CN110913437A

CN110913437A - Communication method and network element

Info

Publication number: CN110913437A
Application number: CN201811075872.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 宗在峰; 朱奋勤; 杨文进; 张继东
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-09-14
Filing date: 2018-09-14
Publication date: 2020-03-24
Anticipated expiration: 2038-09-14
Also published as: WO2020052463A1; CN110913437B

Abstract

The application provides a communication method and a network element. The communication method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a first network element determines an identification of a first session, wherein the first session is a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, the identification of the first session is used for uniquely indicating the first session in a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprises a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used for uniquely indicating a first session group to which the first session belongs in the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used for uniquely indicating the first session in the sessions included in the first session group; when the first session is migrated from the source second network element to a target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the first network element sends an identification of the first session to the target second network element. The application provides a communication method and a network element, which are convenient for a target network element to provide services for the terminal equipment.

Description

Communication method and network element

Technical Field

The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method and a network element.

Background

In a communication network, a control plane network element, such as a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, allocates a relevant resource to a terminal device (UE) when the network element provides a service to the UE. The control plane network element may send the identifier of the resource to other network elements, so that the other network elements communicate with the control plane network element according to the identifier, thereby achieving the purpose that the control plane network element and the other network elements serve the terminal device.

For example, when creating a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session, the SMF network element allocates a context reference identity (SmContextRef) for each PDU session and sends the context reference identity to an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. When the AMF network element needs to initiate a related operation of a certain PDU session to the SMF, for example, when a certain PDU session is modified, the AMF network element sends the context reference identifier to the SMF network element as a part of a uniform resource descriptor (URI). After receiving the URI, the SMF network element finds the corresponding PDU session according to the context reference identifier in the URI, and therefore the PDU session is modified.

In a communication network, a control plane network element usually performs load balancing, that is, a terminal device served by a certain control plane network element (may be referred to as a source control plane network element) is migrated to another control plane network element (may be referred to as a target control plane network element), and the terminal device is served by the target control plane network element.

Therefore, how to communicate between the target control plane network element and the other network elements communicating with the source control plane network element to provide services for the migrated terminal device when performing load balancing is a technical problem to be solved urgently.

Disclosure of Invention

The communication method and the network element provided by the application are convenient for the target network element to provide services for the terminal equipment.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method of communication. The communication method comprises the following steps: a first network element determines an identification of a first session, wherein the first session is a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, and the identification of the first session is used for uniquely indicating the first session in a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprises a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used for uniquely indicating a first session group to which the first session belongs in the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used for uniquely indicating the first session in the sessions included in the first session group; when the first session is migrated from the source second network element to a target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the first network element sends an identification of the first session to the target second network element.

According to the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the first network element sends the identifier of the first session to the target second network element, where the identifier of the first session includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, and therefore, after the first session is migrated from the source second network element to the target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the target second network element may obtain the context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, and the target second network element is convenient to provide a service for the first session.

Optionally, the at least two second network elements belong to a second network element set. For example, the second set of network elements may include at least a source second network element and a target second network element. The identification of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the second set of network elements.

Optionally, the capabilities of a plurality of the at least two second network elements may be the same. A plurality of the at least two second network elements may manage the same User Plane Function (UPF) network element, have the same network slicing capability, support the same Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), and the like. It should be understood that the capacities of the plurality of second network elements in the at least two second network elements may be the same or different, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In some possible implementations, the sending, by the first network element, the identifier of the first session to the target second network element includes: and the first network element sends first information to the target second network element, wherein the first information comprises the identification information of the target second network element and the identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the first information is any one of a full session identifier (F-SEID), a uniform resource descriptor (URI), a callback uniform resource descriptor (callback URI), or a notification association identifier.

In some possible implementations, before the first network element sends the first information to the target second network element, the communication method further includes: the first network element receives second information from the source second network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of the source second network element and an identification of the first session; and the first network element replaces the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element to obtain first information.

In some possible implementations, the communication method further includes: the first network element receives third information from the target second network element, where the third information includes identification information of the target second network element and a session group identification of a session group served by the target second network element.

Optionally, if the first network element receives a notification message that the source second network element no longer serves the session group to which the first session belongs, and the notification message specifies the target second network element corresponding to the session group, the first network element may determine the target second network element corresponding to the session according to the session group corresponding to the first session and the notification message.

Optionally, the first network element may determine, according to the session group corresponding to the first session and the notification message, the identification information of the target second network element and the session group identification of the session group served by the target second network element.

Optionally, the first network element may query a network storage function (NRF) network element for the target second network element, for example, the first network element may provide a session group identifier corresponding to the first session to the NRF network element, and the NRF network element determines the target second network element according to the session group identifier and notifies the target second network element to the first network element.

Optionally, the NRF network element may determine, according to the session group identifier corresponding to the first session, the identifier information of the target second network element and the session group identifier of the session group served by the target second network element, and notify the first network element of the identifier information and the session group identifier.

Optionally, the first network element may query the NRF network element for the target second network element, for example, the first network element may provide the NRF network element with the identifications of the at least two second network elements, and the NRF network element selects one second network element from the at least two second network elements as the target SMF network element.

Optionally, the NRF network element may select one second network element from the at least two second network elements as the target SMF network element, determine the identification information of the target second network element and the session group identification of the session group served by the target second network element, and notify the first network element of the session group identification.

Optionally, the first network element may receive a redirection response from the source second network element, and carry the identification information of the target second network element in the response message, and the first network element determines the target second network element according to the identification information of the target second network element in the response message.

Optionally, the first network element may determine, according to the identification information of the target second network element in the response message, the target second network element and the session group identification of the session group served by the target second network element.

In some possible implementations, the second information is any one of a full session identifier (F-SEID), a uniform resource descriptor URI (URI), a callback uniform resource descriptor (callback URI), or a notification association identifier.

In some possible implementations, the replacing, by the first network element, the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element by the first network element includes: when the second information is the F-SEID, replacing an IP address carried by an Internet Protocol (IP) address field in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is the URI, replacing a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) carried by the hostname authorized domain field in the URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing an IP address carried by the hostname authorized domain field in the URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is a callback URI, replacing the FQDN carried by the host name authorized field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the host name authorized field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is the notification association identifier, replacing the FQDN carried by the host name authorized domain field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the host name authorized domain field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element, wherein the callback URI and the notification association identifier are sent in the same message.

In some possible implementations, the first network element is any one of: a User Plane Function (UPF) network element, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element, an authentication server function (AUSF) network element, an Unified Data Management (UDM) network element, a network storage function (NRF) network element, or an Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF) network element.

In some possible implementations, the second network element is any one of: the network comprises an access and mobility management function network element, a session management function network element, a policy management function network element, an authentication server function network element, a unified data management network element, a network element storage function network element or an unstructured data storage function network element.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a method of communication. The communication method comprises the following steps: a first network element determines an identification of a first session, wherein the first session is a session served by at least two second network elements, and the identification of the first session is used for uniquely indicating the first session in a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprises a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used for uniquely indicating a first session group to which the first session belongs in the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used for uniquely indicating the first session in the sessions included in the first session group; and the first network element sends the identifier of the first session to a target second network element in the at least two second network elements.

According to the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the first network element sends the identifier of the first session to the target second network element, where the identifier of the first session includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, so that the target second network element can obtain the context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, and the target second network element is convenient to provide services for the first session.

Optionally, the capabilities of a plurality of the at least two second network elements may be the same. A plurality of the at least two second network elements may manage the same UPF network element, have the same network slicing capability, support the same DNN, and the like. It should be understood that the capacities of the plurality of second network elements in the at least two second network elements may be the same or different, which is not limited in this embodiment.

In some possible implementations, the sending, by the first network element, the identifier of the first session to the target second network element includes: and the first network element sends first information to the target second network element, wherein the first information comprises the identifier of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the first information is a full session identity (F-SEID).

In some possible implementations, before the first network element sends the first information to the target second network element, the communication method further includes: replacing an IP address carried by an Internet Protocol (IP) address field in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or setting the IP address carried by the Internet protocol address field in the F-SEID as the IP address of the service framework.

In some possible implementations, before the determining, by the first network element, the identity of the first session, the communication method further includes: the first network element receives second information from the source second network element, the second information including an identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the second information is a full session identity, F-SEID.

In some possible implementations, the second message further includes an IP address of a service framework network element corresponding to the second network element.

In some possible implementations, the first network element is a user plane function, UPF, network element.

In some possible implementations, the source second network element is a session management function, SMF, network element.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, including: a source second network element generating an identification of a first session, the first session being a session served by the source second network element of at least two second network elements, the identification of the first session being used for uniquely indicating the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprising a first identification for uniquely indicating a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups and a second identification for uniquely indicating the first session among sessions included by the first session group; and the source second network element sends the identifier of the first session to the first network element.

According to the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the identifier of the first session generated by the source second network element includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, and sends the identifier of the first session to the first network element. Therefore, after the first session is migrated from the source second network element to the target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the target second network element may obtain the context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, so as to facilitate the target second network element to provide a service for the first session.

In some possible implementations, the sending, by the source second network element, the identifier of the first session to the first network element includes: and the source second network element sends second information to the first network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of a target second network element in the at least two second network elements and the identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the second information is any one of a full session identifier F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identifier.

In some possible implementations, the first network element is any one of: UPF network element, AMF network element, SMF network element, PCF network element, AUSF network element, UDM network element, NRF network element or UDSF network element.

In some possible implementations, the second network element is any one of: the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication method, including: receiving, by a target second network element, an identification of a first session from a first network element, the first session being a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, the identification of the first session being used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprising a first identification used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups and a second identification used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group; and the target second network element determines the first session according to the identifier of the first session.

According to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the identifier of the first session received by the target second network element from the first network element includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, and therefore, after the first session is migrated from the source second network element to the target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the target second network element may obtain a context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, which is convenient for the target second network element to provide a service for the first session.

In some possible implementations, the receiving, by the target second network element, the identification of the first session from the first network element includes: the target second network element receives first information from the first network element, where the first information includes identification information of the target second network element and an identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the first information is any one of a full session identifier F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identifier.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a network element, comprising: a processing module, configured to determine an identity of a first session, where the first session is a session served by a source second network element of the at least two second network elements, and the identity of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identity of the first session includes a first identity and a second identity, where the first identity is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identity is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group; a sending module configured to: when the first session is migrated from the source second network element to a target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the first network element sends an identification of the first session to the target second network element.

According to the network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the network element sends, to the target second network element, an identifier of the first session, where the identifier of the first session includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, and therefore, after the first session is migrated from the source second network element to the target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the target second network element may obtain a context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, and the target second network element is convenient to provide a service for the first session.

In some possible implementation manners, the sending module is specifically configured to send first information to the target second network element, where the first information includes identification information of the target second network element and an identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the network element further includes a receiving module, configured to receive second information from the source second network element before the network element sends the first information to the target second network element, where the second information includes identification information of the source second network element and an identification of the first session; the processing module is further configured to replace the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element, so as to obtain the first information.

In some possible implementations, the receiving module is further configured to: receiving third information from the target second network element, where the third information includes identification information of the target second network element and a session group identification of a session group served by the target second network element.

Optionally, if the network element receives a notification message that the source second network element no longer serves the session group to which the first session belongs, and the notification message specifies a target second network element corresponding to the session group, the network element may determine the target second network element corresponding to the session according to the session group corresponding to the first session and the notification message.

Optionally, the network element may determine, according to the session group corresponding to the first session and the notification message, the identification information of the target second network element and the session group identification of the session group served by the target second network element.

Optionally, the network element may query the target second network element from the NRF network element, for example, the network element may provide a session group identifier corresponding to the first session to the NRF network element, and the NRF network element determines the target second network element according to the session group identifier and notifies the target second network element to the network element.

Optionally, the NRF network element may determine, according to the session group identifier corresponding to the first session, the identifier information of the target second network element and the session group identifier of the session group served by the target second network element, and notify the network element of the identifier information and the session group identifier.

Optionally, the network element may query the NRF network element for the target second network element, for example, the network element may provide the NRF network element with the identifiers of the at least two second network elements, and the NRF network element selects one second network element from the at least two second network elements as the target SMF network element.

Optionally, the NRF network element may select one second network element from the at least two second network elements as the target SMF network element, determine the identification information of the target second network element and the session group identification of the session group served by the target second network element, and notify the network element of the identification information and the session group identification.

Optionally, the network element may receive a redirection response from the source second network element, and carry the identification information of the target second network element in the response message, and the network element determines the target second network element according to the identification information of the target second network element in the response message.

Optionally, the network element may determine, according to the identification information of the target second network element in the response message, the target second network element and the session group identification of the session group served by the target second network element.

In some possible implementations, the second information is any one of a full session identifier F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identifier, and the first information includes an identifier of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the processing module is further configured to: when the second information is F-SEID, replacing the IP address loaded by the IP address field of the Internet protocol in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is a URI, replacing the fully qualified domain name FQDN carried by the authorized domain field in the URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized domain field in the URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is a callback URI, replacing the FQDN carried by the authorized field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is the notification association identifier, replacing the FQDN carried by the authorized domain field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized domain field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element, wherein the callback URI and the notification association identifier are sent in the same message.

In some possible implementations, the network element is any one of: the network comprises a user plane function UPF network element, an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a network element. The network element comprises: a processing module, configured to determine an identity of a first session, where the first session is a session served by at least two second network elements, and the identity of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identity of the first session includes a first identity and a second identity, where the first identity is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identity is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group; a sending module, configured to send an identifier of the first session to a target second network element in the at least two second network elements.

According to the network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the network element sends the identifier of the first session to the target second network element, where the identifier of the first session includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, so that the target second network element can obtain the context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, and the target second network element is convenient to provide a service for the first session.

In some possible implementations, the sending module is specifically configured to: and sending first information to the target second network element, wherein the first information comprises the identifier of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the processing module is further configured to: replacing an IP address carried by an Internet Protocol (IP) address field in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or setting the IP address carried by the Internet protocol address field in the F-SEID as the IP address of the service framework.

In some possible implementations, the network element further includes a receiving module, configured to: receiving second information from the source second network element, the second information including an identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the network element is a user plane function UPF network element.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a network element, including: a processing module, configured to generate an identifier of a first session, where the first session is a session served by the source second network element of the at least two second network elements, and the identifier of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identifier of the first session includes a first identifier and a second identifier, the first identifier is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identifier is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group; a sending module, configured to send an identifier of the first session to the first network element.

According to the network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the identifier of the first session generated by the network element includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, and sends the identifier of the first session to the first network element. Therefore, after the first session is migrated from the network element to the target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the target second network element may obtain the context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, so as to facilitate the target second network element to provide a service for the first session.

Optionally, the at least two second network elements belong to a second network element set. For example, the second set of network elements may comprise at least said network element and a target second network element. The identification of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the second set of network elements.

In some possible implementations, the sending module is specifically configured to: and sending second information to the first network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of a target second network element in the at least two second network elements and the identification of the first session.

In some possible implementations, the network element is any one of: the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a network element, comprising: a receiving module, configured to receive, from a first network element, an identification of a first session, where the first session is a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, and the identification of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identification of the first session includes a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group; and the processing module is used for determining the first session according to the identifier of the first session.

According to the network element provided in the embodiment of the present application, the identifier of the first session received by the network element from the first network element includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, so that, after the first session is migrated from the source second network element to the network element of the at least two second network elements, the network element may obtain a context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session, which is convenient for the network element to provide a service for the first session.

Optionally, the at least two second network elements belong to a second network element set. For instance, the second set of network elements may comprise at least the source second network element and said network element. The identification of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the second set of network elements.

In some possible implementations, the receiving module is specifically configured to: receiving first information from the first network element, the first information including identification information of the network element and an identification of the first session.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a network element comprising a processor and a transmitter, the processor being configured to execute a program, and the processor and the transmitter implementing the communication method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect when the processor executes the program.

Optionally, the network element may further comprise a memory. The memory is used for storing programs executed by the processor.

Optionally, the network element may further comprise a receiver. The receiver is used to receive information from other devices or apparatuses.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a network element, the communication device comprising a processor for executing a program and a transmitter, which when executing the program, implement the communication method of the second aspect or any one of its possible implementations.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a network element comprising a processor and a receiver, the processor being configured to execute a program, and when the program is executed by the processor, the processor and the receiver implementing the communication method in the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

Optionally, the communication device may further comprise a memory. The memory is used for storing programs executed by the processor.

Optionally, the communication device may further comprise a transmitter. The transmitter is used to transmit information to other devices or apparatuses.

In a twelfth aspect, a network element is provided, which comprises a processor and a receiver, the processor being configured to execute a program, and when the program is executed by the processor, the processor and the receiver implementing the communication method in the fourth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores program code for execution by a network element, the program code including instructions for implementing the first aspect or the communication method in any one of its possible implementations.

In a fourteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores program code for execution by a network element, the program code including instructions for implementing the communication method of the second aspect or any one of its possible implementations.

In a fifteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores program code for execution by a network element, the program code including instructions for implementing the communication method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

In a sixteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores program code for execution by a network element, the program code including instructions for implementing the communication method of the fourth aspect or any one of its possible implementations.

A seventeenth aspect provides a chip including a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for making a peer with an external device, and the processor is used for implementing the first aspect or the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, where instructions are stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the instructions are executed, the processor is configured to implement the first aspect or the communication method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

In an eighteenth aspect, a chip is provided, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for being in the same row with an external device, and the processor is used to implement the second aspect or the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, the memory storing instructions, and the processor being configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the instructions are executed, the processor being configured to implement the second aspect or the communication method in any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

A nineteenth aspect provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface is used for making a peer with an external device, and the processor is used to implement the third aspect or the communication method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the third aspect.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, where the memory stores instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the instructions are executed, the processor is configured to implement the third aspect or the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

A twentieth aspect provides a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being configured to be in-line with an external device, the processor being configured to implement the communication method of the fourth aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect.

Optionally, the chip may further include a memory, where instructions are stored in the memory, and the processor is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory, and when the instructions are executed, the processor is configured to implement the fourth aspect or the communication method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect.

A twenty-first aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a network element, cause the network element to perform the method of communication in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

In a twenty-second aspect, a computer program product is provided, which comprises instructions that, when run on a network element, cause the network element to perform the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

A twenty-third aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a network element, cause the network element to perform the communication method of the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

A twenty-fourth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a network element, cause the network element to perform the communication method of any one of the possible implementations of the fourth aspect or the fourth aspect.

In a twenty-fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, where the communication system includes one or more network elements described in the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect.

In a possible design, the communication system further includes other devices, such as an access network and/or a DN network element, interacting with any network element of one or more network elements in the fifth aspect to the eighth aspect in the solution provided by the embodiment of the present application.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system to which the communication method of the embodiment of the present application can be applied.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a network element according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network element according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a network element according to another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a network element of another embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solution in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, for example: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, a LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, a LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, a future fifth generation (5G) or New Radio (NR) system, and the like.

Terminal equipment in the embodiments of the present application may refer to user equipment, access terminals, subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents, or user devices. The terminal device may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and the like, which are not limited in this embodiment.

The network device in this embodiment may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, where the network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, may also be a base station (NodeB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, may also be an evolved NodeB (eNB) or eNodeB) in an LTE system, may also be a wireless controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario, or may be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in a future 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved PLMN network, and the like, and the present embodiment is not limited.

Fig. 1 is a network architecture applied to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, each network element involved in the network architecture is separately described.

1. (radio access network, (R) AN) network element: the method is used for providing a network access function for authorized users in a specific area, and can use transmission tunnels with different qualities according to the level of the users, the requirements of services and the like. (R) the AN network element can manage wireless resources and provide access service for the terminal equipment so as to complete the forwarding of control signals and user data between the terminal equipment and the core network, and can also be understood as a base station in a traditional network;

2. a user plane network element: for packet routing and forwarding, quality of service (QoS) handling of user plane data, etc.

In the 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a User Plane Function (UPF) network element. In a future communication system, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

3. A data network element: a network for providing data transmission, in a 5G communication system, the data network element may be a Data Network (DN) element. In future communication systems, the data network element may still be a DN element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

4. Accessing a management network element: the method is mainly used for mobility management, access management and the like, and can be used for realizing other functions except session management in Mobility Management Entity (MME) functions, such as functions of lawful interception, access authorization/authentication and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element. In a future communication system, the access management network element may still be an AMF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

5. A session management network element: the method is mainly used for session management, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management of terminal equipment, selection of a termination point capable of managing a user plane function, a policy control and charging function interface, downlink data notification and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF) network element. In future communication systems, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

6. The strategy control network element: the unified policy framework is used for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane function network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements and the like), and the like.

In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element. In future communication systems, the policy control network element may still be a PCF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

7. Authentication service network element: the method is used for realizing authentication and authorization of the user and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the authentication service network element may be an authentication server function (AUSF) network element. In a future communication system, the authentication service network element may still be an AUSF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

8. Unified data management network element: for handling subscriber identities, access authentication, registration, mobility management, etc.

In the 5G communication system, the unified data management network element may be a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element. In a future communication system, the unified data management network element may still be a UDM network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

9. The terminal equipment: may include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capabilities, as well as various forms of terminals, Mobile Stations (MSs), terminals (terminals), User Equipment (UEs), soft terminals, etc., such as water meters, electricity meters, sensors, etc.

It is to be understood that the above network elements or functions may be network elements in a hardware device, or may be software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, a network element or a function is taken as an example for description, however, in a future network, the network element or the function may also be replaced by a service, for example, an AMF network element is replaced by an AMF communication service, an AMF event notification service, and the like, and the present application is also applicable to a service, for example, when each network element or function in the present application is replaced by a service, the method in the present application is still applicable. Specifically, the first network element in this application may be not only the network element or the function defined above, but also the first service, and likewise, the second network element in this application may also be the second service. This is not limited in this application.

In the network architecture, N1 is a reference point between UE110 and AMF network element 150, and N2 is a reference point between (R) AN network element 120 and AMF network element 150, and is used for sending non-access stratum (NAS) messages, and the like; n3 is a reference point between (R) AN network element 120 and UPF network element 130, for transmitting user plane data, etc.; n4 is a reference point between the SMF network element 160 and the UPF network element 130, and is used to transmit information such as tunnel identification information, data cache indication information, and downlink data notification message of the N3 connection; the N6 interface is a reference point between the UPF network element 130 and the DN network element 140, and is used for transmitting user plane data and the like; n11 is a reference point between the AMF network element 150 and the SMF network element 160; n8 and N10 are reference points between the AMF network element 150, the SMF network element 160, and the UDM network element 190, respectively, and are used to obtain user subscription data; n15 and N7 are reference points between the AMF network element 150, the SMF network element 160, and the PCF network element 170, respectively, for obtaining policy data; n12 is a reference point between the AMF network element 150 and the AUSF network element 180; n13 is the reference point between UDM network element 190 and AUSF network element 180.

It should be understood that the network architecture applied to the embodiments of the present application is only an exemplary network architecture, and the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applied is not limited thereto, and any network architecture capable of implementing the functions of the network elements described above is applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

In the above network architecture, network elements such as the AMF network element 150, the SMF network element 160, the PCF network element 170, the AUSF network element 180, and the UDM network element 190 may all be referred to as control plane network elements, and the UPF network element 130 may be referred to as a user plane network element. Optionally, the network architecture of the embodiment of the present application may further include network elements such as a network element storage function (NRF) network element or an Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF) network element, and the NRF network element and the UDSF network element may also be referred to as control plane network elements.

In this embodiment of the present application, when the control plane network element provides a service for the UE, the control plane network element may allocate a relevant resource for the UE, and send the resource identifier to another network element, so that the other network element may find the resource according to the identifier in a subsequent communication process.

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, a control plane network element may be unable to continue providing services, and at this time, another control plane network element may be required to continue providing services instead of a current control plane network element. For example, in a scenario where the control plane network element performs load balancing, when the current control plane network element is powered off, has a fault, or performs capacity reduction, another control plane network element may be needed to replace or partially replace the current control plane network element to continue to perform service.

It should be understood that, in this application, a resource corresponding to an SMF network element may be referred to as a session, a resource corresponding to a PCF network element may be referred to as a policy session, and resources corresponding to other control plane network elements may also be referred to by other names.

For convenience of understanding, in the following description, a source control plane network element refers to a control plane network element that initially allocates resources and resource identifiers, other network elements refer to network elements that need to interact with the source control plane network element during a communication process, and a target control plane network element refers to a control plane network element that continues to provide services for the source control plane network element instead of the source control plane network element when the source control plane network element can no longer provide services for the resources. It should be understood that the other network elements herein may be control plane network elements, user plane network elements, and the like.

Taking the source control plane network element as the SMF network element as an example, when creating a session, the source SMF network element allocates a context reference identifier (SmContextRef) to each session, and sends the context reference identifier to other network elements interacting with the source SMF network element, for example, the other network elements may be AMF network elements. When the subsequent AMF network element operates the session, such as modifying or deleting the session, the AMF network element needs to send the context reference identifier to the source SMF network element, and the source SMF network element can find the session according to the context reference identifier, thereby modifying or deleting the session.

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, when a source SMF network element no longer provides a service for the session, a target SMF network element needs to be determined, and in a subsequent communication process, the target SMF network element replaces the source SMF network element to continue providing the service. However, at this time, the context reference identifier allocated by the source SMF network element to the session may have been already allocated to other sessions by the target SMF network element, which may cause the target SMF network element to mistakenly regard another session with the same context reference identifier on the target SMF network element as the session after receiving the request of the AMF network element, thereby causing the target SMF network element to operate on the wrong session.

Therefore, the present application provides a communication method, which can enable a target control plane network element to provide a service for a session when a source control plane network element cannot continue to provide the service for the session.

The following describes a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, by taking any control plane network element in the network architecture of fig. 1 as an example. Fig. 2 shows an exemplary flowchart of a communication method of one embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps.

S210, the source second network element generates an identifier of the first session.

In particular, the first session may be one of a plurality of sessions served by the source second network element, where the plurality of sessions may be divided into a plurality of session groups, the identity of the first session may include a first identity and a second identity, the first identity is an identity of a first session group to which the first session belongs, and the second identity is an identity of the first session in the first session group.

In this embodiment of the application, the second network element may be any one of the control plane network elements in the network architecture in fig. 1, for example, the second network element may be an AMF network element, an SMF network element, a PCF network element, an AUSF network element, an UDM network element, an NRF network element, or an UDSF network element. The second network element here may include a source second network element and a target second network element, that is, the source second network element and the target second network element may be an AMF network element, an SMF network element, a PCF network element, an AUSF network element, an UDM network element, an NRF network element, or an UDSF network element.

Accordingly, in this embodiment of the application, the first network element may be a network element connected to the second network element in the network architecture of fig. 1.

For example, as shown in fig. 1, the SMF network element is connected to a UPF network element, an AMF network element, a PCF network element, and a UDM network element, the AMF network element is connected to an AUSF network element, an SMF network element, and a UDM network element, and when the second network element is the SMF network element, the first network element may be the UPF network element, the AMF network element, the PCF network element, or the UDM network element; when the second network element is an AMF network element, the first network element may be an AUSF network element, an SMF network element, or an UDM network element.

For convenience of understanding, in the following description, the second network element is exemplified as an SMF network element. It should be understood that the second network element is an SMF network element herein by way of example only and not limitation.

In this embodiment of the present application, a plurality of SMF network elements may form an SMF network element set. For example, the second set of network elements may be composed of SMF1 network elements, SMF2 network elements, and SMF3 network elements. Optionally, the capabilities of a plurality of second network elements in the second set of network elements may be the same.

The same capability of the plurality of second network elements may be understood as: the same UPF network elements may be managed, have the same network slicing capabilities, support the same DNN, etc. It should be understood that the capacities of the plurality of second network elements in the second network element set may be the same or different, and this embodiment does not limit this.

A plurality of session group identifications may be configured in a plurality of second network elements in the second set of network elements. For example, as shown in table 1, the SMF1 network element configures the session group identities 000 and 001, the SMF2 network element configures the session group identities 010 and 011, and the SMF3 configures the session group identities 100 and 101.

Table 1 correspondence of second network element and session group identity 1

It will be appreciated that the second set of network elements may support a plurality of talk groups, wherein a talk group may correspond to a talk group identity which is unique within the set and which may be served by a second network element.

When the second network element creates the first session, the second network element selects a first session group identifier in the session group identifiers configured by the second network element for the first session as the session group identifier of the first session, and assigns an identifier in the first session group for the first session. The second network element may then send the identification of the session to the first network element.

In some possible implementations, before the SMF1 network element is ready to be powered off, the SMF1 network element may save all or part of the session context to the UDSF network element shared by the second set of network elements.

In other possible implementations, when no UDSF network element is deployed in the second network element set, a target second network element corresponding to the session group may be configured for the second network element.

For example, at system initialization, a backup target second network element may be determined for a plurality of talk groups served by the second set of network elements. For example, as shown in table 2, the backup target second network element corresponding to the talkgroup 000 served by the SMF1 network element may be an SMF2 network element, and the backup target second network element corresponding to the talkgroup 001 served by the SMF1 network element may be an SMF3 network element, where the SMF1 network element is the source second network element, and the SMF2 network element and the SMF3 network element are the target second network elements.

Similarly, backup target second network elements may be determined for the talk groups 010 and 011 served by the SMF2 network element and for the talk groups 100 and 101 served by the SMF3 network element.

When the system is initialized, the corresponding relationship between the session group identifier and the backup target second network element may be configured in other related network elements, for example, an AMF network element, an NRF network element, a UPF network element, or the like, or the second network element sends the above-mentioned corresponding relationship to other related network elements through inter-node signaling.

After the system is started, the second network element may synchronize the session context in the session group to the backup target second network element corresponding to the session group, where the synchronization may be performed periodically or triggered by a change.

The modification trigger may be understood as that, when the session context in the session group changes, the second network element synchronizes the session context in the session group to the backup target second network element corresponding to the session group.

If the session context in the session group is not synchronized to the corresponding backup target second network element when the system is started, the session context in one or more session groups in the second network element can be migrated to the backup target second network element or the UDSF network element when the second network element in the second network element set needs to be closed or scaled.

For example, when the SMF1 network element needs to be upgraded and maintained, which results in the SMF1 network element needing to be closed or the SMF1 network element needing to be scaled down, the SMF1 network element may obtain a backup target second network element corresponding to the session group to be migrated out of the SMF1 network element, and send all session contexts in the session group to the target second network element.

For example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off or fails, the context of all sessions with group id000 may be sent to the SMF2 network element and the context of all sessions with group id 001 may be sent to the SMF3 network element according to the contents in table 2.

Table 2 backup correspondence between target second network element and session group identifier

Alternatively, when the SMF1 network element is performing the contraction, only the context of all sessions with group identification 001 may be sent to the SMF3 network element according to the contents in table 3.

Table 3 correspondence between second network element and session group identifier 2

S220, the source second network element sends the identifier information of the source second network element and the identifier of the first session to the first network element. Accordingly, the first network element may receive, from the source second network element, identification information of the source second network element and an identification of the first session.

In the above description, the second network element is taken as an SMF network element for example, and then the first network element may be a UPF network element, an AMF network element, a PCF network element, a UDM network element, an NRF network element, or a UDSF network element.

In the communication method of the embodiment of the present application, optionally, the source second network element may send second information to the first network element, where the second information may be any one of a full session identifier (F-SEID), a uniform resource descriptor (URI), a callback uniform resource descriptor (callback URI), or a notification association identifier, and the second information may include an identifier of the first session.

In the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application, optionally, when the source second network element determines that the session in the session group to which the first session belongs is no longer served, a notification message may be sent to the first network element. The notification message carries a session group identifier to which the first session belongs, and the notification message is used for notifying the first network element that the second network element does not provide service for the session group any more.

Optionally, if the source second network element may obtain the target second network element corresponding to the session group, the notification message may further carry identification information of the target second network element corresponding to the session group, so that other network elements may determine the target second network element corresponding to the session according to the session group corresponding to the session.

The other network elements to which the message is sent include, for example: a related AMF network element, a related UPF network element, a related PCF network element, etc.

In the communication method according to the embodiment of the present application, optionally, when the source second network element determines that the session in the session group to which the first session belongs is no longer served, the source second network element may send a registration removal request or a registration update request message to the NRF network element. The deregistration request is used for informing the NRF network element that the source second network element deregisters. The registration update request message is used for notifying the NRF network element that the source second network element is no longer serving one or more talk groups, the source second network element sends the no-longer-served talk group identifier to the NRF network element in the update request message, the NRF network element deletes the talk group from the service list of the source second network element, and the subsequent NRF network element does not select the second network element when selecting the second network element according to the talk group of the first session. This step may also be performed by the OAM network element instead of the source second network element sending a deregistration request or a registration update request to the NRF network element.

In the communication method of the embodiment of the present application, optionally, the target second network element may send the registration update request to the NRF network element after receiving the session context, or the target second network element may send the registration update request to the NRF network element after detecting that the second network element is powered off or has failed. The registration update request is for registering the session group of the first session as being served by the target second network element.

For example, a SMF2 network element sends a registration update request to an NRF network element to register session group 000 as being served by an SMF2 network element, a SMF3 network element sends a registration update request message to an NRF network element to register session group 001 as being served by an SMF3 network element. Subsequently, when other network elements inquire the corresponding second network element according to the session group identifier, the NRF network element selects the target second network element, and sends the identifier information of the target second network element to the other network elements.

S230, the first network element determines an identity of the first session.

For example, when a first network element needs to send a message related to a first session to a source second network element or a target second network element, the first network element determines an identifier of the first session.

S240, the first network element sends the identifier of the first session to the target second network element. Accordingly, the target second network element may receive an identification of the first session from the first network element.

For example, the first network element may determine the target second network element and send the identifier of the first session to the target second network element when it is determined that the source second network element is no longer serving the first session.

The first network element may determine that the source second network element is no longer serving the first session in any of:

the first network element receives the notification message sent by the source second network element in S220, and determines that the source second network element does not provide service for the session any more according to the notification message;

the first network element sends a session related message to the source second network element, and the first network element does not receive a response message of the source second network element;

and the first network element sends the session related message to the source second network element, and receives the rejection response message or the redirection response message of the source second network element.

The method for the first network element to determine the target second network element may comprise any one of the following:

if the first network element receives the notification message of the source second network element in S220, and the notification message specifies the target second network element corresponding to the session group, the first network element may determine the target second network element corresponding to the session according to the session group corresponding to the first session and the notification message.

And the first network element inquires a target second network element from the NRF network element, the first network element provides a session group identifier corresponding to the first session for the NRF network element, and the NRF network element determines the target second network element according to the session group identifier.

And the first network element inquires a target second network element from the NRF network element, the first network element provides the identifier of the second network element set for the NRF network element, and the NRF network element selects one second network element from the second network element set as a target SMF network element.

And the first network element receives the redirection response from the source network element, carries the identification information of the target second network element in the response message, and determines the target second network element according to the identification information of the target second network element in the response message.

In the communication method of the embodiment of the present application, optionally, the first network element may send first information to the target second network element, where the first information may be any one of an F-SEID, a URI, a callback URI, or a notification association identifier, and the first information may include an identifier of the first session.

S250, the target second network element determines the first session according to the identifier of the first session.

For example, the target second network element may determine the session context of the first session according to the identifier of the first session and the session context of the session group to which the first session belongs, which is received by the target second network element from the source second network element in S210. Alternatively, the target second network element may obtain the session context of the first session from the UDSF network element according to the identifier of the first session.

Optionally, after the target second network element determines the first session, the target second network element may perform relevant processing on the first session. For example, a session context of a first session is modified.

In this embodiment of the application, the identifier of the first session received by the target second network element from the first network element includes an identifier of a first session group to which the first session belongs and an identifier of the first session in the first session group, so that, after the first session is migrated from the source second network element to the target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the target second network element can determine the first session according to the identifier of the first session, thereby continuing to provide the service for the first session.

In the following, taking the second source network element as an SMF network element as an example, how other network elements communicate with the target control plane network element after the SMF network element fails to operate when other network elements are a user plane network element and a control plane network element.

Fig. 3 shows an exemplary flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, in which other network elements in fig. 3 are user plane network elements UPF network elements, an SMF1 network element is a source second network element, and an SMF2 network element is a target second network element.

In one possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, the session may be identified between the SMF1 network element and the UPF network element by using an F-SEID identifier.

When a session is established, the SMF1 network element may allocate an F-SEID identifier to the session and send the F-SEID identifier to the UPF network element; alternatively, the session may be assigned an F-SEID identification by the UPF network element and sent to the SMF1 network element. Thus, when the session is modified or deleted in the subsequent operation, the SMF1 network element may carry the F-SEID identifier when sending a message to the UPF network element, or when the UPF network element has a session-related message to send to the SMF1 network element, the UPF network element may carry the F-SEID identifier in the message sent to the SMF1 network element, so that both the SMF1 network element and the UPF network element may find the session according to the F-SEID identifier in the message.

Optionally, the F-SEID identifier allocated by the SMF1 network element for the session may include identification information of the SMF1 network element and a session identifier, the session identifier is used to uniquely identify the session in the set of SMF network elements, and the identification information may refer to FQDN or IP address. In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, the session identifier may be composed of a session group identifier and an intra-session group identifier.

When the SMF1 network element fails to work normally, for example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off, fails or undergoes capacity reduction, the session needs to be migrated from the SMF1 network element to the SMF2 network element. If the UPF network element needs to modify or delete the session, the UPF network element first selects the SMF2 network element, and then the UPF network element needs to carry the session identifier.

In the embodiment of the present application, a plurality of control plane network elements may be regarded as one network element set. For example, in the present application, the set of SMF network elements may be composed of a SMF1 network element and a SMF2 network element, and the SMF network elements in the set of SMF network elements may configure multiple session group identifiers, for example, session group identifiers 000 and 001 are configured in a SMF1 network element, and session group identifiers 010 and 011 are configured in a SMF2 network element.

In a possible implementation manner of this embodiment of this application, when creating a session (referred to as a first session in this embodiment of this application), the SMF1 network element may select, for the first session, a first session group identifier in the session group identifiers configured by the SMF1 network element as a session group identifier of the first session, and determine, in the session group, a session group identifier for the session, where the session group identifier may uniquely identify the session in the session group. Then, the SMF1 network element generates F-SEID by using the session group identification corresponding to the session and the identification in the session group, and sends the F-SEID to the UPF network element.

Optionally, when the session group identifier is served only by the SMF1 network element, the identifier in the session group is allocated by the SMF1 network element; or, when the session group identifier may be shared by the SMF network elements in the set of SMF network elements (for example, the session group identifier may also be served by the SMF2 network element), it should be ensured that the intra-session group identifiers allocated by different SMF network elements do not conflict in the session group when allocating the intra-session group identifiers, for example, a network element may be set in the set of SMF network elements to allocate the intra-session group identifiers, and since the intra-session group identifiers are uniformly allocated by a network element in the set of SMF network elements, the network element may be any network element in the set of SMF network elements, so that it may be ensured that the allocated intra-session group identifiers are unique in the session group corresponding to the session. For example, when the SMF1 network element requests the network element to assign an intra-session group identifier to the first session, the network element may ensure that the assigned intra-session group identifier is unique in the session group corresponding to the first session.

Since the session group identification is unique within the set of SMF network elements and the intra-session group identification is unique within the session group, the session identification is unique within the set of SMF network elements.

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, the SMF1 network element may carry a session group identifier and an intra-session group identifier in an F-SEID identifier allocated to a session. The F-SEID identifier may include identification information of the SMF1 network element, a session group identifier corresponding to the session, and an intra-session group identifier; the session identifier includes a session group identifier and an intra-session group identifier corresponding to the session, and the intra-session group identifier can uniquely identify the session in the session group.

Optionally, the identification information of the SMF network element may refer to FQDN or IP address

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, when finding that the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session, the UPF network element may obtain the identification information of the target SMF network element serving the session, and replace the identification information of the SMF1 network element in the original F-SEID identification with the identification information of the target SMF network element.

In this embodiment of the application, the method for the UPF network element to determine that the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session may be as described in fig. 2, and details are not described here. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, other methods may also be used to determine that the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session, which is not limited in this application.

Similarly, when the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session, the method for the UPF network element to determine the target SMF network element serving the session may be as described in fig. 2, and is not described herein again. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, other methods may also be used to determine the target SMF network element serving for the session, which is not limited in this application.

Alternatively, the session identification in the F-SEID identification may remain unchanged.

In this embodiment of the present application, since the session identifier is unique in the SMF network element set, the SMF2 network element may find the corresponding session according to the session identifier.

The processing flow of the UPF network element when it finds that the SMF1 network element is no longer serving the session is shown in fig. 3, and includes the following steps.

S301, when an N4 interface between the UPF network element and the SMF1 network element is established, the SMF1 network element may send, through a network element-level message, a session group identifier corresponding to a session group served by the SMF1 network element to the UPF network element. Wherein the session group identification may be a number.

Optionally, the SMF1 network element may send identification information of a target SMF network element corresponding to the talk group served by the SMF1 network element (e.g., the target SMF network element corresponding to the talk group 000 is the SMF2 network element) to the UPF network element, where the identification information of the target SMF network element, for example, the FQDN or IP address of the target SMF network element or the instance identification of the SMF network element, may be used to identify the identification information of the target SMF network element.

S302, when establishing the first session, the SMF1 network element may determine an identifier corresponding to the first session, and send the identifier of the first session to the UPF network element, where the identifier of the first session may include a first session group identifier and a first session group identifier.

As a possible implementation manner of this embodiment, the identifier of the first session may be sent to the UPF network element as a part of the F-SEID identifier.

S303, when the SMF1 network element no longer serves the first session, for example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off, has a failure, or is subjected to capacity reduction, the SMF1 network element may send a network element level notification message to the UPF network element. The SMF1 network element may carry in the notification message an identification of the talk group it is no longer serving, e.g. the first talk group identification.

For example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off, the SMF1 network element may carry the first session group identifier in the notification message sent to the UPF network element.

Optionally, the SMF1 network element may carry, in the notification message sent to the UPF network element, information of a target SMF network element (e.g., an SMF2 network element) corresponding to the session group corresponding to the first session.

S304, when the UPF network element needs to send a message to the target SMF network element serving the first session, the UPF network element may first determine that the target SMF network element is the SMF2 network element.

Specifically, the method for determining, by the UPF network element, the target SMF network element serving the first session may be as described in fig. 2, and details are not described here. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, other methods may also be used to determine the target SMF network element serving as the first session, which is not limited in this application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the UPF network element generates a new F-SEID identifier according to the F-SEID identifier received in S302. And the UPF network element replaces the IP address part in the original F-SEID identification with the IP address of the SMF2 network element, and the other parts are kept unchanged. The UPF network element sends the message to the SMF2 network element using the new F-SEID identification.

And S305, the UPF network element sends the new F-SEID identification to the SMF2 network element.

S306, after receiving the new F-SEID identifier, the SMF2 network element determines the first session according to the identifier of the first session in the new F-SEID identifier, that is, determines the resource corresponding to the first session, and then may perform corresponding processing on the first session according to the received information.

Optionally, the SMF2 network element may also move the first session into other talk groups. For example, as shown in table 2, the session group identities configured by the SMF1 network element and the SMF2 network element are, if the session group identity of the first session is 000, after the first session is migrated from the SMF1 network element to the SMF2 network element, the SMF2 network element may move the first session into the session group 010 or 011, that is, the session group identity of the first session may be changed from 000 to 010 or 011.

As a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, if the SMF2 network element moves the first session into another session group, the SMF2 network element may carry a new session group identifier of the first session in a response message sent to the UPF network element.

In the embodiment of the application, the identifier of the first session in the F-SEID identifier is composed of a session group identifier and an identifier in a session group, so that when the UPF network element sends a message to the SMF2 network element, only the identifier information in the F-SEID identifier needs to be replaced by the identifier information of the SMF2 network element, and the rest remains unchanged. Since the identity of the first session is unique within the set of SMF network elements, the SMF network elements can uniquely determine the first session from the identity of the first session.

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, in which other network elements in fig. 4 are user plane network elements UPF network elements, an SMF1 network element is a source second network element, and an SMF2 network element is a target second network element. In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, in order to support dynamic load balancing between SMF1 and SMF2, a service Framework (Framework) network element may be added. At this time, the message sent to the SMF1 network element or the SMF2 network element may be sent to the Framework network element first, and the Framework network element determines which SMF network element to select to provide a service for the Framework network element according to the load conditions of the SMF1 network element and the SMF2 network element.

It should be noted that the Framework network element is only an example, and may also be implemented by other network elements or functions, and may also be implemented by other services in a future network, which is not limited in this application. In the embodiments of the present application, a Framework is described as an example.

It should be understood that in this embodiment, a session may have a long-term or short-term binding relationship with a certain SMF network element, for example, a first session is served by the SMF1 network element for a certain period of time; likewise, there may be no binding relationship with the SMF network element, for example, the first session may be served by a different SMF network element in each different flow or in each different message interaction process.

It should be understood that, in this embodiment, the session context may be stored in the UDSF network element, and when the SMF network element receives a message from another network element, the SMF network element may obtain the context from the UDSF network element according to the identifier of the first session in the message, and process the session.

In this embodiment, when the first session is established, the SMF network element serving the first session sends the identifier of the first session to the UPF network element, and when the UPF network element needs to send a message to the SMF network element subsequently, the UPF network element sends the identifier of the first session to the SMF network element regardless of whether the SMF network element actually serving the session is the SMF1 network element or the SMF2 network element.

Optionally, the session group identifier in the identifier of the first session may be an identifier of a plurality of session groups in the second set of network elements (i.e., an identifier of the set of SMF network elements), or may be an identifier of one session group in the plurality of session groups in the second set of network elements.

Optionally, in order to enable the message to be sent to the frame network element, the SMF network element may send the identification information of the frame network element to the UPF network element when the first session is established.

S401, when the first session is established, the SMF1 network element provides service for the establishment of the first session. The SMF1 network element sends the identification of the first session to the UPF network element, wherein the identification of the first session comprises a session group identification and an intra-session group identification. In this embodiment, the identifier of the first session is included in the F-SEID and sent to the UPF network element.

Optionally, the SMF1 further sends identification information of the Framework network element to the UPF network element, for example, an IP address of the Framework network element.

Optionally, when the identification information of the Framework network element is an IP address, the IP address of the Framework network element may be sent to the UPF network element as an IP address in the F-SEID.

Optionally, the identification information of the Framework network element may be sent to the UPF through a cell independent of the F-SEID, and in this case, the IP address in the F-SEID may be the IP address of the SMF1 network element.

S402, the SMF1 network element decides not to serve the first session any more.

For example, in one possible implementation, the SMF network element only serves one transaction, and no service is provided for the session after the transaction is completed; alternatively, in another possible implementation, the SMF1 network element may decide not to serve the first session any more when it is going to be powered off or during capacity reduction, in which case the SMF1 network element needs to inform the Framework network element that the first session is not to be served any more.

S403, the UPF network element needs to send a message related to the first session, for example, when the UPF network element receives a downlink data packet related to the first session and finds that there is no corresponding downlink tunnel, the UPF network element needs to send a downlink data notification to the SMF network element.

And the UPF network element acquires the F-SEID corresponding to the first session. In this embodiment, the F-SEID includes the identity of the first session. If the identification information of the Framework network element is received in S401, the F-SEID further includes the identification information of the Framework network element, so as to send the message to the Framework network element.

Step 404, the Framework network element selects a target SMF network element for the first session. And when the Framework network element receives the message related to the first session, the Framework network element selects a target SMF network element according to the identifier of the first session in the F-SEID. As shown in fig. 4, in this embodiment, an SMF2 network element may be selected as the target SMF network element.

Specifically, the Framework network element selects a target SMF network element according to the session group identifier in the F-SEID. For example, when the frame network element stores the corresponding relationship between the session group identifier and the target SMF network element, the frame network element may select the target SMF network element according to the corresponding relationship; or, the Framework network element may select any one SMF network element from the SMF network element set corresponding to the session group identifier according to the session group identifier; or select the target SMF network element in other manners, which is not limited in this embodiment.

S405, the frame network element sends a message related to the first session to the SMF2 network element, wherein the message comprises an F-SEID, and the F-SEID comprises an identifier of the first session.

S406, the SMF2 network element determines the first session according to the identifier of the first session in the F-SEID identifier, that is, determines the resource corresponding to the first session, and then may perform corresponding processing on the first session according to the received information.

In the embodiment of the application, the identifier of the first session in the F-SEID identifier is composed of a session group identifier and an identifier in a session group, so that the UPF network element only needs to carry the identifier of the first session in the F-SEID identifier when sending a message to the SMF2 network element. Since the identity of the first session is unique within the set of SMF network elements, the SMF network elements can uniquely determine the first session from the identity of the first session.

Fig. 5 shows an exemplary flowchart of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, where other network elements in fig. 5 are control plane network elements other than SMF network elements, and fig. 5 illustrates that other network elements are AMF network elements as an example. As shown in fig. 5, the SMF1 network element is a source SMF network element, and the SMF2 network element is a target SMF network element.

In one possible implementation, the SMF1 network element may allocate a context reference identifier for the session at session setup, and send the context reference identifier to the AMF network element. When the AMF network element needs to send a message related to the session subsequently, the AMF network element may generate a URI using the context reference identifier, and send the URI to the SMF1 network element, where the URI may include identification information of the SMF and a session identifier, and the session identifier includes a session group identifier corresponding to the session and an intra-session group identifier of the session. The identification information of the SMF may be the FQDN of the SMF or the IP address of the SMF.

One exemplary format of a URI is: https:// < SMF Name >/nsmf-pdussion/V1/sm-contexts/SmContextRef, wherein SMF Name refers to identification information of SMF, nsmf-pdussion is a service Name, V1 corresponds to a service version, sm-contexts indicates that an object operated by the URI is a session context, and smcontref is a session identification.

Optionally, according to HTTP2.0, the authorized domain (Authority) of the URI includes the identity of the SMF.

It should be understood that the URI in this embodiment is only an example, and in actual use, besides that the authorized domain must include the SMF identifier, other parts in the URI may be adjusted according to needs, for example, other contents are inserted between the authorized domain and the nsmf-pdussion, and the embodiment does not limit this.

Optionally, the context reference identifier may be allocated by the SMF1 network element, and may be used to uniquely determine the resource corresponding to the session within the SMF1 network element.

When the SMF1 network element fails to work normally, for example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off, fails or undergoes capacity reduction, the session needs to be migrated from the SMF1 network element to the SMF2 network element. If the AMF network element needs to modify or delete the session, the AMF network element first selects an SMF2 network element, and then the AMF network element needs to send an identifier, which can be used for searching for the session, to the SMF2 network element, so that the SMF2 network element finds the corresponding session according to the identifier corresponding to the session. At this time, the session identification needs to be unique in the SMF1 network element and the SMF2 network element.

In this embodiment of the present application, a plurality of control plane network elements may be regarded as a network element set, and a plurality of session group identifiers are configured for each SMF network element in the SMF network element set, for example, session group identifiers 000 and 001 may be configured in the SMF1 network element, and session group identifiers 010 and 011 may be configured in the SMF2 network element.

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, when creating a session, the SMF1 network element may select one of the session group identifiers configured by the SMF1 network element for the session as a session group identifier of the session, and determine an intra-session group identifier for the session in the session group, where the intra-session group identifier may uniquely identify the session in the session group. Then, the SMF1 network element sends the session group identifier and the intra-session group identifier corresponding to the session to the AMF network element.

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, the session identifier may be composed of a session group identifier and an intra-session group identifier.

In this embodiment of the present application, the AMF network element may generate a URI using smccontextref and send the URI to the SMF2 network element, and smccontextref may include a session group identifier and an intra-session group identifier corresponding to the session, so as to ensure that smccontextref is unique within the SMF network element set. For example, the SmContextRef may be in the format:

SmContextRef＝/session-group-id<session group id>/SessionRefID

for example, if the session group id corresponding to the session is 000, the corresponding SmContextRef ═ session-group-id 000/SessionRefIdInGroup.

It should be understood that the above is merely an example, and in practical applications, it is only required that the Session-group-id field includes a Session group identifier, and the sessionrefid is unique in a Session group or an SMF network element, so as to ensure that the SmContextRef is unique in the SMF network element set.

Thus, when the AMF network element needs to send the session-related message to the SMF2 network element, the AMF network element only needs to generate a URI according to a certain format according to the identification information of the SMF2 network element and the original SmContextRef, and send the URI to the SMF2 network element, where the authorized domain of the URI includes the identification information of the SMF 2. The SMF2 network element can uniquely locate the session based on the SmContextRef in the received URI.

The SmContextRef comprises a session group identifier and a session group identifier corresponding to the session. Wherein the identification within the conversation group can uniquely identify the conversation within the conversation group.

In a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, when finding that the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session, the AMF network element may obtain the identification information of the SMF2 network element that serves the session, generate a URI according to a certain format and the identification information of the SMF2 network element and the original SmContextRef, and send the message related to the session to the SMF2 network element using the URI.

In this embodiment of the application, the method for determining, by the AMF network element, that the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session may be as described in fig. 2, and details are not described here. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, other methods may also be used to determine that the SMF1 network element no longer provides a service for the session, which is not limited in this application.

Similarly, when the SMF1 network element no longer provides services for the session, the method for the AMF network element to determine the target SMF network element serving the session may be as described in fig. 2, and is not described herein again. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, other methods may also be used to determine the target SMF network element serving for the session, which is not limited in this application.

The processing flow of the AMF network element when it finds that the SMF1 network element is no longer serving the session is shown in fig. 5, which includes the following steps.

S501, in the network element level initialization message or when the AMF network element and the SMF1 network element have message interaction for the first time, the SMF1 network element may send the session group identifier corresponding to the session group served by the SMF1 network element to the AMF network element.

Optionally, the SMF1 network element may send identification information of a target SMF network element (SMF2 network element) corresponding to the session group served by the SMF1 network element to the UPF network element, for example, the FQDN or IP address of the SMF2 network element may be sent to the UPF network element.

S502, when the first session is established, the SMF1 network element may determine an identifier of the first session, and send the identifier of the first session to the AMF network element, where the identifier of the first session may include a session group identifier and an intra-session group identifier.

The SMF1 network element allocates SmContextRef identification, the SmContextRef identification comprises a conversation group identification and an intra-conversation group identification, and the SMF1 network element sends the SmContextRef identification to the AMF network element.

S503, when the SMF1 network element no longer serves the first session, for example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off, has a failure, or is subjected to capacity reduction, the SMF1 network element may send a network element level notification message to the AMF network element. The SMF1 network element may carry in the notification message the identity of the talk group it is no longer serving.

For example, when the SMF1 network element is powered off, the SMF1 network element may carry an identifier of a session group corresponding to the first session in a notification message sent to the AMF network element.

Optionally, the SMF1 network element may carry, in the notification message sent to the AMF network element, the identification information of its corresponding target SMF network element (SMF2 network element).

S504, when the AMF network element needs to send a message to a target SMF network element serving the first session, the AMF network element may first determine that the target SMF network element is an SMF2 network element.

Specifically, the method for determining, by the AMF network element, the target SMF network element serving the first session may be as described in fig. 2, and is not described herein again. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, other methods may also be used to determine the target SMF network element serving as the first session, which is not limited in this application.

And S505, the AMF network element generates a new URI according to the identification information of the SMF2 network element, and sends the message to the SMF2 network element by using the new URI.

In an embodiment of the application, the AMF network element generates a URI based on the identification information of the SMF2 network element and the SmContextRef identification, and transmits a message (e.g., a session update request) related to the first session to the SMF2 network element using the newly generated URI.

S506, after receiving the message, the SMF2 network element determines the first session according to the identifier of the first session in the smcextref identifier in the URI, that is, determines the resource corresponding to the first session, and may subsequently perform corresponding processing on the first session according to the received information.

In this embodiment of the present application, if the SMF2 network element moves the first session into another session group, the SMF2 network element may carry a new session identifier of the first session in a response message sent to the AMF network element.

In the embodiment of the application, the SmContextRef identifier consists of a session group identifier and an identifier in a session group, so that when the other control plane sends a message to the SMF2 network element, only the authorized domain part in the original URI needs to be replaced by the IP address or FQDN of the SMF2 network element, and the other part remains unchanged. Since the SmContextRe identification is unique within the set of SMF network elements, the SMF2 network element can uniquely determine the first session from the SmContextRef identification.

As a possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, the source second network element may subscribe to an event from another network element.

For example, the SMF1 network element is taken as a source second network element, the SMF2 network element is taken as a target second network element, and the first network element is taken as an AMF network element.

The SMF1 network element may subscribe to the AMF for mobility events, e.g., the SMF1 network element subscribes to notification messages that the UE moves out of or into a certain area. The subscription event is related to the session, and therefore, after the session is migrated to the SMF2 network element, if the event occurs, for example, the UE moves out of a certain area, the AMF network element needs to send a notification message of the event to the SMF network element.

To support notification of mobility events, the SMF1 network element sends a callback URI (callback URI) to the AMF network element for the AMF network element to send notification messages when subscribing.

Optionally, the SMF1 network element may also send a notification association identifier to the AMF network element.

In this embodiment, the SMF1 network element may determine the session subscribed to the notification message in the following two ways:

the first method is as follows: the session is uniquely determined by the callback URI.

In this manner, the SMF1 network element may include sufficient information to locate the session in the Callback URI sent to the AMF network element.

The second method comprises the following steps: the session is uniquely determined using the notification association identification.

In this manner, the SMF1 network element may send a notification association identifier to the AMF network element, where the notification association identifier may be used to uniquely determine the session.

After the session is migrated to the SMF2 network element, in order to ensure that the SMF2 network element can find the session when the AMF network element sends a message to the SMF2 network element, the following method is adopted in the present embodiment.

For the first mode, the callback URI allocated by the source SMF network element includes a session group identifier and a session resource identifier, where the session resource identifier is unique within the session group. Thus, when the AMF network element needs to send the notification message, when the callback URI of the target SMF network element is generated according to the callback URI provided by the source SMF network element, only the authorized domain part in the callback URI needs to be replaced by the IP address or FQDN of the target SMF network element. Because the callback URI comprises the session group identifier and the session resource identifier, the target SMF network element can uniquely locate the session context according to the two information. The format of the session group identity and the session resource identity in the callback URI may be similar to the previously described definitions of SmContextRef.

For the second mode, the notification association identifier allocated by the source SMF network element also includes a session group identifier and a session resource identifier. And the target SMF network element locates the session context according to the session group identifier and the session resource identifier in the notification association identifier. When the AMF network element sends the notification message, only the authorized domain part in the callback URI provided by the source SMF network element needs to be replaced by the IP address or FQDN of the target SMF network element, and the notification association identifier is kept unchanged. The format of the notification association identity may be similar to the previously described definition of SmContextRef or similar to the definition of the session identity in the F-SEID.

In this embodiment, the Callback URI or the notification association identifier includes a session group identifier and a session unique identifier, so that other control planes only need to replace the SMF authorized domain part in the original URI with the IP address or FQDN of the target SMF network element when sending the notification message to the target SMF network element, and the other parts remain unchanged.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a network element 600 of an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that network element 600 is merely an example. The network element of the embodiment of the present application may further include other modules or units, or include modules with functions similar to those of each module in fig. 6, or not include all the modules in fig. 6.

A processing module 610, configured to determine an identity of a first session, the first session being a session served by a source second network element of the at least two second network elements, the identity of the first session being used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identity of the first session includes a first identity and a second identity, the first identity is used to indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs, and the second identity is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included by the first session group;

a sending module 620, configured to: when the first session is migrated from the source second network element to a target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the first network element sends an identification of the first session to the target second network element.

Optionally, the sending module is specifically configured to send first information to the target second network element, where the first information includes identification information of the target second network element and an identification of the first session.

Optionally, the network element further includes a receiving module, configured to receive second information from the source second network element before the network element sends the first information to the target second network element, where the second information includes identification information of the source second network element and an identification of the first session. The processing module is further configured to replace the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element, so as to obtain the first information.

Optionally, the receiving module is further configured to: receiving third information from the target second network element, where the third information includes identification information of the target second network element and a session group identification of a session group served by the target second network element.

Optionally, the second information is any one of a full session identifier F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identifier, and the first information includes an identifier of the first session.

Optionally, the processing module 610 is further configured to: when the second information is F-SEID, replacing the IP address carried by the IP address field of the Internet protocol in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is a URI, replacing the fully qualified domain name FQDN carried by the authorized domain field in the URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized domain field in the URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is a callback URI, replacing the FQDN carried by the authorized field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or when the second information is the notification association identifier, replacing the FQDN carried by the authorized domain field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized domain field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element, wherein the callback URI and the notification association identifier are sent in the same message.

Optionally, the network element 600 is any one of the following: the network comprises a user plane function UPF network element, an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

Optionally, the second network element is any one of: the network comprises an access and mobility management function network element, a session management function network element, a policy management function network element, an authentication server function network element, a unified data management network element, a network element storage function network element or an unstructured data storage function network element.

The network element 600 may be configured to perform the steps performed by the first network element in the method described in fig. 2, and for brevity, will not be described here again.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a network element 700 of an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that network element 700 is merely an example. The network element of the embodiments of the present application may further include other modules or units, or include modules having functions similar to those of the respective modules in fig. 7, or not include all the modules in fig. 7.

A processing module 710, configured to determine an identity of a first session, where the first session is a session served by at least two second network elements, and the identity of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identity of the first session includes a first identity and a second identity, where the first identity is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identity is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

a sending module 720, configured to send the identifier of the first session to a target second network element in the at least two second network elements.

Optionally, the sending module 720 is specifically configured to: and sending first information to the target second network element, wherein the first information comprises the identifier of the first session.

Optionally, the first information is a full session identity F-SEID.

Optionally, the processing module 710 is further configured to: replacing an IP address carried by an Internet Protocol (IP) address field in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or setting the IP address carried by the Internet protocol address field in the F-SEID as the IP address of the service framework.

Optionally, the network element further includes a receiving module 730, configured to: receiving second information from the source second network element, the second information including an identification of the first session.

Optionally, the second information is a full session identity F-SEID.

Optionally, the second message further includes an IP address of a service framework network element corresponding to the second network element.

Optionally, the network element 700 is a user plane function UPF network element.

Optionally, the source second network element is a session management function, SMF, network element.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a network element 800 of an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that network element 800 is merely an example. The network element of the embodiment of the present application may further include other modules or units, or include modules having functions similar to those of the respective modules in fig. 8, or not include all the modules in fig. 8.

A processing module 810, configured to generate an identification of a first session, the first session being a session served by the source second network element of the at least two second network elements, the identification of the first session being used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session includes a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

a sending module 820, configured to send an identifier of the first session to the first network element.

Optionally, the sending module 820 is specifically configured to: and sending second information to the first network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of a target second network element in the at least two second network elements and the identification of the first session.

Optionally, the second information is any one of a full session identifier F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identifier.

Optionally, the network element 800 is any one of the following: the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

The network element 800 may be configured to perform the steps performed by the source second network element in the method described in fig. 2, and for brevity, no further description is provided here.

Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a network element 900 of an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that network element 900 is merely an example. The network element of the embodiment of the present application may further include other modules or units, or include modules having functions similar to those of the respective modules in fig. 9, or not include all the modules in fig. 9.

A receiving module 910, configured to receive, from a first network element, an identification of a first session, where the first session is a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, and the identification of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identification of the first session includes a first identification and a second identification, where the first identification is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

the processing module 920 is configured to determine the first session according to the identifier of the first session.

Optionally, the receiving module 910 is specifically configured to: receiving first information from the first network element, the first information including identification information of the network element and an identification of the first session.

Optionally, the first information is any one of a full session identifier F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identifier.

Optionally, the network element 900 is any one of the following: the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

The network element 900 may be configured to perform the steps performed by the target second network element in the method described in fig. 2, and for brevity, the description is not repeated here.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a network element according to an embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that the network element 10100 shown in fig. 10 is only an example, and the network element of the embodiment of the present application may further include other modules or units, or include modules having functions similar to those of the respective modules in fig. 10.

The network element 1000 may include one or more processors 1010, one or more memories 1020, a receiver 1030, and a transmitter 1040. The receiver 1030 and the transmitter 1040 may be integrated together, referred to as a transceiver. Memory 1020 is used to store program code that is executed by processor 1010. The memory 1020 may be integrated into the processor 1010, or the processor 1010 may be coupled to one or more memories 1020 for fetching instructions from the memory 1020.

In one embodiment, the processor 1010 may be configured to implement the operations or steps that the processing module 610 of fig. 6 is capable of implementing, the transmitter 1040 may be configured to implement the operations or steps that the transmitting module 620 of fig. 6 is capable of implementing, and the receiver 1030 may be configured to implement the operations or steps that the receiving module 630 of fig. 6 is capable of implementing.

In another embodiment, processor 1010 may be used to implement operations or steps capable of being implemented by processing module 710 of fig. 7, transmitter 1040 may be used to implement operations or steps capable of being implemented by transmitting module 720 of fig. 7, and receiver 1030 may be used to implement operations or steps capable of being implemented by receiving module 730 of fig. 7.

In yet another embodiment, processor 1010 may be used to implement operations or steps enabled by determination module 810 in FIG. 8, and transmitter 1040 may be used to implement operations or steps enabled by transmission module 820 in FIG. 8.

In yet another embodiment, processor 1010 may be used to implement operations or steps that processing module 920 of fig. 9 is capable of implementing, and receiver 1030 may be used to implement operations or steps that receiving module 910 of fig. 9 is capable of implementing.

It should be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general-purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, and the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will also be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can 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. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of Random Access Memory (RAM) are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct bus RAM (DR RAM).

The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer instructions or computer programs. The procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are wholly or partially generated when the computer instructions or the computer program are loaded or executed on a computer. 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 on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (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 such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more collections of available media. 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. The semiconductor medium may be a solid state disk.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" herein is merely one type of association relationship that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that, in the various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. 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 application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

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

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application or portions thereof that substantially contribute to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

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

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising:

a first network element determines an identification of a first session, wherein the first session is a session served by a source second network element, and the identification of the first session is used for uniquely indicating the first session in a plurality of sessions served by at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprises a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used for uniquely indicating a first session group to which the first session belongs in the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used for uniquely indicating the first session in the sessions included in the first session group;

when the first session is migrated from the source second network element to a target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the first network element sends an identification of the first session to the target second network element.

2. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the sending, by the first network element, the identifier of the first session to the target second network element comprises:

and the first network element sends first information to the target second network element, wherein the first information comprises the identification information of the target second network element and the identification of the first session.

3. The communication method according to claim 2, wherein before the first network element sends the first information to the target second network element, the communication method further comprises:

the first network element receives second information from the source second network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of the source second network element and an identification of the first session;

and the first network element replaces the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element to obtain first information.

4. The communication method according to claim 3, wherein the second information is any one of a full session identity F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identity.

5. The communication method according to claim 4, wherein the replacing, by the first network element, the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element by the first network element includes:

when the second information is F-SEID, replacing the IP address loaded by the IP address field of the Internet protocol in the F-SEID from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or

When the second information is a URI, replacing a fully qualified domain name FQDN (fully qualified domain name) carried by an authorized domain field in the URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing an IP address carried by the authorized domain field in the URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or

When the second information is a callback URI, replacing the FQDN carried by the authorized field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element; or

And when the second information is the notification association identifier, replacing the FQDN carried by the authorized domain field in the callback URI from the FQDN of the source second network element to the FQDN of the target second network element, or replacing the IP address carried by the authorized domain field in the callback URI from the IP address of the source second network element to the IP address of the target second network element, wherein the callback URI and the notification association identifier are sent in the same message.

6. A method of communication, comprising:

a source second network element generating an identification of a first session, the first session being a session served by the source second network element of at least two second network elements, the identification of the first session being used for uniquely indicating the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprising a first identification for uniquely indicating a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups and a second identification for uniquely indicating the first session among sessions included by the first session group;

and the source second network element sends the identifier of the first session to the first network element.

7. The communication method according to claim 6, wherein the sending, by the source second network element, the identifier of the first session to the first network element comprises:

and the source second network element sends second information to the first network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of a target second network element in the at least two second network elements and the identification of the first session.

8. The communication method according to claim 7, wherein the second information is any one of a full session identity F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identity.

9. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving, by a target second network element, an identification of a first session from a first network element, the first session being a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, the identification of the first session being used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, wherein the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, the identification of the first session comprising a first identification used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups and a second identification used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

and the target second network element determines the first session according to the identifier of the first session.

10. The communications method of claim 9, wherein the target second network element receiving the identification of the first session from the first network element comprises:

the target second network element receives first information from the first network element, where the first information includes identification information of the target second network element and an identification of the first session.

11. The communication method according to claim 10, wherein the first information is any one of a full session identity F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identity.

12. The communication method according to any of claims 1 to 11, wherein the first network element is any one of the following:

the network comprises a user plane function UPF network element, an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

13. The communication method according to any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the second network element is any of the following:

the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

14. A network element, comprising:

a processing module, configured to determine an identity of a first session, where the first session is a session served by a source second network element of the at least two second network elements, and the identity of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identity of the first session includes a first identity and a second identity, where the first identity is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identity is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

a sending module configured to: when the first session is migrated from the source second network element to a target second network element of the at least two second network elements, the first network element sends an identification of the first session to the target second network element.

15. The network element of claim 14, wherein the sending module is specifically configured to send first information to the target second network element, where the first information includes identification information of the target second network element and an identification of the first session.

16. The network element of claim 15, wherein the network element further comprises a receiving module, configured to receive second information from the source second network element before the network element sends the first information to the target second network element, where the second information includes identification information of the source second network element and the identification of the first session;

the processing module is further configured to replace the identification information of the source second network element in the second information with the identification information of the target second network element, so as to obtain the first information.

17. The network element of claim 16, wherein the second information is any one of a full session identity F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identity, and wherein the first information comprises an identity of the first session.

18. The network element of claim 17, wherein the processing module is further configured to:

19. The network element according to any of claims 14 to 18, wherein the network element is any of: the network comprises a user plane function UPF network element, an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

20. The network element of any of claims 14 to 19, wherein the source second network element is any of:

the network comprises an access and mobility management function network element, a session management function network element, a policy management function network element, an authentication server function network element, a unified data management network element, a network element storage function network element or an unstructured data storage function network element.

21. A network element, comprising:

a processing module, configured to generate an identifier of a first session, where the first session is a session served by the source second network element of the at least two second network elements, and the identifier of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identifier of the first session includes a first identifier and a second identifier, the first identifier is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identifier is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

a sending module, configured to send an identifier of the first session to the first network element.

22. The network element of claim 21, wherein the sending module is specifically configured to:

and sending second information to the first network element, wherein the second information comprises identification information of a target second network element in the at least two second network elements and the identification of the first session.

23. The network element of claim 22, wherein the second information is any one of a full session identity F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identity.

24. The network element according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the network element is any of: the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.

25. A network element, comprising:

a receiving module, configured to receive, from a first network element, an identification of a first session, where the first session is a session served by a source second network element of at least two second network elements, and the identification of the first session is used to uniquely indicate the first session among a plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements, where the plurality of sessions served by the at least two second network elements are divided into a plurality of session groups, and the identification of the first session includes a first identification and a second identification, the first identification is used to uniquely indicate a first session group to which the first session belongs among the plurality of session groups, and the second identification is used to uniquely indicate the first session among sessions included in the first session group;

and the processing module is used for determining the first session according to the identifier of the first session.

26. The network element of claim 25, wherein the receiving module is specifically configured to:

receiving first information from the first network element, the first information including identification information of the network element and an identification of the first session.

27. The network element of claim 26, wherein the first information is any one of a full session identity F-SEID, a uniform resource descriptor URI, a callback uniform resource descriptor URI, or a notification association identity.

28. The network element according to any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the network element is any of: the network comprises an access and mobility management function AMF network element, a session management function SMF network element, a policy management function PCF network element, an authentication server function AUSF network element, a unified data management UDM network element, a network element storage function NRF network element or an unstructured data storage function UDSF network element.