:
and the session management network element sends sixth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to update a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology.
In a possible implementation manner, the establishing, by the session management network element, a new data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal device includes: the session management network element determines that the tunnel information of the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element on the first user plane network element side is third tunnel information, and sends the third tunnel information to the offloading network element.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the session management network element sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology equipment side; and/or the session management network element sends second indication information to the first user plane network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete the first tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology equipment side; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,
the session management network element sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a non-3GPP access technology device side; and the session management network element sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes the first tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology equipment side.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the session management network element sends a data forwarding policy to a first user plane network element, where the data forwarding policy is used to instruct the first user plane network element to set source tunnel information of a data transmission channel for transmitting a data stream as first tunnel information, second tunnel information, or third tunnel information.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the session management network element sends third indication information to the first user plane network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or is used to indicate that the first user plane network element does not enable (disable) the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the session management network element sends fourth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element stops performing path performance measurement and/or stops performing packet encapsulation and/or stops processing a data stream; and/or the session management network element sends fifth indication information to the offloading network element, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting (split), data flow migration (switch), or data flow steering (steer).
In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the session management network element acquires a data processing state of the MA-PDU session, wherein the data processing state is used for indicating the processing condition of a data stream or a data packet; and the session management network element sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the shunting network element.
In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a data transmission channel, where the method includes:
the method comprises the steps that an MA-PDU session is established between a user plane network element and a terminal device, wherein the MA-PDU session comprises a transmission channel of a third generation partnership project 3GPP access technology and a transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology;
and the user plane network element and the shunt network element of the MA-PDU session establish a data transmission channel.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or
And the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the establishing, by the user plane network element and the offload network element of the MA-PDU session, a data transmission channel includes:
a new data transmission channel is established between the user plane network element and the shunt network element of the MA-PDU session; or
And the user plane network element updates a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, the updating, by the user plane network element, a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session includes:
and the user plane network element receives sixth indication information sent by the session management network element, and updates a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology according to the sixth indication information.
In a possible implementation manner, establishing a new data transmission path between the user plane network element and the offload network element of the MA-PDU session includes:
and the user plane network element receives third tunnel information sent by the session management network element, and establishes a data transmission channel between the user plane network element and the shunt network element of the MA-PDU session according to the third tunnel information.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
the user plane network element receives first indication information sent by a session management network element, and deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on an access network device side according to the first indication information; and/or the user plane network element receives second indication information sent by the session management network element, and deletes first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the access network equipment side according to the second indication information; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,
the user plane network element receives first indication information sent by a session management network element, and deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on an access network device side according to the first indication information; and the user plane network element receives the first indication information sent by the session management network element, and deletes the first tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the access network equipment side according to the first indication information.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes: and the user plane network element receives the data forwarding strategy sent by the session management network element, and sets the source tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the first tunnel information, the second tunnel information or the third tunnel information according to the data forwarding strategy.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
and the user plane network element receives third indication information sent by a session management network element, and deletes the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session according to the third indication information, or does not enable the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, after the user plane network element receives the third indication information, the method further includes:
the user plane network element stops executing the path performance measurement and/or stops executing the data packet encapsulation and/or stops processing the data stream; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
the user plane network element receives fourth indication information sent by a session management network element, and stops executing path performance measurement and/or stops executing data packet encapsulation and/or stops data stream processing according to the fourth indication information; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
and the user plane network element sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to a session management network element, wherein the data processing state is used for indicating the processing condition of data flow or data packets.
In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a data transmission channel, where the method includes:
a shunting network element in an MA-PDU session establishes a data transmission channel between the shunting network element and a first user plane network element corresponding to the MA-PDU session, wherein the MA-PDU session comprises a transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology; and the shunting network element transmits the data of the MA-PDU session through the established data transmission channel.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element, which is established by the offloading network element, on the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information, second tunnel information, or third tunnel information.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
the shunting network element receives fifth indication information sent by a session management network element, and executes path performance measurement and/or executes data packet encapsulation and/or stops data stream processing according to the fifth indication information; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
the shunting network element receives the data processing state of the MA-PDU session sent by the session management network element and processes the data stream according to the data processing state; wherein the data processing state is used for indicating the processing condition of the data stream or the data packet.
In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing data of an MA-PDU session, where the method includes:
the method comprises the steps that a session management network element establishes an MA-PDU session for a terminal device, the MA-PDU session comprises a data transmission channel of a third generation partnership project 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology, and the MA-PDU session corresponds to a first user plane network element;
the session management network element selects a shunting network element for the MA-PDU session, and sends fourth indication information to the user plane network element, wherein the fourth indication information is used for indicating the user plane network element to stop executing the path performance measurement and/or stop executing the data packet encapsulation and/or stop processing the data stream; and/or the session management network element sends fifth indication information to the offloading network element, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing; and/or the session management network element acquires the data processing state of the MA-PDU session and sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the shunting network element.
In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing data of an MA-PDU session, where the method includes:
the method comprises the steps that an MA-PDU session is established between a user plane network element and a terminal device, wherein the MA-PDU session comprises a transmission channel of a third generation partnership project 3GPP access technology and a transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology;
the user plane network element receives fourth indication information sent by the session management network element, and stops executing the path performance measurement and/or stops executing the data packet encapsulation and/or stops processing the data stream according to the fourth indication information; and/or the user plane network element sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the session management network element.
In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method for an MA-PDU session, where the method includes:
the shunting network element receives fifth indication information sent by the session management network element, and executes path performance measurement and/or executes data packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing according to the fifth indication information; and/or
And the shunting network element receives the data processing state of the MA-PDU session sent by the session management network element and processes the data stream of the MA-PDU session according to the data processing state of the MA-PDU session.
In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a data transmission channel, where the method includes:
a session management network element determines to insert a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session into a shunting device of a terminal, wherein the PDU session supports a third generation partnership project (3 GPP) access technology and a non-3GPP access technology;
and the session management network element selects a shunting network element for the PDU session.
In one possible implementation, the method further includes:
the session management network element sends seventh indication information to the offloading network element, where the seventh indication information is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform at least one of data stream processing, path performance measurement, or data packet encapsulation, where the data stream processing includes: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In a possible implementation manner, the seventh indication information includes access data flow direction, handover and splitting rules.
Another aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an apparatus, which may be a session management network element, a user plane network element, or a offloading network element, or may also be a chip. The apparatus has the function of implementing the embodiments of any one of the first to sixth aspects described above. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.
Yet another aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the first or second aspects, or cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the second or second aspects, or cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the third or third aspects, or cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the fourth or fourth aspects, or cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the fifth or fifth aspects, or cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the sixth or sixth aspects, or cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of the seventh or seventh aspects.
Yet another aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above-described aspects.
It is a further aspect of the embodiments of the present application to provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the above aspects.
A further aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a system, where the system includes the session management network element in any embodiment of the first aspect, the user plane network element in any embodiment of the second aspect, and the offloading network element in any embodiment of the third aspect.
These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments.
Drawings
FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram of a possible network architecture suitable for the present application;
FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of another possible network architecture to which the present application is applicable;
FIG. 1c is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture for data transmission;
FIG. 1d is a schematic diagram of the main functions in an MA-PDU session;
fig. 1e is a schematic diagram of a network architecture after a shunting network element is inserted in a PDU session;
fig. 1f is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of data transmission after a shunting network element is inserted;
fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to a processing method of a data transmission channel according to an embodiment of the present application;
fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to a processing method of a data transmission channel according to an embodiment of the present application;
fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to a processing method of a data transmission channel according to an embodiment of the present application;
fig. 5a is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of another data transmission after a shunting network element is inserted;
fig. 5b is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of another data transmission after the offloading network element is inserted;
fig. 5c is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of another data transmission after the offloading network element is inserted;
fig. 5d is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of another data transmission after the offloading network element is inserted;
fig. 5e is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of another data transmission after the offloading network element is inserted;
fig. 5f is a schematic diagram of a logic architecture of another data transmission after a shunting network element is inserted;
fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of data processing for an MA-PDU session according to an embodiment of the present application;
FIG. 7 is a possible exemplary block diagram of the devices involved in the embodiments of the present application;
fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The particular methods of operation in the method embodiments may also be applied to apparatus embodiments or system embodiments. Wherein, in the description of the present application, one of ordinary skill in the art can understand that: the various numbers of the first, second, etc. mentioned in this application are only used for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application, but also to indicate the sequence. "plurality" means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one" means one or more. At least two means two or more. "at least one," "any," or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items.
The network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.
Fig. 1a is a schematic diagram of a possible network architecture to which the present application is applicable. The network architecture comprises an access management network element and a session management network element. Further, the network architecture may also include a user plane network element. Still further, the network architecture may further comprise a policy control network element.
The access management network element is mainly used for attachment of a terminal in a mobile network, mobility management, and tracking area update processes, terminates a Non Access Stratum (NAS) message, completes registration management, connection management, reachability management, tracking area list (TA list) allocation, mobility management, and the like, and transparently routes a Session Management (SM) message to the session management network element. In 5th generation (5G) communication, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element.
The session management network element is mainly used for session management in a mobile network, such as session establishment, modification and release. The specific functions include allocating an Internet Protocol (IP) address to the terminal, selecting a user plane network element providing a message forwarding function, and the like. In 5G communication, the session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF) network element.
The user plane network element is mainly responsible for processing user messages, such as forwarding, charging, legal monitoring and the like. The user plane network element may also be referred to as a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session anchor (PSA). In 5G communications, the user plane network element may be a UPF network element.
The policy control network element includes a user subscription data management function, a policy control function, a charging policy control function, quality of service (QoS) control, and the like. In 5G communications, the policy control network element may be a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element.
In the embodiment of the present application, names of network elements are not limited, and as technology evolves, network elements having the same or similar functions may also have other names. The network architecture of the present application includes a core network, where the core network includes an access management network element, a session management network element, a user plane network element, and a policy control network element. The core network and the access network may provide services for the terminal, for example, the terminal may send a data packet to the DN through the access network and the user plane network element, or the DN may send a data packet to the terminal through the access network and the user plane network element.
The terminal equipment in the embodiment of the application is equipment with a wireless transceiving function, can be deployed on land and comprises an indoor or outdoor, a handheld or a vehicle-mounted terminal; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like); and may also be deployed in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.). The terminal may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and the like.
As an example, an interface between the user plane network element and the DN may be referred to as an N6 interface, an interface between the user plane network element and the session management network element may be referred to as an N4 interface, an interface between the session management network element and the access management network element may be referred to as an N11 interface, an interface between the session management network element and the policy control network element may be referred to as an N7 interface, and an interface between the access management network element and the policy control network element may be referred to as an N15 interface. Of course, in future communications, the names of these interfaces may be unchanged or replaced by other names, which are not limited in this application.
It is understood that the above functions may be either network elements in a hardware device, software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).
For convenience of description, the following description of the present application takes a user plane network element as a UPF network element, a session management network element as an SMF network element, an access management network element as an AMF network element, and a policy control network element as a PCF network element as examples. Further, the UPF network element is abbreviated as UPF, the SMF network element is abbreviated as SMF, the AMF network element is abbreviated as AMF, and the PCF network element is abbreviated as PCF. That is, UPFs described later in this application may be replaced with user plane network elements, SMFs may be replaced with session management network elements, AMFs may be replaced with access management network elements, and PCFs may be replaced with policy control network elements.
Further, on the basis of fig. 1a, another possible network architecture diagram applicable to the present application is provided, as shown in fig. 1b, the access network may include a 3GPP access network and/or an N3GPP access network, that is, the terminal device may access the core network device through the 3GPP access network (or 3GPP access technology) and/or the N3GPP access network (or N3GPP access technology), and in this embodiment, a scenario that the terminal device accesses the core network device through the 3GPP access network and the N3GPP access network is mainly studied. The 3GPP access network element may include, for example, a base station in 5G; the N3GPP access network refers to an access network other than 3GPP, such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a fixed network, or a wired network. The N3IWF network element is similar to an evolved packet data gateway (ePDG) in Long Term Evolution (LTE), and is used in 5G to establish an internet protocol security (IPsec) tunnel with a UE when the UE accesses a network through the N3 GPP. In the future 5G definition, the name of the N3IWF may be changed, and the application is only exemplified with a non-3GPP network access gateway as the N3 IWF.
By way of example, an interface between the UPF and the 3GPP access network element may be referred to as an N3 interface, an interface between the UPF and the N3IWF network element may be referred to as an N3 interface, an interface between the 3GPP access network element and the AMF may be referred to as an N2 interface, an interface between the N3IWF network element and the AMF may be referred to as an N2 interface, and other interfaces may be illustrated in the figures and are not listed here.
As shown in fig. 1b, the MA-PDU session includes a data transmission path (first data transmission path) for transmitting data through the 3GPP access network device and a data transmission path (second data transmission path) for transmitting data through the non-3GPP access network device. A data transmission channel (first data transmission channel) for transmitting data through the 3GPP access network device may also be referred to as a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology, and a data transmission channel (second data transmission channel) for transmitting data through the non-3GPP access network device may also be referred to as a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology. In the uplink direction, the UPF of the MA-PDU session transmits the data stream received from the first data transmission channel and/or the data stream received from the second data transmission channel to the data network; in the downlink direction, the UPF corresponding to the MA-PDU session may transmit the data stream received from the data network to the terminal device via the first data transmission channel and/or the second data transmission channel. The logical architecture of the data transfer is shown in fig. 1 c. Specifically, for downlink data, the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel includes active tunnel information (first tunnel information of the first UPF) and destination tunnel information (tunnel information of the 3GPP access network device). The tunnel information of the second data transmission channel may include end point information of the second data transmission channel, and specifically, for downlink data, the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel includes active tunnel information (second tunnel information of the first UPF) and destination tunnel information (tunnel information of the non-3GPP access network device). That is, logically, the UPF corresponding to the MA-PDU session has two pieces of tunnel information, the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information. It is understood that, in a specific implementation, the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information may be the same or different, and are not limited specifically. Fig. 1c illustrates only the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information as two logically different pieces of information, and the same process is performed if the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information are the same.
Fig. 1d is a schematic diagram of main functions of a network device (which may also be referred to as a network function device, such as a UPF corresponding to an MA-PDU session, etc.) in an MA-PDU session. As shown in fig. 1d, the main functions of the network device in the MA-PDU session may include the following three items.
Function 1, determining a route for a data flow, comprising: routing the data stream to the first data transmission channel or the second data transmission channel according to a data stream processing rule (for example, an access data stream steering, switching and splitting rule, an access data stream routing rule, an access data stream switching rule, and an access data stream splitting rule), where the data stream processing rule may also be referred to as a packet processing rule or a data processing rule, or may also be referred to by other names, which are not limited specifically; and/or determining whether the data stream can perform a handover according to the data stream processing rule, such as migrating the data stream from the first data transmission channel to the second data transmission channel, or migrating the data stream from the second data transmission channel to the first data transmission channel; and/or determining the type of access technology for transmitting the data flow according to the data flow processing rule, such as 3GPP access technology and/or non-3GPP access technology.
The SMF may issue the data stream processing rule to the terminal device and/or the UPF, and thus, the terminal device and/or the UPF has the function 1 described above.
Function 2, path detection: the performance of the data transmission channel is monitored, and one possible implementation manner is to report the path detection result to the data stream distribution functional entity or the SMF.
Function 3: data packet encapsulation function: for the PDU session packet, adding or removing specific information in the packet header, for example, when some protocol stack is supported between the terminal and the gateway device, for example, the TFCP in fig. 1d, or MPTCP protocol, or GRE protocol, etc., then some information is added in the packet header according to the specification of the TFCP protocol stack.
In view of the above functions 1, 2, and 3, for an MA-PDU session, the terminal device and the UPF may select a data transmission channel for a data stream according to the obtained data stream processing rule, or may perform switching of the data stream between a first data transmission channel and a second data transmission channel for the data stream that is already being transmitted.
In addition, the UPF may perform path detection on the first data transmission channel and/or the second data transmission channel, obtain transmission performance of the data transmission channel, and determine a data processing status according to the transmission performance of the data transmission channel and the obtained data stream processing rule, where the data processing status is used to indicate a processing condition of a data stream or a data packet, such as a current data transmission channel of the data packet, or a sequence order of the data packet. The data transmission channel of the data stream (or the data packet) may be determined according to the data processing state, and in this embodiment, the data transmission channel may also be referred to as a data transmission path.
Further, in order to implement functions such as offloading based on packet granularity, the terminal device and the UPF may add specific information to the packet, where the specific information may be generated according to a specific protocol stack, and fig. 1d illustrates the specific information by taking TFCP as an example. Based on the protocol stack, the UPF or the terminal device may add or remove a specific packet header in the data packet, the packet header may include the sequence of the data packet, and so on, and when the terminal device or the UPF receives the data packet, the packet reassembly function may be performed according to the information of the packet header.
In this embodiment of the present application, the SMF may select a offloading network element for the PDU session, where the offloading network element is a device for offloading data streams of the PDU session, the offloading network element may also be referred to as an offloading function device, and the offloading network element may also have other names, which is not limited specifically. The offloading network element may determine a corresponding data route for the data stream according to the data stream characteristic information. The data flow characteristic information is used to identify characteristics of the data flow, and may include, for example, a triplet (including a destination IP address, a destination port number, and a protocol type), or a quintet (including a destination IP address, a destination port number, a source IP address, a source port number, and a protocol type), or an application identifier (including all or part of Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information, such as a host name, for example). The PDU session described above may be established through a 3GPP access technology or a non-3GPP access technology.
Fig. 1e is a schematic diagram of a network architecture after a offload network element is inserted into a PDU session. Wherein, the UPF1 is a UPF corresponding to the PDU session, i.e. a UPF before the shunting network element is inserted; the UPF2 is a UPF introduced after the forking network element is inserted, and the UPF2 may be a single clan or may be in the same physical device as the UL CL clan, which is not limited specifically. For the uplink data stream, when the uplink data stream reaches the offloading network element, the offloading network element matches the uplink data stream according to the offloading policy, and sends the uplink data stream to different UPFs (UPF1 and UPF 2). For the downlink data stream, the shunting network element converges the downlink data stream and then sends the converged downlink data stream to the terminal equipment. In a possible implementation manner, the specific form of the offloading network element is not limited, and may be UL CL, and the UL CL may specifically be a UPF.
Based on the above description, the embodiments of the present application will mainly study the architecture of the MA-PDU session and the processing manner of each function after the offload network element is inserted into the MA-PDU session.
Fig. 1f is a schematic diagram of a possible logical architecture of data transmission after a offload network element is inserted in an MA-PDU session. In this logical architecture, the UPF of a MA-PDU session before the offload network element is inserted is referred to as a first UPF in this architecture diagram, and the anchor point device for a PDU session after the offload network element is inserted for processing local (local) data flows is referred to as a second UPF. Based on the architecture in fig. 1c, after the offloading network element is inserted, two data transmission channels may be established between the first UPF and the offloading network element, or, two N9 interfaces may be established, and there are N3 interfaces between the offloading network element and the access network function device (such as a 3GPP access network function device and a Non-3GPP access network function device), for convenience of description, the two data transmission channels between the first UPF and the offloading network element are referred to as a first N9 data transmission channel and a second N9 data transmission channel, and the data transmission channels between the offloading network element and the access network device are referred to as a first N3 data transmission channel and a second N3 data transmission channel. For a downlink data stream, after receiving a data stream from a data network, a first UPF determines a data transmission channel (a first N9 data transmission channel or a second N9 data transmission channel) of the data stream according to information such as a data stream processing rule, and sends the data stream to a offloading network element; the offload network element determines that the data stream is sent to the terminal device through the first N3 data transmission channel or the second N3 data transmission channel, and specifically, may determine according to a correspondence between the N9 data transmission channel and the N3 data transmission channel, for example, in a process of establishing the data transmission channel, a correspondence between the N9 data transmission channel and the N3 data transmission channel is established, and if the first N9 data transmission channel corresponds to the first N3 data transmission channel, a data packet received from the first N9 data transmission channel is sent to the access network device through the first N3 data transmission channel, and then the data packet is sent to the terminal device through the access network device.
However, this approach can result in a complex system network, such as: in order for the locally offloaded data streams to also perform a handover between access technologies, the second UPF also establishes two N9 data transmission channels with the offload network element, and the second UPF needs to support the same functions as the first UPF: for example, if a specific data packet header needs to be added to the data packet between the terminal device and the gateway device, the second UPF also needs to support adding/removing the data packet header. For another example, if a specific data packet header needs to be added to the data packet between the terminal device and the gateway device, for example, a specific protocol stack is installed, then the offloading network element also needs to support the protocol stack so as to be able to obtain the application layer data packet and further determine whether to perform offloading. Therefore, the processing method increases the processing load of each network device in the system and has high complexity.
Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for processing a data transmission channel, which is used to implement a processing mode of the data transmission channel when a offload network element is inserted into an MA-PDU session, and a processing of a network function device after the offload function device is inserted.
Example one
Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a processing method of a data transmission channel according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the processing method includes:
step 201, the SMF establishes an MA-PDU session for the terminal device, where the MA-PDU session corresponds to the first UPF. The data transmission channel of the MA-PDU session includes a data transmission channel (i.e. a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology or a first data transmission channel) for transmitting a data stream through a 3GPP access network device and a data transmission channel (i.e. a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology or a second data transmission channel) for transmitting a data stream through a non-3GPP access network device. Specifically, for downlink data, the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel includes active tunnel information (first tunnel information of the first UPF) and destination tunnel information (tunnel information of the 3GPP access network device). The tunnel information of the second data transmission channel may include end point information of the second data transmission channel, and specifically, for downlink data, the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel includes active tunnel information (second tunnel information of the first UPF) and destination tunnel information (tunnel information of the non-3GPP access network device).
In the embodiment of the present application, a specific implementation process of the SMF establishing the MA-PDU session for the terminal device may refer to the prior art, and details are not described here.
In step 202, the SMF selects a offload network element for the MA-PDU session.
Here, there are various methods for the SMF to select the offload network element for the MA-PDU session, for example, the SMF may select an offload network element for the MA-PDU session according to the location information of the terminal device. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific method for selecting the offload network element by the SMF.
In step 203, the SMF establishes a data transmission channel between the offload network element and the first UPF for the terminal device.
Here, the SMF may obtain the tunnel information of the first UPF and the tunnel information of the offloading network element, respectively, and send the tunnel information of the first UPF to the offloading network element, and send the tunnel information of the offloading network element to the first UPF, so that a data transmission channel is established between the offloading network element and the first UPF.
In a specific implementation, as an implementation manner, the SMF establishing, for the terminal device, a data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF may refer to that the SMF updates the first data transmission channel or the second data transmission channel as the N9 data transmission channel. Taking the update of the first data transmission channel as the N9 data transmission channel as an example, for the first UPF, the SMF may notify the first UPF to update the first data transmission channel, so that for the downlink data, the first UPF may update the destination tunnel information in the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel to the tunnel information of the offloading network element, for the offloading network element, the SMF may notify the offloading network element to establish the N9 data transmission channel, so that for the uplink data, the offloading network element may set the destination tunnel information in the tunnel information of the data transmission channel as the tunnel information of the first UPF; and further, the establishment of the N9 data transmission channel between the first UPF and the shunting network element is completed. That is, the first UPF receives the data packet from the DN, and may send the data packet to the offload network element through the N9 data transmission channel, and the offload network element receives the data packet from the access network device, and may send the data packet to the first UPF through the N9 data transmission channel. As another implementation manner, the tunnel information of the first UPF acquired by the SMF may be third tunnel information, where the third tunnel information may be tunnel information of a data transmission channel established by the SMF when determining to insert the offloading network element on the first UPF side, and at this time, establishing, by the SMF, the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF for the terminal device may refer to establishing, by the SMF, a new data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF for the terminal device.
In this embodiment of the present application, the third tunnel information may be different from the first tunnel information or the second tunnel information, or the third tunnel information may be the same as the first tunnel information or the second tunnel information. The information is used for a process of establishing a data transmission channel between the first UPF and the shunting network element initiated by the SMF, instead of updating the first tunnel information and/or the second tunnel information as the process of the data transmission channel between the UPF and the shunting network element. Specifically, the third tunnel information is allocated in a step when the SMF sends a message to the first UPF when inserting the forking network element to the already established MA-PDU session.
The implementation of the above two implementations will be described in detail in the second embodiment and the third embodiment.
In step 204, the SMF selects a second UPF for the MA-PDU session.
Here, the SMF may select the UPF for the MA-PDU session in various ways, for example, the SMF may select the second UPF according to the location information of the terminal, the load information of the UPF, a Data Network Name (DNN), and other information.
In step 205, the SMF establishes a data transmission channel between the offload network element and the second UPF for the terminal device.
Here, the SMF may obtain the tunnel information of the second UPF, send the tunnel information of the second UPF to the offloading network element, and send the tunnel information of the offloading network element to the second UPF, so that a data transmission channel is established between the offloading network element and the second UPF. The SMF may send a PDU session establishment request message to the second UPF, and accordingly, the second UPF receives the PDU session establishment request message and returns a PDU session establishment response message to the SMF, where the PDU session establishment response message includes the tunnel information of the second UPF. As yet another implementation, the SMF may assign tunnel information of the second UPF to the second UPF.
It should be noted that the SMF may send the tunnel information of the first UPF and the tunnel information of the second UPF to the offloading network element through the same message.
Thus, through the steps 201 to 205, the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF and the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the second UPF are both successfully established. For the uplink data stream, when the uplink data stream reaches the offloading network element, the offloading network element may match the uplink data stream according to the offloading policy, and send the uplink data stream to the first UPF through the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF or send the uplink data stream to the second UPF through the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the second UPF; for the downlink data stream, the offloading network element may converge the downlink data stream received from the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF and the downlink data stream received from the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the second UPF, and then send the converged downlink data stream to the terminal device.
It should be noted that, in the above embodiments, each step has no strict execution order among the steps having no timing dependency relationship with each other. For example, there is no strict sequence restriction between step 203 and step 205, and it is only necessary to ensure that step 202 is executed before step 203. Other steps without timing limitation may be executed according to actual conditions, and are not illustrated one by one.
Example two
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing method of a data transmission channel according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 3, the method includes the following steps:
step 301 to step 302, which are the same as step 201 to step 202 of the embodiment shown in fig. 2, can refer to the above description.
The SMF selects a second UPF and sends a PDU session setup request message to the second UPF, step 303. Optionally, the PDU session setup request message may include tunnel information of the second UPF, for example, the tunnel information of the second UPF may be allocated by the SMF.
Step 304, the second UPF sends a PDU session setup response message to the SMF. Optionally, the PDU session setup response message may include the tunnel information of the second UPF, for example, the tunnel information of the second UPF may be allocated by the second UPF.
As can be seen from the above steps 303 and 304, the tunnel information of the second UPF may be allocated by the SMF and sent to the second UPF through a PDU session setup request message, or the tunnel information of the second UPF may also be allocated by the second UPF and sent to the SMF through a PDU session response message.
The above-mentioned steps 303 and 304 correspond to the steps 204 and 205 of the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and may be referred to each other.
It should be noted that the message names (e.g., the PDU session establishment request message and the PDU session establishment response message) referred to in the embodiments of the present application are all exemplary names, and in other embodiments, the message names may also be other names, and the specific names of the messages are not limited in the present application.
Step 305, the SMF sends a PDU session establishment request message to the offload network element, where the PDU session establishment request message includes the tunnel information of the first UPF. The PDU session setup request message may be used to request the offload network element to establish a data transmission channel with the first UPF, which may be referred to as an N9 data transmission channel for descriptive convenience. Accordingly, the offload network element may receive the PDU session setup request message. The PDU session setup request message may include tunnel information of the offload network element, for example, the tunnel information of the offload network element that is responsible for being allocated by the SMF. If the SMF acquires the tunnel information of the second UPF, the tunnel information of the second UPF may also be included in the message.
Here, as one implementation, the SMF may select the first tunnel information or the second tunnel information as the tunnel information of the N9 data transmission channel at the first UPF. In this way, for the uplink data, the offloading network element uses the first tunnel information or the second tunnel information as the target tunnel information of the N9 data transmission channel, and sends the data packet to the first UPF through the N9 data transmission channel.
Step 306, the shunting network element returns a PDU session establishment response message to the SMF. Optionally, the PDU session setup response message may include tunnel information of the offload network element, for example, the tunnel information of the offload network element may be allocated by the offload network element.
Step 307, the SMF sends a modify session request message to the first UPF, where the modify session request message includes the tunnel information of the offload network element, and the modify session request message is used to request the first UPF to establish an N9 data transmission channel with the offload network element.
One possible implementation is: the modification session request message may further include indication information e (i.e. sixth indication information), where the indication information e is used to indicate the data transmission channel described in the first UPF updating step 201 as the N9 data transmission channel, and in an example, the indication information e may be identification information of the data transmission channel, and the identification information of the data transmission channel is used to identify the data transmission channel; in yet another example, the indication information e may be an access technology type, such as a 3GPP access technology and/or a non-3GPP access technology. If the indication information e is an access technology type, the access technology type is consistent with the access technology type of the data transmission channel in step 201. Accordingly, the first UPF may receive the session modification request message, and update the data transmission channel between the first UPF and the offloading network element to be the N9 data transmission channel according to the tunnel information of the offloading network element and the indication information e. For example, if the indication information e is a 3GPP access technology, the first UPF updates the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel, that is, for the downlink data, the first UPF updates the tunnel information of the 3GPP access network device in the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel to the tunnel information of the offload network element, and the updated first data transmission channel is an N9 data transmission channel (for convenience of description, it may be referred to as a first N9 data transmission channel). For another example, if the indication information e is a non-3GPP access technology, the first UPF updates the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel, that is, for the downlink data, the first UPF updates the tunnel information of the non-3GPP access network device in the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel to the tunnel information of the offload network element, and the updated second data transmission channel is an N9 data transmission channel (for convenience of description, it may be referred to as a second N9 data transmission channel). For another example, if the indication information e is a 3GPP access technology and a non-3GPP access technology, the first UPF updates the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel and the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel, and in this case, the first UPF updates the tunnel information of the access network device in both the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel and the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel to the tunnel information of the offload network element.
In yet another example, the indication information e in step 307 may also be tunnel information of the data transmission channel, such as tunnel information on the first UPF side (i.e. first tunnel information) in the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel and/or tunnel information on the first UPF side (i.e. second tunnel information) in the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel. Accordingly, after the first UPF receives the indication information e, the corresponding data transmission channel may be updated to the N9 data transmission channel, for example, the tunnel endpoint information of the access network side of the first data transmission channel or the second data transmission channel corresponding to the first tunnel information is updated to the shunting network element tunnel information.
Another possible implementation: after the first UPF network element obtains the tunnel information of the offloading network element, the updated data transmission channel (the first data transmission channel and/or the second data transmission channel) may also be selected. If the first UPF selects to update the first data transmission channel, updating the tunnel information of the 3GPP access network equipment in the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel into the tunnel information of the shunting network element; or if the first UPF selects to update the second data transmission channel, updating the tunnel information of the non-3GPP access network equipment in the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel into the tunnel information of the shunting network element; or, if the first UPF selects to update the first data transmission channel and the second data transmission channel, the tunnel information of the access network device in the tunnel information of the first data transmission channel and the tunnel information of the second data transmission channel may be updated to the tunnel information of the offload network element.
Another possible implementation: the SMF may send a data forwarding policy to the first UPF, where the data forwarding policy may include data flow characteristic information and source tunnel information and/or destination tunnel information of a data transmission channel that transmits the data flow. And the first UPF network element selects and updates a data transmission channel (a first data transmission channel or a second data transmission channel) according to the data forwarding strategy. The data characteristic information may be information indicating all data streams, and is in a specific form, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.
At step 308, the first UPF returns a modify session response message to the SMF.
Thus, through the above steps, the SMF establishes an N9 data transmission channel between the first UPF and the offloading network element for the terminal device. Further, the SMF may instruct the first UPF to route the downstream data flow to an N9 data transmission channel between the first UPF and the offload network element. Two possible implementations are described in detail below.
Implementation manner one includes step 309.
In step 309, the SMF instructs the first UPF to delete the first tunnel information or the second tunnel information.
Here, if the SMF selects the first tunnel information as the tunnel information of the N9 data transmission channel, the SMF may send first indication information to the first UPF, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first UPF to delete the second tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology device side; accordingly, after receiving the first indication information, the first UPF may delete the second tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology device side. At this time, the logical structure of the data transmission is shown in fig. 5 a. Or, if the SMF selects the second tunnel information as the tunnel information of the N9 data transmission channel, the SMF may send second indication information to the first UPF, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete the first tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side; accordingly, after receiving the second indication information, the first UPF may delete the first tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side. At this time, the logical structure of the data transmission is shown in fig. 5 b.
As can be seen from fig. 5a and 5b, only one N9 data transmission channel exists between the offloading network element and the first UPF, and then after receiving the downlink data stream, the first UPF can route all the downlink data streams to the N9 data transmission channel, and further send the downlink data stream to the offloading network element.
In an example of the foregoing implementation manner, the first indication information or the second indication information may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, and the message may be a delete session request message or another name, which is not limited specifically. In this case, the first indication information or the second indication information is data transmission channel information used for identifying deletion, and may include at least one of first tunnel information in tunnel information of the first data transmission channel, second tunnel information in tunnel information of the second data transmission channel, tunnel information on an access network device side (3GPP access network device, non-3GPP access network device), and access technology type information, for example, the first indication information may include the second tunnel information, and the second indication information may include the first tunnel information; or the first indication information or the second indication information may include an access technology type corresponding to the tunnel information that needs to be deleted, for example, the first indication information may include a non-3GPP access technology type, and the second indication information may include a 3GPP access technology type; still alternatively, the first indication information or the second indication information may include an identifier of a data transmission channel corresponding to the tunnel information (the first tunnel information or the second tunnel information) that needs to be deleted. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content included in the first indication information and the second indication information.
In another example of the foregoing implementation, the first indication information may be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the first indication information may be included in the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in step 307.
Implementation two, includes step 310.
In step 310, the SMF sends a data forwarding policy to the first UPF, where the data forwarding policy is used to indicate forwarding tunnel information of the downlink data stream. The data forwarding policy may include data flow characteristic information, and source tunnel information and/or destination tunnel information of a data transmission channel transmitting the data flow. The data stream characteristic information may be information indicating the entire data stream.
Here, if the SMF selects the first tunnel information as the tunnel information of the N9 data transmission channel in step 305, in one example, the data forwarding policy may include data flow characteristic information, the first tunnel information (source tunnel information), and tunnel information (destination tunnel information) of the offload network element; thus, for the downlink data stream, the first UPF may set, according to the data forwarding policy, the source tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the first tunnel information, and set the destination tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the tunnel information of the offloading network element (i.e., transmit the data stream through the first N9 data transmission channel), and further send the data stream to the offloading network element, where a logical architecture of the data transmission is shown in fig. 5 c. If the SMF selects the second tunnel information as the tunnel information of the N9 data transmission channel in step 305, in an example, the data forwarding policy may include data flow characteristic information, the second tunnel information (source tunnel information), and tunnel information (destination tunnel information) of the offload network element; thus, for the downlink data stream, the first UPF may set, according to the data forwarding policy, the source tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the second tunnel information, and set the destination tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the tunnel information of the offloading network element (i.e., transmit the data stream through the second N9 data transmission channel), and further send the data stream to the offloading network element, where a logical architecture of data transmission is shown in fig. 5 d.
As can be seen from fig. 5c and 5d, two N9 data transmission channels still exist between the offloading network element and the first UPF, but after receiving the downstream data stream, the first UPF sends the data stream to the offloading network element by using only one of the N9 data transmission channels, even though the data transmission is performed by using the N9 data transmission channel illustrated by the solid line in fig. 5c and 5d, and the N9 data transmission channel illustrated by the dotted line does not participate in the data transmission.
For the second implementation manner, it can be understood that if the implementation manner adopted in the step 307 is that the first UPF selects to update the data transmission channel according to the data forwarding policy, the step 310 may not be repeatedly executed.
In the above steps, the steps having no timing dependency do not have a strict execution order. For example, there is no strict sequence restriction between any one of step 303 and step 304 and any one of step 306, step 307, and step 308, and it is only necessary to ensure that step 303 is executed before step 304. Other steps without timing limitation may be executed according to actual conditions, and are not illustrated one by one. Each of steps 301 to 310 does not need to be executed, and in a specific implementation, some of the steps may be selectively executed according to actual needs, for example, step 301 to step 309 may be executed without executing step 310, or step 301 to step 308 and step 310 may be executed without executing step 309, which is not limited specifically.
EXAMPLE III
Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing method of a data transmission channel according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 4, the method includes the following steps:
steps 401 to 404, which are the same as steps 301 to 304 of the embodiment shown in fig. 3, can refer to the above description.
In step 405, the SMF sends a PDU session setup request message to the first UPF. Optionally, the PDU session setup request message may include tunnel information of the first UPF, where the tunnel information of the first UPF may be third tunnel information. The third tunnel information may be allocated by the SMF, and accordingly, the first UPF may receive the PDU session setup request message and acquire the third tunnel information.
In step 406, the first UPF returns a PDU session setup response message to the SMF. Optionally, the PDU session setup response message may include third tunnel information, where the third tunnel information may be allocated by the first UPF, and accordingly, the SMF may receive the PDU session setup response message and obtain the third tunnel information.
As can be seen from the above steps 405 and 406, the third tunnel information may be allocated by the SMF and sent to the first UPF through a PDU session setup request message, or the third tunnel information may also be allocated by the first UPF and sent to the SMF through a PDU session response message.
Step 407, the SMF sends a PDU session establishment request message to the offload network element, where the PDU session establishment request message may include the third tunnel information; the PDU session establishment request message is used to request the offload network element to establish a data transmission channel with the first UPF, and for convenience of description, may be referred to as a third N9 data transmission channel. Accordingly, the forking network element may receive the PDU session request message, and establish a new data transmission channel (third N9 data transmission channel) with the first UPF according to the third tunnel information. In this way, for the uplink data, the offloading network element may use the third tunnel information as destination tunnel information of the third N9 data transmission channel, and send the data packet to the first UPF through the third N9 data transmission channel.
Optionally, the PDU session setup request message may include tunnel information of the offload network element, for example, the tunnel information of the offload network element that is responsible for being allocated by the SMF. If the SMF acquires the tunnel information of the second UPF, the tunnel information of the second UPF may also be included in the message.
In step 408, the offload network element returns a PDU session setup response message to the SMF. Optionally, the PDU session setup response message may include tunnel information of the offload network element, for example, the tunnel information of the offload network element may be allocated by the offload network element.
In step 409, the SMF sends a session modification request message to the first UPF, where the session modification request message includes the tunnel information of the offload network element. The modified session request message is used to request the first UPF to establish a third N9 data transmission channel between the offloading network elements. The modify session request message may further include third tunnel information. Accordingly, the first UPF may receive the modify session request message, and establish a third N9 data transmission channel between the first UPF and the offload network element according to the tunnel information of the offload network element and the third tunnel information.
The first UPF returns a modify session response message to the SMF, step 410.
Thus, through the above steps, the SMF establishes a third N9 data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first UPF for the terminal device. Further, the SMF may instruct the first UPF to send the downlink data stream to the offloading network element through the third N9 data transmission channel, which is described in detail below with respect to two possible implementations.
Implementation manner one includes step 411.
In step 411, the SMF instructs the first UPF to delete the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information.
In a specific implementation, the SMF may send the first indication information and the second indication information to the first UPF, and accordingly, the first UPF may delete the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information according to the first indication information and the second indication information.
As an implementation manner, the first indication information or the second indication information may be identification information of a data transmission channel (a first data transmission channel or a second data transmission channel), or may also be an access technology type, or may also be at least one of tunnel information on a first UPF side and tunnel information on an access network device side in tunnel information of the first data transmission channel or tunnel information of the second data transmission channel. The first UPF determines the tunnel information of the data transmission channel needing to be deleted according to the first indication information or the second indication information, if the SMF sends the first indication information to the first UPF, the SMF indicates to delete the second tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology equipment side, and correspondingly, after receiving the first indication information, the first UPF can delete the second tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology equipment side; if the SMF sends the second indication information to the first UPF, the SMF indicates to delete the first tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission path of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side, and accordingly, after the first UPF receives the second indication information, the SMF may delete the first tunnel information and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission path of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side. In this implementation, the SMF may instruct the first UPF to delete the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information respectively through different indication information (i.e., the first indication information and the second indication information). The first indication information and the second indication information may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the first indication information is included in a first message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, and the second indication information is included in a second message sent by the SMF to the second UPF. Alternatively, the first indication information and the second indication information may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, where the message may be a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or a PDU session release context message, and the like, and the specific message is not limited.
In an example of the foregoing implementation, the first indication information may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, such as a delete PDU session request message a, and accordingly, the first UPF may receive the delete PDU session request message a, may delete the first tunnel information, and return a delete PDU session response message a to the SMF; the second indication information may also be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, such as a delete PDU session request message b, and accordingly, the first UPF may receive the delete PDU session request message b, may delete the second tunnel information, and return a delete PDU session response message b to the SMF. That is, the SMF may send two PDU deletion session request messages to the first UPF to instruct the first UPF to delete the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information, respectively.
As another implementation, the SMF may instruct the first UPF to delete the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information through an indication information, which may be an indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the indication information may be included in the modify session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in step 409. In this case, the first indication information and the second indication information may be the same, that is, the second indication information may be regarded as the first indication information.
Here, after the first UPF deletes the first tunnel information and the second tunnel information, the logical architecture of data transmission may be as shown in fig. 5f, only a third N9 data transmission channel exists between the offloading network element and the first UPF, and further, after receiving the downlink data stream, the first UPF may route all the downlink data stream to the third N9 data transmission channel, and further send the downlink data stream to the offloading network element.
Implementation two, step 412 is included.
In step 412, the SMF sends a data forwarding policy to the first UPF, where the data forwarding policy is used to indicate that all forwarding tunnel information of the downlink data stream is set as third tunnel information. Specifically, the data forwarding policy may include data flow characteristic information, and source tunnel information (third tunnel information) and/or destination tunnel information (tunnel information of the offload network element) of a data transmission channel for transmitting the data flow. The data stream characteristic information may be information characterizing the data stream. The data stream characteristic information may also be information for identifying the entire data stream, and how to express the information is not limited. Thus, for the downlink data stream, the first UPF may set, according to the data forwarding policy, the source tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the third tunnel information, and/or set the destination tunnel information of the data transmission channel for transmitting the data stream as the tunnel information of the offloading network element (i.e., transmit the data stream through the third N9 data transmission channel), and further send the data stream to the offloading network element. At this time, as shown in fig. 5e, a logical architecture of data transmission is that there are 3 data transmission channels between the offloading network element and the first UPF, but after receiving the downstream data stream, the first UPF sends the data stream to the offloading network element only using the third N9 data transmission channel, that is, the data transmission channel indicated by the solid line in fig. 5e is used for data transmission, and the data transmission channel indicated by the dotted line does not participate in data transmission.
It should be noted that the above-described steps 401 to 412 are only an exemplary execution flow, and each of the steps 401 to 412 is not necessarily required to be executed, and in a specific implementation, some of the steps may be selectively executed according to actual needs, for example, the steps 401 to 411 may be executed without executing the step 412, or the steps 401 to 410 and the step 412 may also be executed without executing the step 411, which is not particularly limited. Further, steps from step 401 to step 412 that have no timing dependency relationship with each other do not have a strict execution order, and are not limited specifically.
With respect to fig. 5c, fig. 5d, and fig. 5e described in the second embodiment and the third embodiment, that is, the first UPF does not delete the first tunnel information and/or the second tunnel information, it should be noted that: the SMF may store the first tunnel information and/or the second tunnel information in the terminal session context information. In this way, after removing the offloading network element, the SMF may notify the 3GPP access network element and/or the N3IWF of the stored first tunnel information and/or second tunnel information, respectively. In this way, after removing the offloading network element, the SMF does not need to allocate tunnel information different from the first tunnel information and/or the second tunnel information to the 3GPP access network element and/or the N3IWF again. The embodiment of the present application is not limited to a specific implementation method, for example, the SMF marks the stored first tunnel information and/or second tunnel information, so that the SMF uses the marked first tunnel information and/or second tunnel information as the tunnel information after the N3 data transmission is resumed without reallocation.
Example four
As can be seen from the above description of fig. 1d, in an MA-PDU session, a UPF (i.e., a first UPF) corresponding to the MA-PDU session performs functions such as path performance measurement and data packet encapsulation, so that after the offload network element is inserted, the embodiments of the present application describe processing of each network function device after the MA-PDU session is inserted into the offload network element.
Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of data processing for an MA-PDU session, as shown in fig. 6, including:
step 601, the SMF sends indication information a1 to the first UPF, wherein the indication information a1 is used for indicating the first UPF to stop executing the path performance measurement; accordingly, the first UPF, having received the indication information a1, may stop performing the path performance measurement. That is, the first UPF does not perform path performance measurements after the offload network element is inserted.
One possible implementation: the indication information a1 may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the indication information a1 may also be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, a modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 307 or a modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 409, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for establishing a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for deleting a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session deletion request message).
Another possible implementation: in an implementation, the SMF may send, to the first UPF, third indication information for indicating that the first UPF deletes the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or, for indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, the data flow processing rule indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the MA-PDU session may be considered as indicating that the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session fails. Accordingly, the first UPF stops performing the path performance measurement after deleting the data flow processing rule. The third indication information may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the third indication information may also be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the third indication information may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 409, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to establish a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to delete a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session deletion request message). In one example, the third indication information may be indication information a 1.
Another possible implementation: the first UPF stops performing the path performance measurement after stopping performing the data packet encapsulation and/or stopping the data flow processing, and in this implementation, the indication information a1 may be considered as implicit, or the indication information b1 or the indication information c1 may be considered as the indication information a 1.
Step 602, the SMF may send indication information a2 to the offloading network element, where the indication information a2 is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement; accordingly, the offloading network element receives the indication information a2 and may perform the path performance measurement. That is, the path performance measurement may be performed by the offload network element after the offload network element is inserted. That is, after the offload network element is inserted, path performance measurements are performed by the offload network element.
One possible implementation: the indication information a2 may be a message sent by the SMF to the offload network element, or the indication information a2 may be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the offload network element, for example, may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the offload network element in each of the above embodiments (e.g., a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the offload network element in embodiment two step 305 or a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the offload network element in embodiment three step 407).
Another possible implementation: the SMF notifies the offload element of installing a data stream processing rule (e.g., an sss rule), and accordingly, after the offload element installs the data stream processing rule, the offload element performs the path performance measurement.
Another possible implementation: the offloading network element performs path performance measurement after performing packet encapsulation and/or performing data stream processing, in this implementation, the indication information a2 may be considered as implicit, or the indication information b2 or the indication information c2 may be considered as the indication information a 2.
Thus, through the above steps 601 and 602, the path performance measurement function (corresponding to function 2 in fig. 1 d) performed by the first UPF can be transferred to the offload network element inserted in the MA-PDU session for execution. It should be noted that, step 601 and step 602 are not limited to be executed, that is, step 602 may be executed separately, for example, if the SMF decides to insert the offload function device during the PDU session establishment process, step 602 may be executed.
Step 603, the SMF sends an indication message b1 to the first UPF, where the indication message b1 is used to indicate that the first UPF stops performing packet encapsulation; accordingly, the first UPF receives the indication information b1, and may stop performing the packet encapsulation. That is, after the offload network element is inserted, the packet encapsulation may no longer be performed by the first UPF.
One possible implementation: the indication information b1 may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the indication information b1 may be an indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment two-step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment three-step 409), or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for establishing a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, for example, an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for deleting a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, for example, an N4 session deletion request message).
Another possible implementation: in an implementation, the SMF may send, to the first UPF, third indication information for indicating that the first UPF deletes the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or, for indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, the data flow processing rule indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the MA-PDU session may be considered as indicating that the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session fails. Accordingly, the first UPF stops performing the data packet encapsulation after deleting the data stream processing rule. The third indication information may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the third indication information may also be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the third indication information may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 409, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to establish a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to delete a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session deletion request message). In one example, the third indication information may be indication information b 1.
Another possible implementation: the first UPF stops performing the data packet encapsulation after stopping performing the path performance measurement and/or stopping the data flow processing, and in this implementation, the indication information b1 may be regarded as implicit, or the indication information a1 or the indication information c1 may be regarded as the indication information b 1.
In step 604, the SMF may send an indication message b2 to the offload network element, where the indication message b2 is used to indicate the offload network element to perform packet encapsulation; accordingly, the offload network element receives the indication information b2 and can perform packet encapsulation. That is, after the offload network element is inserted, the offload network element may perform packet encapsulation.
One possible implementation: the indication information b2 may be a message sent by the SMF to the offloading network element, or the indication information b2 may be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the offloading network element, and for example, may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the offloading network element in each of the above embodiments (e.g., a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the offloading network element in embodiment two step 305 or a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the offloading network element in embodiment three step 407).
Another possible implementation: the SMF notifies the offload element of installing a data stream processing rule (such as an sss rule), and accordingly, after the offload element installs the data stream processing rule, performs packet encapsulation. Specifically, the SMF notifying the offload network element of installing the data flow processing rule may be that the SMF sends the data flow processing rule to the offload network element.
Another possible implementation: in this implementation, the indication information b2 may be considered as implicit, or the indication information a2 or the indication information c2 may be considered as the indication information b2, when the offloading network element performs the path performance measurement and/or performs the data flow processing to perform the data packet encapsulation.
Thus, through the above steps 603 and 604, the data packet encapsulation function (corresponding to function 3 in fig. 1 d) performed by the first UPF can be transferred to the forking network element inserted in the MA-PDU session for execution.
It should be noted that, step 603 and step 604 are not limited to be executed, that is, step 604 may be executed separately, for example, if the SMF decides to insert the offload function device during the PDU session establishment process, step 604 may be executed.
Step 605, the SMF sends indication information c1 to the first UPF, where the indication information c1 is used to indicate that the first UPF stops executing data stream processing; accordingly, the first UPF receives the indication information c1, and may stop performing the data stream processing. That is, after the offload network element is inserted, the data stream processing may no longer be performed by the first UPF. The data stream processing may include data stream steering, switching, and splitting, and is not limited specifically.
One possible implementation: the indication information c1 may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the indication information c1 may be an indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment two-step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment three-step 409), or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for establishing a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, for example, an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for deleting a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, for example, an N4 session deletion request message).
Another possible implementation: in an implementation, the SMF may send, to the first UPF, third indication information for indicating that the first UPF deletes the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or, for indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, the data flow processing rule indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the MA-PDU session may be considered as indicating that the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session fails. Accordingly, the first UPF stops the data stream processing after deleting the data stream processing rule. The third indication information may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the third indication information may also be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the third indication information may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 409, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to establish a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to delete a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session deletion request message). In one example, the third indication information may be indication information c 1.
Another possible implementation: the first UPF stops performing data stream processing after stopping performing path performance measurement and/or stopping packet encapsulation, and in this implementation, the indication information c1 may be regarded as implicit, or the indication information a1 or the indication information b1 may be regarded as the indication information c 1.
Step 606, the SMF may send an indication information c2 to the offloading network element, where the indication information c2 is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform data stream processing; accordingly, the offloading network element receives the indication information c2 and may perform data stream processing. That is, after the offloading network element is inserted, the data stream processing may be performed by the offloading network element.
One possible implementation: the indication information c2 may be a message sent by the SMF to the offload network element, or the indication information c2 may be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the offload network element, and for example, may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the offload network element in each of the above embodiments (e.g., a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the offload network element in embodiment two step 305 or a PDU session establishment request message sent by the SMF to the offload network element in embodiment three step 407).
Another possible implementation: the SMF notifies the offload element of installing the data stream processing rule (such as the ATSSS rules), and accordingly, the offload element executes data stream processing after installing the data stream processing rule.
Another possible implementation: in this implementation, the indication information c2 may be considered as implicit, or the indication information a2 or the indication information b2 may be considered as the indication information c2, where the offloading network element performs data flow processing after performing path performance measurement and/or performing packet encapsulation.
Thus, through the above steps 605 and 606, the data flow processing function (corresponding to function 1 in fig. 1 d) performed by the first UPF can be transferred to the forking network element inserted in the MA-PDU session for execution.
It should be noted that, step 605 and step 606 are not limited to be executed, that is, step 606 may be executed separately, for example, if the SMF decides to insert the offload function device during the PDU session establishment process, step 606 may be executed.
With respect to the above steps 601 to 606, it may also be understood that the SMF may send fourth indication information to the first UPF, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first UPF to stop performing the path performance measurement and/or stop performing the packet encapsulation and/or stop the data flow processing, and the fourth indication information may be a general name of the above indication information a1, the indication information b1, and the indication information c 1. And/or the SMF may also send fifth indication information to the offloading network element, where the fifth indication information is used to instruct the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing, and the fifth indication information may be a general name of the indication information a2, the indication information b2, and the indication information c 2.
In step 607, the SMF obtains the data processing status of the MA-PDU session from the first UPF. The data processing status is used to indicate the processing status of the data stream (or the data packet), such as the current data transmission channel of the data packet, or the ordering order of the data packet.
Here, as an implementation manner, the SMF may send, to the first UPF, indication information d, where the indication information d is used to indicate that the first UPF sends the data processing status of the MA-PDU session to the SMF; accordingly, the first UPF receives the indication information d, and may send the data processing status of the MA-PDU session to the SMF. Thus, the SMF acquires the data processing state of the MA-PDU session.
One possible implementation: the indication information d may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the indication information d is an indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 409, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for establishing a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF for deleting a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session deletion request message).
Another possible implementation: in an implementation, the SMF may send, to the first UPF, third indication information for indicating that the first UPF deletes the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or, for indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session, the data flow processing rule indicating that the first UPF does not enable (disable) the MA-PDU session may be considered as indicating that the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session fails. Correspondingly, after deleting the data flow processing rule, the first UPF sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the SMF. The third indication information may be a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, or the third indication information may also be indication information in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF, for example, the third indication information may be included in a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in each of the above embodiments (for example, the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 307 or the modified session request message sent by the SMF to the first UPF in embodiment step 409, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to establish a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session establishment request message, or a message sent by the SMF to the first UPF to delete a data channel between the first UPF and the offload network element, such as an N4 session deletion request message). In one example, the third indication information may be indication information d.
Another possible implementation: the first UPF may send the data processing status of the MA-PDU session to the SMF after any one of stopping performing the path performance measurement, stopping performing the packet encapsulation, and stopping the data flow processing. In this implementation, the information d sent by the SMF to the first UPF is implicit, or in other words, the indication information a1 and/or the indication information b1 and/or the indication information c1 may be regarded as the indication information d.
Step 608, the SMF sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the offload network element; correspondingly, the shunting network element receives the data processing state and processes the data stream according to the data processing state.
Thus, through the above steps 607 and 608, the data stream distribution function performed by the first UPF can be transferred to the forking network element inserted in the MA-PDU session for execution.
As can be seen from the above description of fig. 1d, the data processing status is determined by the first UPF according to the transmission performance of the data transmission channel and the data stream processing rule. By adopting the manners described in step 607 and step 608, when the offloading network element is inserted, the data processing state can be sent to the offloading network element in time through the SMF, so that the offloading network element can immediately route the data stream according to the data processing state.
In this embodiment of the present application, after performing the path performance detection, the first UPF may send the transmission performance of the data transmission channel to the SMF, and thus, a possible alternative manner of the above steps 607 and 608 is that the SMF sends the transmission performance of the data transmission channel and the data stream processing rule to the offloading network element, and then the offloading network element determines the data processing state according to the transmission performance of the data transmission channel and the data stream processing rule. By adopting the alternative mode, the first UPF is required to send the transmission performance of the data transmission channel to the SMF in time, and if the first UPF can send the transmission performance of the data transmission channel to the SMF according to the set period, the transmission performance of the data transmission channel sent by the SMF to the shunting network element may be failed, so that the data processing state determined by the shunting network element is inaccurate.
That is, if the first UPF sends the transmission performance of the data transmission channel obtained by performing the path probing to the SMF in real time, the manners described in 607 and step 608 or the above alternative manners may be adopted. If the first UPF sends the transmission performance of the data transmission channel to the SMF according to a set period (or other non-real-time manner), the manners described in 607 and 608 may be adopted in order to ensure the accuracy of the data processing status.
The steps 601 to 608 described above are only an exemplary execution flow, and there is no strict execution sequence between the steps having no timing dependency relationship. In steps 601 to 608, steps 601 and 602 relate to processing of a path performance measurement function, steps 603 and 604 relate to processing of a packet encapsulation function, and steps 605 and 606 relate to processing of a data stream processing function. In a specific implementation, the steps 601 to 608 may be selectively performed according to actual needs.
With respect to the first to fourth embodiments, it should be noted that the first to fourth embodiments are mainly directed to determining that data streams of an MA-PDU session need to be offloaded after an SMF establishes the MA-PDU session for a terminal device, and describing a processing procedure of inserting an offload network element in the MA-PDU session. In other possible scenarios, the SMF may also determine that data streams of the PDU session of the terminal device need to be offloaded during the process of establishing the PDU session for the terminal device (the PDU session supports the 3GPP access technology and the non-3GPP access technology), and then may insert an offload network element in the PDU session before transmitting the data streams of the PDU session. In this case, the SMF may send indication information g (i.e. seventh indication information) to the offloading network element, where the indication information g is used to instruct the offloading network element to perform at least one of data stream processing, path performance measurement, or data packet encapsulation, where the data stream processing includes: correspondingly, the offloading network element receives the indication information g, and then in the process of transmitting the data stream of the PDU session, the offloading network element may perform at least one of data stream processing, path performance measurement, or data packet encapsulation according to the indication information g. In one example, the indication information g may be ATSSS rules.
That is, in this case, since the data stream of the PDU session is not transmitted when the offload network element is inserted, the SMF may not need to perform part of the steps in the fourth embodiment, for example, the SMF may not need to instruct the first user plane network element to stop performing the path performance measurement and/or stop performing the packet encapsulation and/or stop processing the data stream. In addition, other related matters can be implemented by referring to the first embodiment, the second embodiment, the third embodiment or the fourth embodiment, and are not limited specifically.
The above-mentioned scheme provided by the present application is mainly introduced from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is to be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the above network elements include corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for executing the functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software, with the exemplary elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.
In case of an integrated unit, fig. 7 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the apparatus involved in the embodiments of the present application, which apparatus 700 may be present in the form of software. The apparatus 700 may include: a processing unit 702 and a communication unit 703. The processing unit 702 is configured to control and manage operations of the apparatus 700. The communication unit 703 is used to support communication of the apparatus 700 with other network entities. The apparatus 700 may further comprise a storage unit 701 for storing program codes and data of the apparatus 700.
The processing unit 702 may be a processor or a controller, such as a general Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof. Which may implement or perform the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure. The processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, DSPs, and microprocessors, among others. The communication unit 703 may be a communication interface, a transceiver circuit, or the like, wherein the communication interface is generally referred to, and in a specific implementation, the communication interface may include a plurality of interfaces. The memory unit 701 may be a memory.
The apparatus 700 may be a session management network element in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a chip in the session management network element. The processing unit 702 may support the apparatus 700 to perform the actions of the session management network element in each method example above, and the communication unit 703 may support communication between the apparatus 700 and a terminal device, a offload network element, and a user plane network element (e.g., a first user plane network element); for example, the processing unit 702 and/or the communication unit 703 are configured to support the apparatus 700 to perform steps 201 to 205 in fig. 2, steps 301, 302, 303, 305, 309, and 310 in fig. 3, steps 401, 402, 403, 405, 407, 409, 411, and 412 in fig. 4, and steps 601 to 608 in fig. 6.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit 703 may include a first communication subunit, where the first communication subunit is configured to support communication between the apparatus 700 and a offload network element and a user plane network element. Further, the communication unit 703 may further include a second communication subunit, where the second communication subunit is configured to support communication between the apparatus 700 and a terminal device.
Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing unit 702 is configured to: the method comprises the steps that an MA-PDU session is established for terminal equipment, the MA-PDU session comprises a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology, and the MA-PDU session corresponds to a first user plane network element; and selecting a shunting network element for the MA-PDU session, and establishing a data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or
And the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: establishing a new data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment; or updating the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session.
In one possible implementation, the communication unit is configured to:
the first user plane network element sends sixth indication information, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element updates a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology.
In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is configured to determine that tunnel information of a data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element on the first user plane network element side is third tunnel information;
the communication unit is configured to send the third tunnel information to the offloading network element.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology equipment side; and/or, the communication unit sends second indication information to the first user plane network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology equipment side; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,
the communication unit is configured to send, to the first user plane network element, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a side of the first user plane network element and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a side of a non-3GPP access technology device; and the communication unit is configured to send, to the first user plane network element, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to send a data forwarding policy to a first user plane network element, where the data forwarding policy is used to instruct the first user plane network element to set source tunnel information of a data transmission channel for transmitting a data stream as first tunnel information or second tunnel information or third tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to send third indication information to the first user plane network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or is used to indicate that the first user plane network element does not enable (disable) the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to send fourth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first user plane network element to stop performing path performance measurement and/or stop performing packet encapsulation and/or stop data stream processing; and/or sending fifth indication information to the offloading network element, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing;
wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting (split), data flow migration (switch), or data flow steering (steer).
In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is configured to obtain a data processing status of the MA-PDU session, where the data processing status is used to indicate a processing condition of a data flow or a data packet;
the communication unit is configured to send the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the offload network element.
The apparatus 700 may also be a user plane network element in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a chip in the user plane network element, where the user plane network element may be a first user plane network element.
When the apparatus is a first user plane network element, the processing unit 702 may support the apparatus 700 to perform the actions of the first user plane network element in the above method examples, and the communication unit 703 may support communication between the apparatus 700 and a terminal device, a offloading network element, and a session management network element; for example, the processing unit 702 and/or the communication unit 703 are used to enable the apparatus 700 to perform step 308 in fig. 3, step 406 in fig. 4, and step 410.
Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing unit is configured to: establishing an MA-PDU session with a terminal device, wherein the MA-PDU session comprises a transmission channel of a third generation partnership project (3 GPP) access technology and a transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology; and establishing a data transmission channel with the shunt network element of the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to:
establishing a new data transmission channel with the shunt network element of the MA-PDU session; or updating the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive sixth indication information, and the processing unit is configured to update a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology according to the sixth indication information.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive third tunnel information sent by a session management network element; and the processing unit is used for establishing a data transmission channel between the processing unit and the shunting network element of the MA-PDU conversation according to the third tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive first indication information sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to delete, according to the first indication information, second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology equipment side; and/or, the communication unit is configured to receive second indication information sent by the session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to delete, according to the second indication information, first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,
the communication unit is configured to receive first indication information sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to delete, according to the first indication information, second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on an access network device side; and the communication unit is configured to receive first indication information sent by the session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to delete, according to the first indication information, first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the access network device side.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive a data forwarding policy sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to set source tunnel information of a data transmission channel for transmitting a data stream as first tunnel information, second tunnel information, or third tunnel information according to the data forwarding policy.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive third indication information sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to delete a data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session according to the third indication information, or not enable the data flow processing rule of the MA-PDU session.
In a possible implementation manner, after the communication unit receives the third indication information, the processing unit is further configured to: stopping performing the path performance measurement and/or stopping performing the packet encapsulation and/or stopping the data flow processing; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive fourth indication information sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to stop performing path performance measurement and/or stop performing packet encapsulation and/or stop data stream processing according to the fourth indication information; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to send a data processing status of the MA-PDU session to a session management network element, where the data processing status is used to indicate a processing condition of a data flow or a data packet.
The apparatus 700 may also be a shunting network element in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a chip in the shunting network element. When the apparatus is a offloading network element, the processing unit 702 may support the apparatus 700 to perform the actions of the offloading network element in each method example above, and the communication unit 703 may support communication between the apparatus 700 and a terminal device, a session management network element, and a user plane network element (e.g., a first user plane network element and a second user plane network element); for example, the processing unit 702 and/or the communication unit 703 are used to enable the apparatus 700 to perform step 306 in fig. 3, step 408 in fig. 4.
Specifically, in one embodiment, the processing unit is configured to: establishing a data transmission channel between the shunting network element and a first user plane network element corresponding to the MA-PDU session, wherein the MA-PDU session comprises a transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology; the communication unit is configured to: and transmitting the data of the MA-PDU session through the established data transmission channel.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the tunnel information of the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element, which is established by the processing unit, on the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information, second tunnel information, or third tunnel information.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive fifth indication information sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or stop data stream processing according to the fifth indication information; wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting, data flow migration, or data flow direction.
In a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is configured to receive a data processing status of the MA-PDU session sent by a session management network element, and the processing unit is configured to process a data stream according to the data processing status; wherein the data processing state is used for indicating the processing condition of the data stream or the data packet.
Referring to fig. 8, a schematic diagram of an apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown, where the apparatus may be a session management network element, a offload network element, or a user plane network element (e.g., a first user plane network element) in the foregoing embodiments. The apparatus 800 comprises: a processor 802, a transceiver 803, a memory 801. Optionally, the apparatus 800 may also include a bus 804. The transceiver 803, the processor 802, and the memory 801 may be connected to each other via a communication line 804; the communication line 804 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The communication lines 804 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.
In the devices of fig. 7 and 8 of the present application, the respective components are communicatively connected, i.e., the processing unit (or processor), the storage unit (or memory) and the communication unit (transceiver) communicate with each other via internal connection paths, and control and/or data signals are transmitted. The above method embodiments of the present application may be applied to a processor, or the processor may implement the steps of the above method embodiments. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware component. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in this application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in this application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor. Although only one processor is shown in the figure, the apparatus may comprise a plurality of processors or a processor may comprise a plurality of processing units. Specifically, the processor may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor.
The memory is used for storing computer instructions executed by the processor. The memory may be a memory circuit or a memory. The memory may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. The memory may be independent of the processor, or may be a storage unit in the processor, which is not limited herein. Although only one memory is shown in the figure, the apparatus may comprise a plurality of memories or the memory may comprise a plurality of memory units.
The transceiver is used for enabling the processor to interact with the content of other elements or network elements. Specifically, the transceiver may be a communication interface of the apparatus, a transceiving circuit or a communication unit, and may also be a transceiver. The transceiver may also be a communication interface or transceiving circuitry of the processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver chip. The transceiver may also include a transmitting unit and/or a receiving unit. In one possible implementation, the transceiver may include at least one communication interface. In another possible implementation, the transceiver may also be a unit implemented in software. In embodiments of the application, the processor may interact with other elements or network elements via the transceiver. For example: the processor obtains or receives content from other network elements through the transceiver. If the processor and the transceiver are physically separate components, the processor may interact with other elements of the apparatus without going through the transceiver.
In one possible implementation, the processor, the memory, and the transceiver may be connected to each other by a bus. The bus may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc.
For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.
In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "e.g.," is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.
In the embodiments of the present application, various illustrations are made for the sake of an understanding of aspects. However, these examples are merely examples and are not meant to be the best mode of carrying out the present application.
In the embodiments of the present application, names of a request message, a response message, and other various messages are used for convenience of description. However, these messages are only used to illustrate the content to be carried or the functions to be implemented, and the specific names of the messages do not limit the application, for example: but also a first message, a second message, a third message, etc. These messages may be specific ones, and may be some fields in the messages. These messages may also represent various servicing operations.
In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.
The various illustrative logical units and circuits described in this application may be implemented or operated upon by design of a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.
The steps of a method or algorithm described in the embodiments herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software element executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software cells may be stored in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. For example, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC, which may be disposed in a terminal device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a terminal device.
These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims (18)

1. A method for processing a data transmission channel, the method comprising:
the method comprises the steps that a session management network element establishes a multi-access data packet unit (MA-PDU) session for terminal equipment, wherein the MA-PDU session comprises a data transmission channel of a third generation partnership project (3 GPP) access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology, and the MA-PDU session corresponds to a first user plane network element;
the session management network element selects a shunting network element for the MA-PDU session;
the session management network element establishes an N9 data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for a terminal device;
wherein, the session management network element establishes a transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for a terminal device, and the method includes: the session management network element establishes a new N9 data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal device; or, the session management network element updates a data transmission channel of a 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session to the N9 data transmission channel.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or
And the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the session management network element updating the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session comprises:
and the session management network element sends sixth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to update a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing, by the session management network element, a new data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal device comprises:
the session management network element determines that the tunnel information of the data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element on the first user plane network element side is third tunnel information, and sends the third tunnel information to the offloading network element.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:
the session management network element sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a non-3GPP access technology equipment side; and/or the session management network element sends second indication information to the first user plane network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete the first tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology equipment side; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,
the session management network element sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a non-3GPP access technology device side; and the session management network element sends first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes the first tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology equipment side.
6. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:
the session management network element sends a data forwarding policy to a first user plane network element, where the data forwarding policy is used to instruct the first user plane network element to set source tunnel information of a data transmission channel for transmitting a data stream as first tunnel information, second tunnel information, or third tunnel information.
7. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the method comprises: the session management network element sends third indication information to the first user plane network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate the first user plane network element to delete the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or is used to indicate that the first user plane network element does not enable (disable) the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:
the session management network element sends fourth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element stops performing path performance measurement and/or stops performing packet encapsulation and/or stops processing a data stream; and/or
The session management network element sends fifth indication information to the offloading network element, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing;
wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting (split), data flow migration (switch), or data flow steering (steer).
9. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:
the session management network element acquires a data processing state of the MA-PDU session, wherein the data processing state is used for indicating the processing condition of a data stream or a data packet;
and the session management network element sends the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the shunting network element.
10. An apparatus for processing a data transmission channel, the apparatus comprising: a processing unit;
the processing unit is configured to establish a multi-access data packet unit MA-PDU session for a terminal device, where the MA-PDU session includes a data transmission channel of a third generation partnership project 3GPP access technology and a data transmission channel of a non-3GPP access technology, and the MA-PDU session corresponds to a first user plane network element; selecting a shunting network element for the MA-PDU session, and establishing an N9 data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal equipment;
wherein, establishing a transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element for a terminal device includes: establishing a new N9 data transmission channel between the shunting network element and the first user plane network element for the terminal device; or, the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology in the MA-PDU session is updated to the N9 data transmission channel.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein:
the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is first tunnel information; and/or
And the tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology at the first user plane network element side is second tunnel information.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a communication unit configured to:
and sending sixth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the sixth indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element updates a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology or a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a communication unit;
the processing unit is configured to determine that tunnel information of a data transmission channel between the offloading network element and the first user plane network element on the first user plane network element side is third tunnel information;
the communication unit is configured to send the third tunnel information to the offloading network element.
14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication unit;
the communication unit is configured to send first indication information to the first user plane network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on the non-3GPP access technology device side; and/or the communication unit is configured to send second indication information to the first user plane network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology equipment side; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,
the communication unit is configured to send, to the first user plane network element, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes second tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a side of the first user plane network element and/or tunnel information of the data transmission channel of the non-3GPP access technology on a side of a non-3GPP access technology device; and the communication unit is configured to send, to the first user plane network element, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes first tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the first user plane network element side and/or tunnel information of a data transmission channel of the 3GPP access technology on the 3GPP access technology device side.
15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication unit;
the communication unit is configured to send a data forwarding policy to a first user plane network element, where the data forwarding policy is used to instruct the first user plane network element to set source tunnel information of a data transmission channel for transmitting a data stream as first tunnel information, second tunnel information, or third tunnel information.
16. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication unit;
the communication unit is configured to send third indication information to the first user plane network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the first user plane network element deletes the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session, or is used to indicate that the first user plane network element does not enable (disable) the data stream processing rule of the MA-PDU session.
17. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication unit;
the communication unit is configured to send fourth indication information to the first user plane network element, where the fourth indication information is used to instruct the first user plane network element to stop performing path performance measurement and/or stop performing packet encapsulation and/or stop data stream processing; and/or sending fifth indication information to the offloading network element, where the fifth indication information is used to indicate the offloading network element to perform path performance measurement and/or perform packet encapsulation and/or data stream processing;
wherein the data stream processing comprises: at least one of data flow splitting (split), data flow migration (switch), or data flow steering (steer).
18. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10-13, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication unit;
the processing unit is configured to obtain a data processing status of the MA-PDU session, where the data processing status is used to indicate a processing condition of a data flow or a data packet;
the communication unit is configured to send the data processing state of the MA-PDU session to the offload network element.
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