CN111417152B

CN111417152B - Data distribution method and device and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN111417152B
Application number: CN201910013499.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王丹; 刘超
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2019-01-07
Filing date: 2019-01-07
Publication date: 2023-03-28
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-07
Also published as: CN111417152A

Abstract

The invention discloses a data distribution method, which is applied to a user plane service gateway (SGW-U), wherein the SGW-U is positioned at the edge of a network, and the method comprises the following steps: receiving a data packet to be distributed sent by User Equipment (UE), and determining a destination address of the data packet to be distributed; wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE; and determining to distribute the data packets to be distributed to a target user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) based on the destination address of the data packets to be distributed. The embodiment of the invention also discloses a data shunting device and a computer readable storage medium.

Description

Data distribution method and device and computer readable storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications technologies, and in particular, to a data offloading method and apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background

In a 4 th generation mobile communication Network, a Serving Gateway (SGW) and a Packet data Gateway (PGW) are deployed in a provincial center, and a data stream needs to be processed by the SGW/PGW deployed in the provincial center. However, with the rapid increase of internet traffic, the amount of data that needs to be processed by the core network tends to increase at a high speed; if the data traffic is still processed centrally through the SGW and PGW, a data congestion problem is inevitably caused. Therefore, a local offloading technology for transmitting data traffic to a local network or the internet through a local gateway becomes a key technology for solving data congestion of a core network.

Currently, 3rd Generation Partnership project (3 gpp) proposes a technical solution of Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) to implement local offloading of data. Specifically, under the above-mentioned CUPS architecture, the SGWs and PGWs are divided into SGW-C and PGW-C with control plane functions (i.e. carrying control signaling), and SGW-U and PGW-U with user plane functions (i.e. carrying user data). The method comprises the steps that an SGW-U and a PGW-U are deployed at the edge of a network, and shunt data packets sent by User Equipment (UE) after a shunt decision is made are received; however, the coverage is small because the SGW-U and the PGW-U are deployed at the edge of the network; once the UE moves out of the coverage of the SGW-U or PGW-U, the network connection is cut off, so the UE needs to re-initiate the session establishment procedure; then, the data may be interrupted during the transmission process, which may cause the problems of reduced data distribution efficiency and increased data transmission delay.

In another prior art, a Remote Gateway (RGW) owned by the plant home is deployed at the edge of the network for local breakout; however, since the evolved node b (eNB), the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) cannot perceive the private RGW, the network cannot establish a data tunnel from the eNB to the RGW; if the RGW needs to be deployed, the RGW needs to be deployed on a data path of an S1-U interface, so that the complexity of network construction is increased; meanwhile, as in the first scheme, when the UE moves out of the range of the RGW, smooth and continuous local breakout service cannot be provided. Therefore, a data offloading method is needed to ensure the efficiency and continuity of local data offloading without increasing the complexity of network construction.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a data offloading method and apparatus, and a computer-readable storage medium, which solve the problems in the prior art that data transmission is easily interrupted, data offloading efficiency is low, time is prolonged, and network construction is complex.

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

the embodiment of the invention provides a data distribution method, which is applied to an SGW-U (serving gateway-U), wherein the SGW-U is positioned at the edge of a network, and the method comprises the following steps:

receiving a data packet to be distributed sent by User Equipment (UE), and determining a destination address of the data packet to be distributed; wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE;

and determining to distribute the data packets to be distributed to a target user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) based on the destination address of the data packets to be distributed.

The embodiment of the invention provides a data shunting method, which is applied to SGW-C and comprises the following steps:

acquiring the position information of User Equipment (UE);

determining a target user plane service gateway (SGW-U) corresponding to the UE based on the position information of the UE; wherein the target SGW-U is located at a network edge.

The embodiment of the invention provides a data distribution method, which is applied to PGW-C and comprises the following steps:

acquiring the position information of User Equipment (UE);

determining a first user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE based on the location information;

wherein the first PGW-U is located at a network edge; the second PGW-U is located at a core network.

The embodiment of the invention provides a data distribution method, which is applied to MME and comprises the following steps:

receiving an attachment request sent by a user terminal UE; wherein, the attach request at least includes the data distribution subscription information of the user equipment UE; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether data distribution is performed or not, which is signed by the UE and the core network

Identifying the data distribution subscription information of the UE and obtaining an identification result of the data distribution subscription information;

and sending the authentication result of the shunting subscription information to the SGW-C.

The present invention provides an SGW-U, which is located at a network edge, and includes:

the system comprises a first communication interface, a second communication interface and a third communication interface, wherein the first communication interface is used for receiving a data packet to be distributed sent by User Equipment (UE) and determining a destination address of the data packet to be distributed; wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE;

and the first processor is used for determining to distribute the data packets to be distributed to a target user plane packet data gateway PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packets to be distributed.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an SGW-C, where the SGW-C includes:

the second communication interface is used for acquiring the position information of the user terminal UE;

a second processor, configured to determine, based on the location information of the UE, a target user plane serving gateway SGW-U corresponding to the UE; wherein the target SGW-U is located at the edge of the network.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a PGW-C, including:

a third communication interface, configured to obtain location information of a user equipment UE;

a third processor, configured to determine, based on the location information, a first user plane packet data gateway PGW-U and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE; wherein the first PGW-U is located at a network edge; the second PGW-U is located at a core network.

The embodiment of the invention provides an MME, which is characterized by comprising:

a fourth communication interface, configured to receive an attach request sent by a user equipment UE; wherein, the attach request at least includes the data distribution subscription information of the user equipment UE; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether data distribution is performed or not, wherein the information is signed by the UE and a core network;

the fourth processor is configured to authenticate the data distribution subscription information of the UE and obtain an authentication result of the data distribution subscription information;

the fourth communication interface is further configured to send the authentication result of the split subscription information to the SGW-C.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a communication device, including: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is adapted to perform the steps of the method when running the computer program.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the foregoing method.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which is characterized by storing one or more programs, which are executable by one or more processors, to implement the steps of the information identification method according to the first aspect.

First, an SGW-U receives a data packet to be distributed sent by a UE, and determines a destination address of the data packet to be distributed; the UE and the SGW-U have an association relation; and then, the SGW-U determines to distribute the data packets to be distributed to the target PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packets to be distributed. Therefore, the SGW-U at the edge of the network can be used as a decision node, and the data packet to be distributed is determined to be distributed to the target PGW-U according to the destination address of the data packet to be distributed. Therefore, the SGW-U provided by the embodiment of the invention has the shunting capacity, and can send the data to be shunted to the target PGW-U to realize local unloading; meanwhile, the UE can directly establish the association relationship between the SGW-U and the UE in the network attachment process, so that the process of initiating session establishment is reestablished under the condition that the UE moves is avoided; the continuity of data transmission is guaranteed, meanwhile, under the condition that the original network construction complexity is guaranteed, the data distribution efficiency is improved, and the data transmission time delay is reduced.

Drawings

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like reference numerals may describe similar components in different views. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed herein.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a standard CUPS network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a private remote gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of another data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of another data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a data offloading method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a data offloading method according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a data offloading method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a terminal network attachment method based on a data offloading scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an SGW-U according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an SGW-C according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a PGW-C according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic view of an MME composition structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

So that the manner in which the features and elements of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings.

In practical applications, the SGW and PGW have both control plane functions (i.e., carrying control signaling) and user plane functions (i.e., carrying user data). After the 3GPP proposes the CUPS technology, the control plane function and the user plane function of the SGW and the PGW may be split into different network elements; as shown in fig. 1, in a standard CUPS network architecture, the SGW and the PGW may be divided into SGW-C and PGW-C network elements with control plane functions and SGW-U and PGW-U network elements divided into user plane functions; meanwhile, in the standard CUPS architecture, the Traffic Detection Function (TDF) can be further divided into TDF-C, TDF-U. In addition, the network element in fig. 1 can keep the interface with other network elements in the Evolved Packet Core (EPC).

In the network architecture, the SGW-U and the PGW-U may be deployed at the edge of the network, and may receive and distribute the distributed data packets according to the decision of the UE, that is, the UE directly decides to send the data to the corresponding SGW-U and PGW-U; thus, when the UE moves out of the coverage of the SGW-U or PGW-U, the established network connection is interrupted, and the UE needs to initiate the session establishment procedure again.

A scheme of a private remote gateway is also proposed in the related art, as shown in fig. 2, an RGW provided by a certain manufacturer may be placed at a network edge, and the RGW may determine, through a destination IP address of a data packet sent by the UE, whether to send data to a corresponding application server or to a data network corresponding to an SGW-U and a PGW-U located at a core network; in addition, the core network in the network architecture shown in fig. 2 further includes an MME, a PCRF, an SGWC, and a PGW-C. In practical application, the eNB, the MME and the PCRF cannot perceive the private RGW, and thus cannot establish a data tunnel from the eNB to the RGW; therefore, when the network is deployed, the RGW is deployed on the data path of the S1-U; therefore, the complexity of network construction is reduced by using the scheme. In addition, this scheme also has a problem in service continuity, i.e., once the UE moves out of the coverage of the RGW, it will not be able to obtain the edge content service.

In order to solve the problems in the related art solutions, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 3, where the method includes the following steps:

step 301, receiving a data packet to be distributed sent by a user equipment UE, and determining a destination address of the data packet to be distributed.

Wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the step 101 receives a data packet to be shunted sent by a user equipment UE, and determines that a destination address of the data packet to be shunted can be implemented by an SGW-U. Here, the SGW-U refers to a serving gateway device for providing a user plane function, and is capable of providing packet data routing and forwarding functions; in this embodiment, the SGW-U is located at the edge of the network, has a local offloading capability, and can decide whether to offload a data packet to be offloaded. Generally, a plurality of SGW-us can be deployed at different positions of the network edge, and one SGW-U can provide services for a plurality of enbs.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE; specifically, the SGW-C selects an SGW-U meeting a preset condition from a plurality of deployed SGW-Us according to the position information of the UE, and establishes an association relation between the UE and the SGW-U in the network attachment process of the UE; the preset condition may be that the relative position distance satisfies a preset threshold.

In practical application, after the UE completes the attach process, the UE can directly access the network; at this time, the SGW-U may receive the data packet to be shunted sent by the UE. The data packet to be shunted carries a destination address, for example, a destination IP address of the data packet to be shunted. At this time, the SGW-U may decide whether to perform local traffic offload according to the destination IP address of the data packet to be offloaded.

Step 302, determining to distribute the data packet to be distributed to a target user plane packet data gateway PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packet to be distributed.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the step of determining that the data packet to be offloaded to the target user plane packet data gateway PGW-U can be implemented by the SGW-U based on the destination address of the data packet to be offloaded. Here, the PGW-U refers to a network element device that can be connected to different networks and perform data transmission, and specifically, the PGW-U may perform protocol conversion on a packet data packet and send the converted data to a corresponding destination address.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the target PGW-U may be a first PGW-U; the first PGW-U is deployed at the edge of the network like the SGW-U, and can convert data of data packets to be shunted received from the SGW-U and finally send the data packets to the local network.

In another embodiment, the target PGW-U may also be a second PGW-U; the second PGW-U is deployed in the core network, and may perform data conversion on a data packet to be offloaded received from the SGW-U, and finally send the data packet to the non-local network.

In this embodiment, the SGW-U may determine, according to a destination address of a data packet to be shunted, whether to send the data packet to be shunted to the first PGW-U or the second PGW-U; it can be considered that the SGW-U determines whether to offload the data packet locally according to the destination address of the data packet to be offloaded. When the SGW-U determines to send the data packet to be offloaded to the first PGW-U located at the edge of the network, it may consider that the data is successfully offloaded into the local network.

The data distribution method provided by the embodiment of the invention can realize local unloading of data to be distributed based on the SGW-U with the distribution capability, and meanwhile, the UE can establish the incidence relation between the SGW-U and the UE in the network attachment process, thereby avoiding reestablishing the flow of initiating session establishment under the condition that the UE moves; the continuity of data transmission is guaranteed, meanwhile, under the condition that the original network construction complexity is guaranteed, the data distribution efficiency is improved, and the data transmission time delay is reduced.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 4, where the method includes the following steps:

step 401, obtaining location information of a user equipment UE.

Wherein, the step 401 of acquiring the location information of the UE may be implemented by the SGW-C; the SGW-C refers to a serving gateway device providing a control plane function. In practical applications, the SGW-C is located at the core network and is capable of establishing a connection with other network element devices in the core network. Here, there may be multiple SGW-cs at the core network, each capable of managing multiple SGW-us located at the edge of the network.

In practical application, when a UE performs network attachment, the UE sends an attachment request to an MME, where the attachment request at least carries location information of the UE. And the MME selects the SGW-C corresponding to the UE position according to the position information of the UE.

Further, the MME sends a session creation request to the selected SGW-C, and the session creation request still carries the location information of the UE. In this way, the SGW-C can acquire the location information of the UE from the MME. Here, the location information of the UE may be determined by Tracking Area (TA) or Cell identity (Cell ID).

Step 402, determining a target user plane service gateway SGW-U corresponding to the UE based on the position information of the UE.

Wherein the SGW-U is located at the edge of the network.

In other embodiments of the present invention, step 402 may determine, based on the location information of the UE, that the target user plane serving gateway SGW-U corresponding to the UE is implemented by an SGW-C.

In this embodiment, the SGW-C may manage a plurality of SGW-us located at the edge of the network; it is understood that the SGW-C, although located in the core network, manages the SGW-U in different areas. In this way, the SGW-C selects the SGW-U meeting the preset condition from a plurality of SGW-Us deployed at the edge of the network according to the acquired position information of the UE, and establishes the association relationship between the UE and the SGW-U in the network attachment process of the UE; the preset condition may be that the relative position distance satisfies a preset threshold.

Through the steps, a target SGW-U corresponding to the UE is selected in the network attachment process of the UE; therefore, when data transmission is performed, the target SGW-U can receive the data packet to be shunted sent by the UE, and can determine to shunt the data packet to be shunted to the target PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packet to be shunted.

The procedure in this embodiment is a procedure that is completed by the UE when performing network attachment.

The data distribution method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to SGW-C, and firstly, the position information of User Equipment (UE) is obtained; then, based on the position information of the UE, determining a target user plane service gateway (SGW-U) corresponding to the UE; therefore, when the UE carries out network attachment, the association relationship between the UE and the SGW-U can be established, and the process of initiating session establishment is reestablished under the condition that the UE moves is avoided; the continuity of data transmission is guaranteed, meanwhile, under the condition that the original network construction complexity is guaranteed, the data distribution efficiency is improved, and the data transmission delay is reduced.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 5, where the method includes the following steps:

step 501, obtaining the location information of the user terminal UE.

The step 501 of obtaining the location information of the UE may be implemented by PGW-C. Here, the PGW-C is a packet data gateway device providing a control plane service. In practical application, the PGW-C is located at a core network and is capable of establishing a connection with other network element devices in the core network. Here, there may be multiple PGW-cs at the core network, each SGW-C being capable of managing multiple PGW-us. Here, the PGW-U includes two types, one is a first PGW-U located at the edge of the network and the other is a second PGW-U located at the core network.

In practical application, when a UE performs network attachment, the UE sends an attachment request to an MME, where the attachment request at least carries location information and Access Point Name (APN) information of the UE. And the MME selects the PGW-C corresponding to the UE according to the APN information. Further, the MME sends the position information of the UE and the address information of the selected PGW-C to the SGW-C; thus, the SGW-C can send a session creation request to the PGW-C according to the address information of the PGW-C; wherein, the session request carries the location information of the UE. Thus, through the above steps, the PGW-C can acquire the location information of the UE.

Step 502, determining a first user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE based on the location information.

Wherein the first PGW-U is located at a network edge; the second PGW-U is located at a core network; the target SGW-U refers to the SGW-U corresponding to the UE.

In other embodiments of the present invention, step 502 determines, based on the location information, that the first user plane packet data gateway PGW-U and the second PGW-U corresponding to the UE may be implemented by a PGW-C. Here, the PGW-C may select two PGW-us, a first PGW-U located at the edge of the network and a second PGW-U located at the core network, according to the location information of the UE. Wherein a first PGW-U is capable of establishing a connection with a fixed location local network and a second PGW-U establishes a connection with a public network EPC.

Through the steps, a first PGW-U located at the edge of a network and a second PGW-U located at a core network can be selected according to the position information of the UE, so that a target SGW-U can receive a data packet to be shunted sent by the UE, and the data packet to be shunted is selected to be shunted to the first PGW-U or uploaded to the second PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packet to be shunted.

The data distribution method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to PGW-C, and firstly, the position information of User Equipment (UE) is obtained; determining a first user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE based on the location information; therefore, the target SGW-U can receive the data packet to be shunted sent by the UE, and selectively shunts the data packet to be shunted to the first PGW-U or uploads the data packet to be shunted to the second PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packet to be shunted, so that local shunting of data is realized.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 6, where the method includes the following steps:

step 601, receiving an attach request sent by the UE.

Wherein, the attach request at least includes the data distribution subscription information of the UE; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether the UE signs with a core network to perform data distribution.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the step 601 of receiving the attach request sent by the UE may be implemented by the MME. In practical application, in a network attachment process, the UE first sends an attachment request to the MME, where the attachment request includes location information of the UE and subscription information of data offloading; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether data distribution is performed or not signed by the UE and the core network, that is, a protocol whether data distribution is performed or not signed by the UE and the core network; it can be understood that the core network only provides a local offloading service for the UE subscribed with the local data offloading protocol, and the external UE or the UE not subscribed with the core network cannot perform local offloading; therefore, the local network can be safely isolated, and the safety of local shunting is ensured.

Step 602, authenticating the data distribution subscription information of the UE, and obtaining an authentication result of the data distribution subscription information.

Step 602 is to authenticate the data offloading subscription information of the UE, and the authentication result of the data offloading subscription information may be obtained by the MME. In this embodiment, the MME authenticates the data offloading subscription information carried in the attach request sent by the UE, determines whether the UE subscribes to a local data offloading protocol with the core network, and obtains an authentication result.

And 603, sending the authentication result of the shunting subscription information to the SGW-C.

The step 603 of sending the authentication result of the offloading subscription information to the SGW-C may be implemented by the MME. Here, if the authentication result is that the UE signs a protocol of local data offloading with the core network, it is determined to provide a local offloading service for the UE, and in the process of UE network attachment, the MME selects an SGW-U that meets a preset condition for the SGW-C, and selects a corresponding first PGW-U and a corresponding second PGW-U for the PGW-C. Meanwhile, the MME may send the authentication result of the offloading subscription information to the SGW-C, so that the SGW-C sends the authentication result to the SGW-U, so that the SGW-U receives the to-be-offloaded data packet sent by the UE based on the authentication result of the data offloading subscription information. If the result of the authentication is that no protocol for local data offloading is signed by the UE and the core network, the MME does not provide the service that does not provide local offloading for the UE.

The data distribution method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to MME, and firstly receives an attachment request sent by UE; wherein, the attach request at least includes the data distribution subscription information of the UE; identifying the data distribution subscription information of the UE and obtaining an identification result of the data distribution subscription information; and sending the authentication result of the shunting subscription information to the SGW-C. The SGW-U may receive the data packet to be distributed sent by the UE based on the authentication result of the data distribution subscription information, and perform local distribution according to the destination address of the data packet to be distributed. Therefore, the local offloading service is provided for the UE which has signed a local data offloading protocol with the core network, and the local network can be safely isolated.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 7, where the method includes the following steps:

and 701, the SGW-U receives an authentication result of the data distribution subscription information sent by the SGW-C.

The data distribution subscription information refers to information that the UE signs with a core network whether to perform data distribution.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the authentication of the forking subscription information is done by the MME; and when the identification result is that the UE signs a protocol for data distribution with the core network, the MME sends the identification result to the SGW-C, and the SGW-C sends the identification result to the SGW-U.

And step 702, the SGW-U determines to receive the data packet to be shunted sent by the UE based on the identification result.

Here, if the authentication result is that the UE signs a protocol for performing data offloading with the core network, it is determined to provide a local offloading service for the UE, and in the process of UE network attachment, the MME selects an SGW-U that meets a preset condition for the SGW-C, and selects a corresponding first PGW-U and a corresponding second PGW-U for the PGW-C. Based on this, the selected SGW-U may establish an association relationship with the UE, and in the data transmission process, the selected SGW-U may receive the data packet to be shunted, which is sent by the UE.

Step 703, the SGW-U receives the data packet to be distributed sent by the user equipment UE, and determines the destination address of the data packet to be distributed.

Wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE.

And 704, the SGW-U receives the offloading policy sent by the PGW-C.

The offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; the target PGW-U comprises a first PGW-U or a second PGW-U; the second PGW-U is located at a core network. In short, the offloading policy refers to a decision criterion for offloading a received data packet to be offloaded to which network element.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the offloading Policy may be provided by a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) element. Specifically, the PPC may sign up for a partnership with an application of a third party, such that the third party application may feed back its Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or IP address field to the PCC. In this way, the PCC formulates a offloading policy based on the URL and IP address segments of the third party application. In this way, the offloading policy may include a target PGW-U corresponding to each destination address, and as long as the destination address of the data packet to be offloaded is known, the PGW-U to which the data packet to be offloaded is sent can be known.

It should be noted that step 704 is a step completed when the UE performs network attachment, and specifically, the SGW-U receives the offloading policy in a process of receiving a session establishment request sent by the SGW-C.

Step 705, the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be shunted based on the destination address of the data packet to be shunted and the shunting policy, and sends the data packet to be shunted to the corresponding target PGW-U.

Specifically, the SGW-U searches a target PGW-U corresponding to a target IP address from a distribution strategy according to the target IP address of the data packet to be distributed.

In another embodiment, the offloading policy only includes an IP address for local offloading; after receiving a data packet to be distributed, the SGW-U acquires a destination IP address of the data packet to be distributed; and searching whether a destination IP address of the data packet to be distributed exists in the distribution strategy, if so, indicating that the data packet to be distributed is a data packet which needs to be locally distributed, and sending the data packet to be distributed to a first PGW-U positioned at the edge of the network. And if the SGW-U does not find the destination IP address of the data packet to be distributed from the distribution strategy, the SGW-U considers that the data packet to be distributed does not contain the data packet of local distribution, and sends the data packet to be distributed to a second PGW-U positioned at the core network.

Step 706, obtaining the data volume shunted to the first PGW-U, determining a data usage bill based on the data volume, and sending the data usage bill to a core network.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the SGW-U further has a charging function, and is capable of obtaining the data volume shunted to the first PGW-U, and performing statistics on the local traffic; and determining the ticket of the local flow based on the size of the data volume, and reporting to the core network.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 8, where the method includes the following steps:

step 801, SGW-C obtains the position information of the user terminal UE.

Step 802, SGW-C determines a target user plane service gateway SGW-U corresponding to the UE based on the location information of the UE.

Wherein the target SGW-U is located at the edge of the network.

And step 803, the SGW-C receives the offloading policy corresponding to the target SGW-U sent by the PGW-C.

The offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U located at the edge of the network or a second PGW-U located at the core network.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the offloading policy may be provided by the PCC unit, and specifically, the PPC may subscribe to a cooperative relationship with an application of a third party, so that the third party application may feed back its URL or IP address segment to the PCC. In this way, the PCC formulates a offloading policy based on the URL and IP address segments of the third party application. In this embodiment, the PGW-C may download the offloading policy from the PCC, and then the PGW-C sends the offloading policy corresponding to the target SGW-U to the SGW-C.

And step 804, the SGW-C sends the shunting strategy of the target SGW-U to the target SGW-U.

Specifically, in the process of network attachment of the UE, when the SGW-C sends a session establishment request to a target SGW-U, the offloading policy corresponding to the target SGW-U is sent to the target SGW-U, so that the target SGW-U performs offloading processing on a to-be-offloaded data packet sent by the UE according to the offloading policy.

The data distribution method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to SGW-C, and firstly, the position information of User Equipment (UE) is obtained; then, based on the position information of the UE, determining a target user plane service gateway (SGW-U) corresponding to the UE; therefore, when the UE is attached to the network, the association relationship between the UE and the SGW-U can be established, and the process of initiating session establishment is reestablished under the condition that the UE is prevented from moving; the continuity of data transmission is guaranteed, meanwhile, under the condition that the original network construction complexity is guaranteed, the data distribution efficiency is improved, and the data transmission delay is reduced.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a data offloading method, as shown in fig. 9, where the method includes the following steps:

step 901, the PGW-C obtains location information of the user equipment UE.

Step 902, the PGW-C determines, based on the location information, a first user plane packet data gateway PGW-U and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE.

Step 903, the PGW-C sends a shunting strategy corresponding to the target SGW-U to the SGW-C.

The offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to the offloading data packet; the target PGW-U comprises a first PGW-U or a second PGW-U.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the offloading policy may be provided by the PCC unit, and specifically, the PPC may subscribe to a cooperative relationship with an application of a third party, so that the third party application may feed back its URL or IP address segment to the PCC. In this way, the PCC formulates a offloading policy based on the URL and IP address segments of the third party application. In this embodiment, the PGW-C may download the offloading policy from the PCC, and further the PGW-C sends the offloading policy to the SGW-C, so that the SGW-C sends the offloading policy to the target SGW-U.

The data distribution method provided by the embodiment of the invention is applied to PGW-C, and firstly, the position information of User Equipment (UE) is obtained; determining a first user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE based on the position information; therefore, the target SGW-U can receive the data packet to be shunted sent by the UE, and selectively shunts the data packet to be shunted to the first PGW-U or uploads the data packet to be shunted to the second PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packet to be shunted, so that local shunting of data is realized.

The data offloading method provided in the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a Network architecture as shown in fig. 10, where the Network architecture includes a UE, a Radio Access Network (RAN), an SGW-U, a first PGW-U, EPC, and a data Network. The EPC also comprises an MME, an SGW-C, PGW-C and a second PGW-U.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, the present invention further provides a terminal network attachment method based on a data offloading scheme, which may be applied to a network architecture shown in fig. 11, where the method includes the following steps:

step 1101, the RAN receives an attach request sent by the UE.

Step 1102, the MME receives a UE attach request sent by the RAN.

The attach request at least includes location information of the UE, APN information, and data distribution subscription information of the UE.

Here, the MME identifies the data offloading subscription information of the UE, and determines whether a local offloading service can be provided for the UE. And if the identification result is that the local breakout service can be provided for the UE, executing steps 1103 to 1115. Otherwise, executing the common network attachment flow.

Step 1103, the MME determines the SGW-C according to the location information of the UE, determines the PGW-C according to the APN access point name information, and sends a session creation request to the SGW-C.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the create session request at least includes location information of the UE and address information of the PGW-C. And the SGW-C selects a target SGW-U which meets preset conditions and is positioned at the edge of the network by identifying the position information of the UE.

And step 1104, the SGW-C sends a session establishment request to the target SGW-U.

And step 1105, the target SGW-U sends a session establishment response to the SGW-C.

Step 1106, the SGW-C sends a request for creating the session to the PGW-C.

Wherein, the create session request in step 1106 at least includes the location information of the UE and the tunnel address of the target SGW-U.

Step 1107, the PGW-C selects a first PGW-U located at the network edge and a second PGW-U located at the core network according to the location information of the UE, and sends a session establishment request to the first PGW-U.

Wherein, the session establishment request in step 1107 at least includes the tunnel address of the target SGW-U.

And step 1108, the first PGW-U sends a session establishment response to the PGW-C.

Step 1109, the PGW-C sends a session establishment request to the second PGW-U.

And step 1110, the second PGW-U sends a session establishment response to the PGW-C.

And step 1111, the PGW-C sends the tunnel addresses of the first PGW-U and the second PGW-U and the shunting strategy corresponding to the target SGW-U to the SGW-C.

And step 1112, the SGW-C sends the tunnel addresses of the first PGW-U and the second PGW-U and the corresponding offloading policy of the target SGW-U to the target SGW-U.

And step 1113, the target SGW-U sends a session establishment response to the SGW-C.

Step 1014, the SGW-C sends a create session response to the MME.

Step 1115, the MME sends a response message to the RAN and the UE.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an SGW-U, which is located at the edge of a network, as shown in fig. 12, and includes

A first communication interface 1201, configured to receive a data packet to be shunted sent by a user equipment UE, and determine a destination address of the data packet to be shunted; wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE;

the first processor 1202 is configured to determine to offload the data packet to be offloaded to a target user plane packet data gateway PGW-U based on a destination address of the data packet to be offloaded.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the first communication interface 1101 is further configured to receive a offloading policy sent by a control plane serving gateway SGW-C; the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U positioned at the edge of the network or a second PGW-U positioned at the core network;

the first processor 1202 is specifically configured to determine, based on the destination address of the data packet to be offloaded and the offloading policy, a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be offloaded;

the first communication interface 1201 is further configured to send the data packet to be shunted to a corresponding target PGW-U.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the first communication interface 1201 is further configured to obtain a data size shunted to the first PGW-U;

the first processor 1202, further configured to determine a data usage bill based on the data size; and sending the data usage bill to a core network.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the first communication interface 1201 is further configured to receive an authentication result of the data offloading subscription information sent by the SGW-C; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether the UE signs with a core network to perform data distribution or not;

the first processor 1202 is further configured to determine to receive a data packet to be shunted, where the data packet is sent by the UE, based on the authentication result.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an SGW-C, as shown in fig. 13, where the SGW-C includes:

a second communication interface 1301, configured to obtain location information of a user equipment UE;

a second processor 1302, configured to determine, based on the location information of the UE, a target user plane serving gateway SGW-U corresponding to the UE; wherein the target SGW-U is located at the edge of the network.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the second communication interface 1301 is specifically configured to receive a offloading policy corresponding to the target SGW-U, where the offloading policy is sent by a control plane packet data gateway PGW-C; the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U located at the edge of the network or a second PGW-U located at the core network; and sending the shunting strategy of the target SGW-U to the target SGW-U.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a PGW-C, as shown in fig. 14, where the PGW-C includes:

a third communication interface 1401, configured to acquire location information of the user equipment UE;

a third processor 1402, configured to determine, based on the location information, a first user plane packet data gateway PGW-U and a second PGW-U corresponding to the UE; wherein the first PGW-U is located at a network edge; the second PGW-U is located at a core network.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the third communication interface 1401 is further configured to send a offloading policy corresponding to the target SGW-U to the control plane serving gateway SGW-C; the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to an offloading data packet; the target PGW-U comprises a first PGW-U or a second PGW-U.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an MME, as shown in fig. 15, where the MME includes:

a fourth communication interface 1501, configured to receive an attach request sent by a user equipment UE; wherein, the attach request at least includes the data distribution subscription information of the user equipment UE; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether data distribution is performed or not, wherein the information is signed by the UE and a core network;

a fourth processor 1502, configured to authenticate the data offloading subscription information of the UE and obtain an authentication result of the data offloading subscription information;

the fourth communication interface 1501 is further configured to send the authentication result of the split subscription information to the SGW-C.

Further, the present application also provides a communication device, including: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to execute the steps of the embodiment methods corresponding to fig. 3-11 when running the computer program. And the processor can execute the steps of the embodiment methods corresponding to fig. 3-11, which are not described herein again.

The present application also provides a storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the embodiment methods corresponding to fig. 3-11. And when being executed by a processor, the computer program implements the steps of the method in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 3 to fig. 11, which are not described herein again. The computer-readable storage medium may be a Memory such as a magnetic random access Memory (FRAM), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a Flash Memory (Flash Memory), a magnetic surface Memory, an optical Disc, or a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM).

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes, which are made by using the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for offloading data, the method being applied to a user plane service gateway (SGW-U), and the SGW-U being located at an edge of a network, the method comprising:

receiving an identification result of data distribution subscription information sent by a control plane service gateway (SGW-C); the authentication result of the shunting subscription information is sent to the SGW-C by a mobile management entity MME; the data distribution subscription information refers to information that whether data distribution is performed or not is signed by the UE and the core network;

determining to receive the data packet to be distributed sent by the UE based on the identification result;

receiving a shunting strategy sent by a control plane service gateway (SGW-C); the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; the shunting strategy is sent to the SGW-C by a control plane packet data gateway (PGW-C);

determining a target user plane packet data gateway (PGW-U) corresponding to the data packet to be distributed based on the destination address of the data packet to be distributed and the distribution strategy;

and sending the data packet to be shunted to a corresponding target PGW-U.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U located at an edge of a network or a second PGW-U located at a core network.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

acquiring the data volume shunted to the first PGW-U;

determining a data usage bill based on the data volume size;

and sending the data usage bill to a core network.

4. A data offloading method applied to a control plane serving gateway (SGW-C), the method comprising:

acquiring the position information of User Equipment (UE);

determining a target user plane service gateway (SGW-U) corresponding to the UE based on the position information of the UE;

wherein the target SGW-U is located at the edge of the network;

receiving a shunting strategy corresponding to the target SGW-U sent by a control plane packet data gateway (PGW-C); the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data;

sending the shunting strategy of the target SGW-U to the target SGW-U; the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be distributed based on the distribution strategy and a target address of the data packet to be distributed; the data packet to be distributed is received by the SGW-U based on the identification result of the data distribution subscription information sent by the SGW-C; and the authentication result of the shunting subscription information is sent to the SGW-C by a mobile management entity MME.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U at an edge of a network or a second PGW-U at a core network.

6. A data offloading method is applied to a control plane packet data gateway (PGW-C), and includes:

acquiring the position information of User Equipment (UE);

wherein the first PGW-U is located at a network edge; the second PGW-U is located at a core network;

sending a shunting strategy corresponding to a target SGW-U to a control plane service gateway (SGW-C), so that the SGW-C sends the shunting strategy to the target SGW-U; the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be distributed based on the distribution strategy and a target address of the data packet to be distributed; the data packet to be distributed is received by the SGW-U based on the identification result of the data distribution subscription information sent by the SGW-C; the identification result of the shunting subscription information is sent to the SGW-C by a mobile management entity MME;

the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to the offloading data packet.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the target PGW-U comprises a first PGW-U or a second PGW-U.

8. A data offloading method is applied to a Mobility Management Entity (MME), and the method includes:

receiving an attachment request sent by User Equipment (UE); wherein, the attach request at least includes the data distribution subscription information of the user equipment UE; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether data distribution is performed or not, wherein the information is signed by the UE and a core network;

sending the authentication result of the shunting subscription information to SGW-C so that the SGW-C sends the authentication result to SGW-U; the SGW-U determines to receive the data packet to be distributed sent by the UE and determines a destination address of the data packet to be distributed based on the identification result; the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be shunted based on the destination address and the received shunting strategy sent by the SGW-C; the shunting strategy is sent to the SGW-C by the PGW-C.

9. A user plane service gateway, SGW-U, located at the edge of a network, comprising:

the first communication interface is used for receiving an authentication result of the data distribution subscription information sent by the SGW-C; the authentication result of the shunting subscription information is sent to the SGW-C by a mobile management entity MME; the data distribution subscription information refers to information whether the UE signs with a core network to perform data distribution or not; receiving a data packet to be distributed sent by User Equipment (UE), and determining a destination address of the data packet to be distributed; wherein the SGW-U has an association relationship with the UE; receiving a shunting strategy sent by a control plane service gateway (SGW-C); the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; the flow distribution strategy is sent to the SGW-C by a control plane packet data gateway (PGW-C); sending the data packet to be shunted to a corresponding target PGW-U;

the first processor is used for determining to distribute the data packets to be distributed to a target user plane packet data gateway PGW-U based on the destination address of the data packets to be distributed; determining a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be shunted based on the destination address of the data packet to be shunted and the shunting strategy; and determining to receive the data packet to be distributed sent by the UE based on the identification result.

10. SGW-U according to claim 9, characterized in that: the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U located at the edge of the network or a second PGW-U located at the core network.

11. The SGW-U according to claim 10, wherein:

the first communication interface is further configured to acquire the size of the data volume shunted to the first PGW-U;

the first processor is further used for determining a data usage bill based on the data volume size; and sending the data usage bill to a core network.

12. A control plane serving gateway (SGW-C), the SGW-C comprising:

the second communication interface is used for acquiring the position information of the user terminal UE; receiving a shunting strategy corresponding to a target SGW-U sent by a control plane packet data gateway (PGW-C); the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to a destination address of the sending data; sending the shunting strategy of the target SGW-U to the target SGW-U, wherein the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be shunted based on the shunting strategy and a target address of the data packet to be shunted; the data packet to be distributed is received by the SGW-U based on the identification result of the data distribution subscription information sent by the SGW-C; the identification result of the shunting subscription information is sent to the SGW-C by a mobile management entity MME;

13. The SGW-C according to claim 12, wherein:

the target PGW-U is a first PGW-U located at the edge of the network or a second PGW-U located at the core network.

14. A control plane packet data gateway, PGW-C, the PGW-C comprising:

a third communication interface, configured to obtain location information of a user equipment UE; sending a shunting strategy corresponding to a target SGW-U to a control plane service gateway SGW-C; the offloading policy at least comprises a target PGW-U corresponding to the offloading data packet; the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be distributed based on the distribution strategy and a target address of the data packet to be distributed; the data packet to be distributed is received by the SGW-U based on the identification result of the data distribution subscription information sent by the SGW-C; the identification result of the distribution subscription information is sent to the SGW-C by a mobile management entity MME;

15. The PGW-C of claim 14, wherein: the target PGW-U comprises a first PGW-U or a second PGW-U.

16. A Mobility Management Entity (MME), wherein the MME

The method comprises the following steps:

the fourth communication interface is further configured to send the authentication result of the split subscription information to the SGW-C, so that the SGW-C sends the authentication result to the SGW-U; the SGW-U determines to receive the data packet to be shunted sent by the UE and determines a destination address of the data packet to be shunted based on the identification result; the SGW-U determines a target PGW-U corresponding to the data packet to be shunted based on the destination address and the received shunting strategy sent by the SGW-C; the shunting strategy is sent to the SGW-C by the PGW-C.

17. A communication device, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program capable of running on the processor,

wherein the processor is adapted to perform the steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 when running the computer program.

18. A storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program realizes the steps of the method of any one of claims 1-8 when executed by a processor.