CN111726839A

CN111726839A - Network slice selection method and device

Info

Publication number: CN111726839A
Application number: CN201910210064.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李卓明
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-19
Filing date: 2019-03-19
Publication date: 2020-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-19
Also published as: WO2020187052A1; CN111726839B

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of communication and discloses a network slice selection method and device. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that the terminal equipment receives a network slice selection strategy from a strategy control network element in a first network, wherein the network slice selection strategy is used for indicating network slices in the first network corresponding to a plurality of service data streams of first application in the terminal equipment respectively, and the plurality of service data streams of the first application comprise the first service data stream; further, the terminal device may determine, according to the network slice selection policy, that a network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data stream to be sent is a first network slice. By adopting the method, the terminal equipment can determine the network slices in the first network respectively corresponding to the plurality of service data streams of the first application according to the network slice selection strategy, so that different service data streams of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices.

Description

Network slice selection method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a network slice selection method and apparatus.

Background

A network slice (network slice) is a logical network with specific network characteristics divided in a communication network of an operator, and is a key technology for meeting the requirements of a fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) mobile communication technology on network differentiation proposed by a third generation partnership project (3 GPP). A physical network may be abstractly divided into a plurality of network slices, each network slice constituting an end-to-end logical network, logically isolated from each other. Each network slice can flexibly provide one or more network services according to the requirements of a demand side, and does not influence other network slices in the network.

In general, network performance requirements of different network slices are different, such as a network slice of an enhanced implementation (AR) or virtual implementation (VR) service requires a large bandwidth and low latency service; the network slice of the internet of things (IOT) service requires to support mass terminal access, but has a small bandwidth and no requirement for delay. After an operator divides a communication network into a series of network slices, the network slices are logically isolated from each other and have different network characteristics, and one client can order a plurality of network slices in the operator, so that the differentiation requirements of different applications on the network can be met by one physical network of the operator.

After the terminal device attaches to the network, the network may select a network slice of the service for the terminal device. However, how to select network slices for different traffic data flows of the same application still requires further research.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for selecting a network slice, so as to select a network slice for different service data streams of the same application.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a first network slice selection strategy from a strategy control network element in a first network, wherein the first network slice selection strategy is used for indicating network slices in the first network corresponding to a plurality of service data streams of a first application in the terminal device respectively, and the plurality of service data streams of the first application comprise the first service data stream; furthermore, the terminal device may determine, according to the first network slice selection policy, that a network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data stream to be sent is the first network slice.

By adopting the method, the first network slice selection strategy can indicate the network slices in the first network corresponding to the multiple service data flows of the first application in the terminal equipment respectively, so that the terminal equipment can determine the network slices in the first network corresponding to the multiple service data flows of the first application respectively according to the first network slice selection strategy, thereby different service data flows of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices; by adopting the method in the embodiment of the application, on one hand, good experience of a user can be ensured, and on the other hand, an operator can conveniently provide differentiated services by deploying different network slices.

In one possible design, the network performance of the first network slice satisfies the network performance requirements of the first traffic data flow.

In one possible design, the first network slice selection policy includes an association between an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance, and an identification of the first network slice.

In one possible design, the first network slice selection policy includes a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors, respectively; the plurality of communication descriptors includes a first communication descriptor corresponding to the first routing descriptor; the first communication descriptor comprises an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance; the first routing descriptor includes an identification of the first network slice.

In a possible design, the determining, by the terminal device, a first network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data flow according to the first network slice selection policy may refer to: the terminal device obtains an identifier of an application to which the first service data stream belongs and a requirement of the first service data stream for network performance, and if the identifier of the application to which the first service data stream belongs and the requirement of the first service data stream for network performance are matched with the first communication descriptor, the network slice corresponding to the first service data stream can be determined to be the first network slice.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the terminal device may send the first traffic data stream through the first network slice.

In one possible design, the first network slice having a plurality of network slice instances, in which case the terminal device transmits the first traffic data stream via the first network slice, may include: the terminal device sends a first request to a first network slice selection network element in a first network, wherein the first request comprises an identifier of a first network slice, the first request is used for requesting to determine a first network slice instance in a plurality of network slice instances, the network performance of the first network slice instance meets the requirement of a first service data stream on the network performance, and the first network slice instance is used for transmitting the first service data stream.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the method may further include: the terminal equipment receives first mapping information sent by a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the first mapping information is used for indicating one or more network slices in the first network to respectively correspond to network slices in the second network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise first network slices, the network slices in the second network corresponding to the first network slices are second network slices, and the network performance of the second network slices is matched with the network performance of the first network slices; furthermore, the terminal device may send the first service data stream through a second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

Therefore, after the terminal device determines that the network slice corresponding to the first service data stream is the first network slice, the terminal device can acquire the second network slice corresponding to the first network slice and send the first service data stream through the second network slice, so that when the service network of the terminal device is the second network, the network slice for transmitting the first data stream can be determined relatively quickly.

In one possible design, the second network slice has a plurality of network slice instances, in which case the terminal device sends the first traffic data stream through the second network slice, and may include: and the terminal equipment sends a second request to a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the second request comprises an identifier of a second network slice, the second request is used for requesting to determine a second network slice instance in the plurality of network slice instances, the network performance of the second network slice instance meets the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance, and the second network slice instance is used for transmitting the first service data flow.

In one possible design, network performance may include any one or any combination of the following: service level agreement SLA level, billing level, quality of service QoS level.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a policy control network element in a first network generates a first network slice selection policy for a terminal device and sends the first network slice selection policy to the terminal device; the first network slice selection policy is used for indicating network slices in a first network corresponding to a plurality of service data streams of a first application in the terminal equipment respectively.

Therefore, the terminal device can determine the network slices in the first network corresponding to the multiple service data streams of the first application according to the first network slice selection policy, so that different service data streams of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices.

In one possible design, the plurality of service data flows of the first application include a first service data flow, and a network slice in a first network corresponding to the first service data flow is a first network slice; the network performance of the first network slice satisfies the network performance requirements of the first traffic data stream.

In one possible design, the generating, by the policy control network element, the first network slice selection policy for the terminal device may include: the method comprises the steps that a policy control network element obtains application information and network slice information of terminal equipment, wherein the application information comprises an identifier of a first application and requirements of a plurality of service data flows of the first application on network performance, and the network slice information comprises the identifiers of one or more network slices in a first network and the network performance of one or more network slices in the first network; furthermore, the policy control network element may generate the first network slice selection policy according to the application information and the network slice information.

In a possible design, the policy control network element may obtain the application information of the terminal device from the application function network element or the network capability openness function network element.

In one possible design, the policy control network element may obtain network slice information from a first network slice selection network element or a network data analysis function network element.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

the terminal equipment receives a second network slice selection strategy from a strategy control network element in the first network, wherein the second network slice selection strategy is used for indicating at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal equipment; furthermore, the terminal device may determine, for the first service data stream to be sent, a first network slice from the at least one network slice according to the second network slice selection policy and the network performance of the at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application, where the plurality of service data streams of the first application include the first service data stream, and the network performance of the first network slice satisfies a requirement of the first service data stream for the network performance.

By adopting the method, when the terminal equipment selects the network slice for the service data stream of the first application, the requirement of the service data stream of the first application on the network performance and the network performance of at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application are introduced, so that the network slices can be selected for different service data streams according to the requirement of the different service data streams of the first application on the network performance, and the different service data streams of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices. Therefore, on one hand, good experience of the user can be guaranteed, and on the other hand, the operator can conveniently provide differentiated services by deploying different network slices.

In one possible design, the terminal device may receive network slice information from a first network slice selection network element in the first network, the network slice information including network performance of at least one network slice in the first network to which the first application corresponds.

In one possible design, the first network slice has a plurality of network slice instances; in this case, the sending, by the terminal device, the first service data stream through the first network slice may include: the terminal equipment sends a first request to a first network slice selection network element in a first network, wherein the first request comprises an identifier of a first network slice; the first request is for requesting determination of a first network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances, wherein a network performance of the first network slice instance satisfies a requirement of a first traffic data flow for the network performance, the first network slice instance being used for transmission of the first traffic data flow.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the method may further include: the terminal equipment receives first mapping information from a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the first mapping information is used for indicating one or more network slices in the first network to respectively correspond to network slices in the second network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise a first network slice, the network slice in the second network corresponding to the first network slice is a second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice is matched with the network performance of the first network slice; furthermore, the terminal device may send the first service data stream through a second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

In one possible design, the second network slice has a plurality of network slice instances; in this case, the sending, by the terminal device, the first service data stream through the second network slice may include: the terminal equipment sends a second request to a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the second request comprises an identifier of a second network slice; the second request is for requesting to determine a second network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances, wherein the network performance of the second network slice instance satisfies a requirement of the first traffic data flow for the network performance, and the second network slice instance is used for transmitting the first traffic data flow.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a first network slice selection network element in a first network acquires network slice information and sends the network slice information to a second network slice selection network element in a second network; wherein the network slice information includes an identification of one or more network slices in the first network and a network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network.

In this manner, since the network slice information sent by the first network slice selection network element includes the network performance of one or more network slices in the first network, the second network slice selection network element is facilitated to generate the first mapping information based on the network performance of the network slices in the first network.

In one possible design, the first network slice selection network element may obtain network slice information from a network data analysis function network element in the first network.

In one possible design, the method may further include: the method comprises the steps that a first network slice selection network element receives a first request from a terminal device, wherein the first request comprises an identifier of a first network slice, and a plurality of network slice examples of the first network slice are obtained according to the identifier of the first network slice; and selecting a first network slice instance from the plurality of network slice instances, and feeding back an identification of the first network slice instance to a first access management network element in the first network.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a second network slice selecting network element in the second network receives network slice information from a first network slice selecting network element in the first network, the network slice information including an identification of one or more network slices in the first network and a network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network; furthermore, the second network slice selection network element may generate first mapping information for the terminal device according to the network slice information; the first mapping information is used for indicating network slices in the second network respectively corresponding to one or more network slices in the first network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise the first network slice, the network slice in the second network corresponding to the first network slice is the second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice is matched with the network performance of the first network slice.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the second network slice selection network element may send the first mapping information to the terminal device.

In one possible design, the method may further include: the second network slice selection network element receives a second request from the terminal device, the second request including an identifier of a second network slice; further, a plurality of network slice examples of the second network slice are obtained according to the identification of the second network slice; and selecting a second network slice instance from the plurality of network slice instances, and feeding back an identification of the second network slice instance to a second access management network element in the second network.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

the terminal equipment acquires a second network slice selection strategy, wherein the second network slice selection strategy is used for indicating at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal equipment; if the service network of the terminal device is the first network, the terminal device receives the network performance of one or more network slices in the first network from the first network slice selection network element, and selects the first network slice in the first network for the first service data stream according to the requirement of the first service data stream to be sent on the network performance, the identifier of the application to which the first service data stream belongs, a network slice selection policy, and the network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network.

By adopting the method, when the terminal equipment selects the network slice for the first service data stream, the network performance of one or more network slices in the first network and the requirement of the service data stream on the network performance are introduced, so that the selection of the appropriate network slice for different service data streams of the first application can be realized when the service network is the first network.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a first network slice selection network element in a first network receives a first request from a terminal device, the first request including an identifier of a first network slice; further, a plurality of network slice examples of the first network slice are obtained according to the identification of the first network slice; and selecting a first network slice instance from the plurality of network slice instances, and feeding back an identification of the first network slice instance to a first access management network element in the first network.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

the terminal equipment acquires a second network slice selection strategy, wherein the second network slice selection strategy is used for indicating at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal equipment; if the service network of the terminal device is a second network, the terminal device receives second mapping information and network performance of one or more network slices in the second network from a second network slice selection network element in the second network, wherein the second mapping information is used for indicating the network slices in the second network corresponding to the one or more network slices in the first network respectively; furthermore, the terminal device may select a second network slice in the second network for the first service data flow according to a requirement of the first service data flow to be sent on the network performance, an identifier of an application to which the first service data flow belongs, a network slice selection policy, the second mapping information, and the network performance of one or more network slices in the second network.

By adopting the method, when the terminal equipment selects the network slice for the first service data flow, the network performance of one or more network slices in the second network and the requirement of the service data flow on the network performance are introduced, so that the selection of the proper network slice for the different service data flows of the first application can be realized when the service network is the second network.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a second network slice selection network element in the second network generates second mapping information, wherein the second mapping information is used for indicating network slices in the second network respectively corresponding to one or more network slices in the first network; and if the service network of the terminal equipment is a second network, the second network slice selection network element sends the second mapping information and the network performance of one or more network slices in the second network to the terminal equipment.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

the terminal equipment acquires a second network slice selection strategy, wherein the second network slice selection strategy is used for indicating at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal equipment; if the service network of the terminal device is the first network, the terminal device may select a first network slice in the first network for the first service data stream to be sent according to the application to which the first service data stream belongs and a network slice selection policy; further, if the terminal device determines that the established PDU session exists in the first network slice and the PDU session meets the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance, the first service data flow may be transmitted through the PDU session.

In a possible design, if it is determined that an established PDU session does not exist in a first network slice, the terminal device may send a third request to a first network slice selection network element in the first network, where the third request includes an identifier of the first network slice and a requirement of a first data stream for network performance; the third request is for requesting determination of a third network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances of the first network slice, the network performance of the third network slice instance satisfying a requirement of the first data flow for the network performance, the third network slice instance being for transmitting the first traffic data flow.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a first network slice selection network element in the first network receives a third request from the terminal equipment, wherein the third request comprises an identifier of a first network slice and the requirement of a first data stream to be sent on network performance; further, according to the identifier of the first network slice, acquiring a plurality of network slice instances of the first network slice and network performances of the plurality of network slice instances; and selecting a third network slice example with network performance meeting the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance from the plurality of network slice examples, and feeding back the identifier of the third network slice example to the first access management network element in the first network.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

the terminal equipment acquires a network slice selection strategy and second mapping information, wherein the network slice selection strategy is used for indicating at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal equipment, and the second mapping information is used for indicating network slices in a second network corresponding to one or more network slices in the first network respectively; if the service network of the terminal device is a second network, the terminal device may select a second network slice for the first service data stream to be sent according to the application to which the first service data stream belongs, the network slice selection policy, and the second mapping information; further, if the terminal device determines that the established PDU session exists in the second network slice and the PDU session meets the requirement of the first service data flow for the network performance, the first service data flow may be transmitted through the PDU session.

In a possible design, if it is determined that the established PDU session does not exist in the second network slice, the terminal device may send a fourth request to a second network slice selection network element in the second network, where the fourth request includes an identifier of the second network slice and a requirement of the first data stream on network performance; the fourth request is for requesting determination of a fourth network slice instance of the plurality of network slice instances of the second network slice, the network performance of the fourth network slice instance satisfying a requirement of the first data flow for the network performance, the fourth network slice instance for transmitting the first traffic data flow.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network slice selection method, where the method includes:

a second network slice selection network element in the second network receives a fourth request from the terminal equipment, wherein the fourth request comprises an identifier of a second network slice and the requirement of a first data stream to be sent on the network performance; acquiring a plurality of network slice instances of the second network slice and network performances of the plurality of network slice instances according to the identifier of the second network slice; and then, selecting a fourth network slice example with the network performance meeting the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance from the plurality of network slice examples, and feeding back the identifier of the fourth network slice example to a second access management network element in the second network.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus, where the apparatus may be a terminal device, a policy control network element, a first network slice selection network element, or a second network slice selection network element, or the apparatus may also be a semiconductor chip disposed in the terminal device, the policy control network element, the first network slice selection network element, or the second network slice selection network element. The apparatus has the functionality to implement various possible designs of any one of the first to thirteenth aspects described above. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus, including: a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored on the memory, which when executed, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of the possible designs of the first to thirteenth aspects described above.

In a sixteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer-readable storage medium, which includes instructions that, when executed, implement the method according to any one of the possible designs of the first aspect to the thirteenth aspect.

In a seventeenth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product comprising instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method as set forth in any one of the possible designs of the first to thirteenth aspects.

These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system architecture suitable for use in embodiments of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a network slice selection method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another network slice selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another network slice selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to a second embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to a third embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a network slice selection method according to a fourth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a network slice selection method according to a fifth embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a possible example of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a system architecture diagram applicable to the embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the system architecture includes a terminal device, AN Access Network (AN) device, AN access management network element, a session management network element, a user plane network element, a policy control network element, a network slice selection network element, AN application server, and a Data Network (DN) connecting the application server and AN operator network. The policy control network element, the network slice selection network element and other network elements are connected to the service bus. The terminal device may send the service data stream of the application to the application server through the AN device, the user plane network element, and the DN, or the application server may send the service data stream to the terminal device through the DN, the user plane network element, and the access network device.

As an example, an interface between the user plane network element and the DN may be referred to as an N6 interface, an interface between the user plane network element and the session management network element may be referred to as an N4 interface, an interface between the session management network element and the access management network element may be referred to as an N11 interface, an interface between the session management network element and the policy control network element may be referred to as an N7 interface, and an interface between the access management network element and the policy control network element may be referred to as an N15 interface. Of course, in future communications, the names of these interfaces may be unchanged or replaced by other names, which are not limited in this application.

The above-mentioned devices or network elements are described separately below.

The terminal equipment: the device with the wireless transceiving function can be deployed on land, and comprises an indoor or outdoor device, a handheld device, a wearable device or a vehicle-mounted device; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like); and may also be deployed in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.). The terminal device may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in home (smart home), and the like. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the application scenarios. The terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), a mobile station, a remote station, and the like, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology, the device form, and the name adopted by the terminal device.

AN equipment: for wireless side access in charge of terminal equipment, possible deployment modalities include: a split scenario of a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU), and a single site scenario. In a separation scenario, a CU supports Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and other protocols; the DU mainly supports a Radio Link Control (RLC), a Medium Access Control (MAC) and a physical layer protocol. In a single-site scenario, a single site may include (new radio Node, gNB), evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), home base station, Base Band Unit (BBU), and the like.

Accessing a management network element: the method is mainly used for the flows of terminal attachment, mobility management and tracking area update in a mobile network, the access management network element terminates a Non Access Stratum (NAS) message, completes registration management, connection management and reachability management, allocates a tracking area list (TA list), mobility management and the like, and transparently routes a Session Management (SM) message to the session management network element. In a 5th generation (5G) communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF).

A session management network element: the method is mainly used for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification and release. The specific functions include allocating an Internet Protocol (IP) address to the terminal, selecting a user plane network element providing a message forwarding function, and the like. In the 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF).

A user plane network element: it is mainly responsible for processing user message, such as forwarding, charging, lawful interception, etc. The user plane network element may also be referred to as a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session anchor (PSA). In the 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a User Plane Function (UPF).

The strategy control network element: including a user subscription data management function, a policy control function, a charging policy control function, quality of service (QoS) control, etc. In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a Policy Control Function (PCF).

Network slice selection network element: the method is mainly used for selecting the appropriate network slice for the service of the terminal. In the 5G communication system, the network slice selection network element may be a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) network element.

Data network: the terminal may be provided with a data transmission service, which may be a Public Data Network (PDN) network, such as the internet.

In an example, the system architecture illustrated in fig. 1 may further include a network data analysis network element, a network capability opening function network element, an application function network element, a unified data management network element, a unified data storage network element, and a network warehouse function network element, which are connected to the service bus.

Wherein, the network data analysis network element: data can be collected from various Network Functions (NF), such as a policy control network element, a session management network element, a user plane network element, an access management network element, and an application function network element (network element with open function by network capability), and analyzed and predicted. In the 5G communication system, the network data analysis network element may be a network data analysis function (NWDAF).

Network capability open network element: part of the functionality of the network can be exposed to the application in a controlled manner. In the 5G communication system, the network capability openness network element may be a network capability openness function (NEF).

Unified data management network element: and the terminal is responsible for managing the subscription information of the terminal. In the 5G communication system, the unified data management network element may be a Unified Data Management (UDM).

Unified data storage network element: and the system is responsible for storing structured data information, wherein the structured data information comprises subscription information, strategy information and network data or service data defined by a standard format. In the 5G communication system, the unified data storage network element may be a Unified Data Repository (UDR).

The application function network element: service data of various applications can be provided to a control plane network element of a communication network of an operator, or data information and control information of the network can be obtained from the control plane network element of the communication network. In the 5G communication system, the application function network element may be an Application Function (AF).

Network warehouse functional network elements: in the 5G communication system, the network repository function network element may be a Network Repository Function (NRF).

It should be noted that: (1) the network element described in the embodiments of the present application may be hardware, or may also be functionally divided into software, or a combination of the two. The network element described in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a functional entity, for example, a policy control network element may also be referred to as a policy control functional entity. The names of the network elements are not limited in the embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art may replace the names of the network elements with other names to perform the same function.

(2) The illustrated system architecture can be applied to communication systems of various radio access technologies, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication system, a fifth generation (5G) communication system, and other possible communication systems.

The system architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as a person of ordinary skill in the art knows that along with the evolution of the communication system architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

(3) The various numbers of the first, second, etc. mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are only used for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, nor to indicate the sequence. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. "at least one" means one or more. At least two means two or more. "at least one," "any," or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of singular or plural items. For example, at least one (one ) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or multiple.

Based on the system architecture illustrated in fig. 1, in order to implement selection of a network slice, a policy control network element in a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) of a terminal device needs to be configured in advance on the terminal device or issue a URSP (user equipment routing policy) to the terminal device, where the URSP includes a Network Slice Selection Policy (NSSP). Multiple rules may be included in the NSSP, and each rule of the multiple rules may include an identification of an application and an identification of a network slice. In this embodiment of the present application, the identifier of a network slice may be single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI), where the identifier of a network slice in the HPLMN may be denoted as hS-NSSAI, and the identifier of a network slice in a visited public land mobile network (visited public land mobile network, VPLMN) may be denoted as vS-NSSAI.

See table 1 for an example of the content included in NSSP.

Table 1: example of content included in NSSP 1

Identification of applications	Identification of network slices
		APP-A	hS-NSSAI 1
APP-B	hS-NSSAI 2
		……	hS-NSSAI3

As shown in table 1, the rule expressed in the second row in table 1 means that if an application is identified as "App-a", when the application requests to establish a session connection, the S-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request by the terminal device may be "hS-NSSAI 1", and when the service network of the terminal device is the HPLMN, the network selects the network slice (for example, network slice a1) identified as "hS-NSSAI 1" to deliver the service data stream of the application. The rule expressed in the third row in table 1 means that if an application is identified as "App-B", when the application requests to establish a session connection, the S-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request by the terminal device may be "hS-NSSAI 2", and when the service network of the terminal device is the HPLMN, the network selects the network slice (for example, network slice a2) identified as "hS-NSSAI 2" to deliver the service data stream of the application. In addition, a default rule (default rule) (see the fourth row in table 1) may be further included in the NSSP, where the expression of the default rule means that, if an identifier of an application cannot match with another rule, when the application requests to establish a session connection, the S-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request by the terminal device may be an S-NSSAI (i.e., "hS-NSSAI 3") specified by the default rule, and when a serving network of the terminal device is an HPLMN, the network selects a network slice (e.g., network slice a3) identified as "hS-NSSAI 3" to deliver a service data stream of the application.

In the embodiment of the application, the S-NSSAIs in the NSSP are all S-NSSAIs allocated by the HPLMN. S-NSSAI can be divided into two types, standard S-NSSAI, which is available in all operator networks, and custom S-NSSAI, which is only available in the operator network to which it is assigned, and one custom S-NSSAI identifies one network slice only in one operator' S network. If the S-NSSAI subscribed by the terminal equipment on the HPLMN is the customized S-NSSAI, the terminal equipment cannot use the hS-NSSAI to determine the network slice allowed to be used by the terminal equipment on the VPLMN after roaming. One possible solution to this problem is to configure the network slice mapping information according to the roaming agreement subscribed by the HPLMN and VPLMN, that is, the HPLMN and VPLMN may map the S-NSSAI in the two networks when subscribing the roaming agreement, that is, the hS-NSSAI is mapped to the vS-NSSAI, or the hS-NSSAI and the vS-NSSAI are associated with each other. See table 2 for an example of network slice mapping information.

Table 2: examples of network slice mapping information

hS-NSSAI	vS-NSSAI
		hS-NSSAI 1	vS-NSSAI 1
hS-NSSAI 2	vS-NSSAI 2
		hS-NSSAI 3	vS-NSSAI 3

As shown in table 2, the HPLMN includes 3 network slices, namely network slice a1(hS-NSSAI1), network slice a2(hS-NSSAI 2), and network slice a3(hS-NSSAI 3); the VPLMN comprises 3 network slices, namely a network slice b1(vS-NSSAI 1), a network slice b2(vS-NSSAI 2) and a network slice b3(vS-NSSAI 3).

For example, if the service network of the terminal device is the HPLMN, and App-a requests to establish session connection, after the terminal device determines that the identifier of the network slice corresponding to App-a is hS-NSSAI1 according to table 1, the S-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request by the terminal device may be hS-NSSAI1, and after the session is successfully established, all service data streams of App-a are transmitted through the network slice a 1.

For another example, if the service network of the terminal device is VPLMN, and App-a requests to establish session connection, the terminal device determines, according to table 1, that the identifier of the network slice corresponding to App-a is hS-NSSAI1, and determines, according to table 2, that hS-NSSAI1 corresponds to vS-NSSAI1, and then after the S-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request by the terminal device may be "vS-NSSAI 1", then after the session establishment is successful, all service data streams of App-a are transmitted through network slice b 1.

Since the identifier of the application is usually an identifier of an installation package applied to the application market, after selecting ｃA network slice for the application in the above manner, for example, selecting network slice ｃA1 for APP- ｃA, all service datｃA streams of APP- ｃA will be transmitted through network slice ｃA 1. However, in a possible scenario, an application may have many traffic data flows during its use, and these traffic data flows have very different demands on network performance; for example, the WeChat can send messages, can be used for video calls, can be used for mobile payment and can also be used for playing games. To ensure a good experience, a customer or operator may want different traffic data streams of the same application to be transmitted in different network slices. In yet another possible scenario, due to different network slices providing different network performance (e.g., different tariff criteria), the customer may want some important traffic data streams to be transmitted through high-tariff guaranteed network slices, while other traffic data streams are transmitted through normal network slices; for example, a game player can still "look over" after being killed, the application identifier, the address of the server, the port and the like are completely the same as those of the game player when the game player participates in the game, the client needs to pay extra to use the network slice which is sometimes guaranteed to transmit game data to ensure good game response when the game player participates in the game, but the experience of watching the game is not influenced when the client uses the common network slice when the game player participates in the game player, and the network slice which is sometimes guaranteed to be sometimes does not need to be paid extra to use.

Based on this, embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for selecting a network slice, which are used to select network slices for different service data streams of the same application.

The network slice selection method provided by the embodiment of the application can comprise two possible schemes, namely a scheme one and a scheme two. In the first scheme, the network slice selection policy is used to indicate network slices in the first network corresponding to the multiple service data streams of the first application in the terminal device, so that the terminal device may determine the network slices in the first network corresponding to the first service data streams of the first application according to the network slice selection policy. In the second scheme, the terminal device may obtain the network performance of one or more network slices in the first network and/or the second network, and further may select a network slice in the first network or the second network for the first service data flow according to the requirement of the first service data flow in the first application on the network performance.

Based on the first scheme, fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart corresponding to a network slice selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the method includes:

step 201, a policy control network element in the first network generates a network slice selection policy (may be referred to as a first NSSP) for the terminal device, where the first NSSP is configured to indicate, to the terminal device, network slices in the first network corresponding to multiple service data flows of a first application respectively, where the multiple service data flows of the first application include the first service data flow.

As an example, the first NSSP may include a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors, respectively; the plurality of communication descriptors includes a first communication descriptor corresponding to the first routing descriptor; the first communication descriptor comprises an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance; the first routing descriptor includes an identification of the first network slice. Further, the network performance of the first network slice satisfies the requirement of the first service data flow for the network performance. In this embodiment of the application, the first NSSP includes a first communication descriptor and a first routing descriptor corresponding to the first communication descriptor, and may also be described as: the first NSSP includes an association between an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance, and an identification of the first network slice.

In this embodiment of the present application, one possible implementation manner for the policy control network element to generate the first NSSP for the terminal device is that the policy control network element obtains application information and network slice information of the terminal device, and generates the first NSSP according to the application information and the network slice information of the terminal device.

As an example, the application information of the terminal device may include an identification of the first application, a requirement of a plurality of traffic data flows of the first application for network performance. Further, the application information of the terminal device may further include other possible information, such as a plurality of service data flow templates, performance characteristics of a plurality of service data flows, and the like, which is not limited specifically.

For example, the policy control network element may obtain the application information of the terminal device from the application function network element or the network capability openness function network element. For example, a service provider of a first application may provide application information to a network by using an application function network element, and if the application function network element is located in the first network, the application function network element may obtain an address of a policy control network element in advance, and may further send the application information of the terminal device to the policy control network element; if the network element with an application function does not belong to the first network, the network element with an application function may provide, to the network element with an open function of network capability, information of the terminal device using the first application (for example, a General Public Subscriber Identity (GPSI) of the terminal device).

As an example, the network slice information may include an identification of one or more network slices in the first network, a network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network.

For example, the policy control network element may obtain the network slice information from a first network slice selection network element or a network data analysis network element in the first network. Illustratively, the policy control network element may send a request to the network slice selection network element, and accordingly, the network slice selection network element returns network slice information to the policy control network element according to the request. Or, if a network data analysis network element is deployed in the first network, in an example, the policy control network element may subscribe the network slice information to the network data analysis network element, so that the network data analysis network element may update the network slice information to the policy control network element in time; in another example, the policy control network element may also send a request to the network data analysis network element, and accordingly, the network data analysis network element returns the network slice information to the policy control network element according to the request.

Step 202, the policy control network element sends the first NSSP to the terminal device.

Here, the policy control network element may send the first NSSP to the terminal device through the access management network element and the AN device in the first network.

As an example, the policy control network element may send a first NSSP to the terminal device after detecting a preset event. Wherein the preset event may be at least one of the following: the method comprises the steps that the terminal equipment is registered to a first network or a second network, the signed network slice of the terminal equipment in the first network changes, the terminal equipment moves to the second network, and the user plane equipment starts or stops application flow detection. It is understood that the preset event may also be other possible events set by those skilled in the art, and the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the detection, by the policy control network element, that the terminal device is registered in the first network may refer to that the policy control network element receives, from the unified data management network element, a notification message that the terminal device is registered in the first network.

In step 203, the terminal device receives a first NSSP from a policy control network element in a first network.

Here, the terminal device may receive the first NSSP sent by the policy control network element through the access management network element and the AN device in the first network.

Step 204, the terminal device determines, according to the first NSSP, that the network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data stream to be sent is the first network slice.

Illustratively, the terminal device obtains an identifier of an application to which the first service data flow belongs and a requirement of the first service data flow for network performance, and if it is determined that the identifier of the application to which the first service data flow belongs and the requirement of the first service data flow for network performance are matched with the first communication descriptor, it is determined that a network slice corresponding to the first service data flow is the first network slice.

In this embodiment, after the terminal device determines that the network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data stream is the first network slice, if the service network of the terminal device is the first network, step 205 is executed, and if the service network of the terminal device is the second network, steps 206 to 209 are executed.

In step 205, the terminal device transmits the first service data stream through the first network slice.

Illustratively, the terminal device may directly transmit the first service data stream through the PDU session if it is determined that the PDU session established using the identifier of the first network slice exists, may establish the PDU session using the identifier of the first network slice if it is determined that the PDU session established using the identifier of the first network slice does not exist, and transmits the first service data stream through the PDU session after the PDU session is successfully established.

In this embodiment of the present application, if the first network slice has a plurality of network slice instances, the terminal device establishes the PDU session using the identifier of the first network slice, which may be: the terminal device sends a first request to a first network slice selection network element in a first network, the first request comprises an identifier of the first network slice and a requirement of a first service data stream on network performance, correspondingly, after the first network slice selection network element receives the first request from the terminal device, the first request can obtain a plurality of network slice instances of the first network slice and the network performance of the plurality of network slice instances according to the identifier of the first network slice, the first network slice instance of which the network performance meets the requirement of the first service data stream on the network performance is selected from the plurality of network slice instances, the identifier of the first network slice instance is fed back to a first access management network element in the first network, and the first access management network element can establish a PDU session based on the identifier of the first network slice instance.

Step 206, a first network slice selecting network element in the first network acquires network slice information and sends the network slice information to a second network slice selecting network element in the second network, wherein the network slice information includes an identifier of one or more network slices in the first network and network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network.

As an example, the first network slice selecting network element may obtain the network slice information from a network data analysis function network element in the first network.

As an example, the first network slice selecting network element may send the obtained network slice information to the second network slice selecting network element when the first network and the second network enter into a roaming agreement, or the first network slice selecting network element may send the network slice information to the second network slice selecting network element if it is determined that the identifier of the network slice in the first network changes after the first network and the second network enter into the roaming agreement; the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

Step 207, the second network slice selecting network element receives the network slice information from the first network slice selecting network element, generates the first mapping information according to the network slice information, and sends the first mapping information to the terminal device.

The first mapping information is used for indicating network slices in a second network respectively corresponding to one or more network slices in a first network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise the first network slice, the network slice in the second network corresponding to the first network slice is the second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice is matched with the network performance of the first network slice.

In step 208, the terminal device receives the first mapping information from the second network slice selection network element.

And step 209, the terminal equipment transmits the first service data stream through a second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

Illustratively, the terminal device may directly transmit the first service data stream through the PDU session if it is determined that the PDU session established using the identifier of the second network slice exists, may establish the PDU session using the identifier of the second network slice if it is determined that the PDU session established using the identifier of the second network slice does not exist, and transmits the first service data stream through the PDU session after the PDU session is successfully established.

In this embodiment of the application, if the second network slice has multiple network slice instances, the terminal device establishes the PDU session using the identifier of the second network slice, which may be: the terminal device sends a second request to a second network slice selection network element in a second network, the second request includes an identifier of the second network slice and a requirement of the first service data stream for network performance, accordingly, after the second network slice selection network element receives the second request from the terminal device, the second request can obtain a plurality of network slice instances and network performance of the plurality of network slice instances of the second network slice according to the identifier of the second network slice, select a second network slice instance from the plurality of network slice instances, the network performance of which meets the requirement of the first service data stream for network performance, and feed back the identifier of the second network slice instance to a second access management network element in the second network, and the second access management network element can establish a PDU session based on the identifier of the second network slice instance.

With the method illustrated in fig. 2, because the first NSSP can be used to indicate the network slices in the first network corresponding to the multiple service data streams of the first application in the terminal device, the terminal device can determine the network slices in the first network corresponding to the multiple service data streams of the first application according to the first NSSP, so that different service data streams of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices; for example, taking the WeChat as an example, when a service data stream for sending a message needs to be transmitted (the data volume of the service data stream is small, the delay requirement is low), a network slice corresponding to the service data stream may be used, and when a service data stream for video call needs to be transmitted (the data volume of the service data stream is large, the delay requirement is high), a network slice corresponding to the service data stream may be used, so that the problem that the service data stream for sending a message and the service data stream for video call may not meet the requirement of the service data stream for video call (video call may be stuck) due to the same network slice being used for transmitting the service data stream for sending a message and the service data stream for video call can be avoided; for another example, when the cost standards of different network slices are different, some important service data streams can be transmitted through the high-cost network slice, and other service data streams are transmitted through the common network slice, so that the problem of high cost caused by the fact that the service data streams are transmitted through the high-cost network slice all the time can be avoided, and cost can be saved for users. Therefore, by adopting the method in the embodiment of the application, on one hand, good experience of the user can be ensured, and on the other hand, the method is convenient for an operator to provide differentiated services by deploying different network slices.

Based on the second scheme, fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart corresponding to the network slice selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

in step 301, a policy control network element in the first network generates a network slice selection policy (which may be referred to as a second NSSP) for the terminal device, where the second NSSP is used to indicate at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application in the terminal device.

Step 302, the policy control network element sends a second NSSP to the terminal device.

Here, if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the policy control network element may send the second NSSP to the terminal device through the access management network element and the AN device in the first network. If the service network of the terminal device is the second network, the policy control network element may send the second NSSP to the terminal device through the policy control network element in the second network, the access management network element in the second network, and the AN device.

Step 303, the terminal device receives a second NSSP from the policy control network element.

Here, if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the terminal device may receive, through the access management network element and the AN device in the first network, the second NSSP sent by the policy control network element. If the service network of the terminal device is the second network, the terminal device may receive the second NSSP sent by the policy control network element in the first network through the policy control network element in the second network, the access management network element in the second network, and the AN device.

Step 304, the terminal device determines, according to the second NSSP and the network performance of at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application, a first network slice from the at least one network slice for the first service data stream to be sent, where the plurality of service data streams of the first application include the first service data stream, that is, the first service data stream is one of the plurality of service data streams of the first application, and the network performance of the first network slice meets the requirement of the first service data stream for the network performance.

In this embodiment of the application, the terminal device may obtain the network performance of at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application in multiple ways, for example, when the terminal device is registered in the first network, the terminal device may receive network slice information from a first network slice selection network element in the first network, where the network slice information may include the network performance of one or more network slices in the first network, where the one or more network slices in the first network include the at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application; further, after receiving the network performance of at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application from the first network slice selection network element, the terminal device may store the network performance in the preset storage space, so that when the service network of the terminal device is the second network, the terminal device may obtain the network performance of at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application from the preset storage space.

In this embodiment, after the terminal device determines a first network slice in the first network for the first service data flow, if the service network of the terminal device is the first network, step 305 is executed, and if the service network of the terminal device is the second network, steps 306 to 309 are executed.

Step 305, the terminal device transmits a first service data stream through the first network slice.

Step 306, a first network slice selecting network element in the first network acquires network slice information and sends the network slice information to a second network slice selecting network element in the second network, wherein the network slice information includes an identifier of one or more network slices in the first network and network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network.

Step 307, the second network slice selecting network element receives the network slice information from the first network slice selecting network element, generates first mapping information according to the network slice information, and sends the first mapping information to the terminal device.

In step 308, the terminal device receives the first mapping information from the second network slice selection network element.

Step 309, the terminal device transmits the first service data stream through the second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

With the method illustrated in fig. 3, when the terminal device selects a network slice for the service data stream of the first application, the requirement of the service data stream of the first application on the network performance and the network performance of at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application are introduced, so that network slices can be selected for different service data streams according to the requirement of different service data streams of the first application on the network performance, and different service data streams of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices. Therefore, on one hand, good experience of the user can be guaranteed, and on the other hand, the operator can conveniently provide differentiated services by deploying different network slices.

Based on the second scheme, fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart corresponding to another network slice selection method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The flow described in fig. 4 is mainly directed to a scenario where the service network of the terminal device is the second network. As shown in fig. 4, includes:

step 401, a policy control network element in the first network generates a second NSSP for the terminal device, where the second NSSP is used to indicate at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application in the terminal device.

Step 402, the policy control network element sends a second NSSP to the terminal device.

Here, the policy control network element may send the second NSSP to the terminal device through the access management network element and the AN device in the first network.

In step 403, the terminal device receives a second NSSP from the policy control network element.

Here, the terminal device may receive, through the access management network element and the AN device in the first network, the second NSSP sent by the policy control network element.

In step 404, the terminal device receives second mapping information from a second network slice selection network element in the second network. The second mapping information may be mapping information generated by the second network slice selection network based on a roaming agreement, as shown in table 2. The second mapping information may be used to indicate a network slice in the second network to which at least one network slice in the first network corresponds.

Step 405, the terminal device determines at least one network slice in the second network corresponding to the first service data stream to be sent according to the second NSSP and the second mapping information; and the terminal equipment determines a second network slice from at least one network slice in the second network for the first service data flow according to the network performance of at least one network slice in the second network corresponding to the first service data flow, wherein the network performance of the second network slice meets the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance. The network performance of the at least one network slice in the second network corresponding to the first service data stream may be received from the second network slice selection network element when the terminal device registers in the second network, for example, the second network slice selection network element may send the network performance of the at least one network slice in the second network to the terminal device through the access management network element and the AN device in the second network.

In step 406, the terminal device transmits the first service data stream through the second network slice.

With the method illustrated in fig. 4, when selecting a network slice for a service data stream of a first application, a terminal device introduces a requirement of the service data stream of the first application on network performance and a network performance of at least one network slice in a second network, so that network slices can be selected for different service data streams according to the requirement of different service data streams of the first application on network performance, so that different service data streams of the same application can be transmitted through different network slices. Therefore, on one hand, good experience of the user can be guaranteed, and on the other hand, the operator can conveniently provide differentiated services by deploying different network slices.

It should be noted that: (1) the difference between the methods illustrated in fig. 3 and 4 is that: when the service network of the terminal device is the second network, in the method illustrated in fig. 3, a first network slice whose network performance meets the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance is determined for the first service data flow, and then a second network slice corresponding to the first network slice is obtained according to the first mapping information; in the first mapping information, the network performances of two network slices corresponding to each other (for example, one network slice is a first network slice in a first network, and the other network slice is a second network slice in a second network) are matched, so that the network performance of the second network slice obtained according to the first mapping information also meets the requirement of the first service data stream on the network performance, and the first service data stream can be transmitted through the second network slice. In the method illustrated in fig. 4, at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application is obtained first, then at least one network slice in the second network corresponding to the at least one network slice in the first network is obtained according to the second mapping information, and then the second network slice whose network performance can meet the requirement of the first service data stream on the network performance is selected according to the network performance of the at least one network slice in the second network. In addition to this difference, the two may be referred to each other.

(2) The difference between the first scheme (such as the method illustrated in fig. 2) and the second scheme (such as the methods illustrated in fig. 3 and 4) is that: in the first solution, the current NSSP is improved, where the content (see table 1) included in the current NSSP is the association between the identifier of the application and the identifier of the network slice, and the content included in the NSSP in the first solution further introduces the requirement of the service data stream of the first application on the network performance, so that the terminal device can select different network slices for different service data streams with different performance requirements. In the second scheme, the current NSSP is used, and when the terminal device selects a network slice according to the NSSP, the network performance of the network slice and the requirement of the service data stream on the network performance are fully considered, so that the terminal device can select different network slices for different service data streams. In addition to this difference, the descriptions with respect to fig. 2, 3, and 4 may be referred to one another.

(3) The network performance may include at least one of: a Service Level Agreement (SLA) level, a billing level, a quality of service (QoS) level. Correspondingly, the requirements of the traffic data flow on the network performance may also include at least one of the following: SLA level, charging level, QoS level. In the embodiment of the present application, the network performance and the requirement of the service data flow on the network performance may be understood as a set of corresponding concepts, for example, the network performance includes an SLA level, and the requirement of the service data flow on the network performance also includes an SLA level; the network performance includes a billing level, and the demand of the service data flow for the network performance also includes the billing level.

In other possible examples, the network performance and the requirement of the service data flow on the network performance may also include other possible contents, which are not limited in this application.

The SLA level is used to represent the capability of the network slice to guarantee the requirement of the service data flow on the network performance, for example, the SLA level may be several levels negotiated by an application and an operator in advance, and each level may represent a tolerance level of each service data flow of the application to an occurrence probability that the network cannot meet the SLA, or may also be a time proportion that the SLA required by each service data flow of the application can be met by the network. For example, a service data flow can tolerate a delay requirement that a network cannot meet a commitment in 0.1% of the time, the probability of SLA violation that the service data flow can tolerate is 0.1%, or the service data flow can require the network to meet the commitment delay requirement in 99.9% of the time, or several session connections initiated for transmitting the service data flow require that 99.9% of the session connections can meet the commitment delay requirement. The charging level may be several charging levels negotiated in advance by the application (or user) and the operator, each level corresponding to the amount of network resources allocated by the operator or the allocation manner (shared or exclusive, etc.). The QoS level may be a level of performance characteristics (performance characteristics) of the network required by the service data flow, or may be a probability that the network slice satisfies the performance characteristics and the QoS parameters required by the service data flow.

The matching of the network performance of the two network slices in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the matching of the network performance of the first network slice in the first network with the network performance of the second network slice in the second network, may mean that the network performance of the first network slice is the same as that of the second network slice, or the network performance of the second network slice is better than that of the first network slice. For example, if the network performance is the charging level, the network performance of the second network slice is better than the network performance of the first network slice, which means that the charging level of the second network slice is not higher than the charging level of the first network slice; if the network performance is the SLA level, the network performance of the second network slice being better than the network performance of the first network slice may mean that the SLA level of the second network slice is higher than the SLA level of the first network slice; if the network performance is a QoS level, the network performance of the second network slice being better than the network performance of the first network slice may mean that the QoS level of the second network slice is higher than the QoS level of the first network slice.

(4) The step numbers referred to in the embodiments of the present application are only one possible example of the execution flow, and do not limit the execution order of each step. In the embodiment of the present application, there is no strict execution sequence between steps having no timing dependency relationship with each other.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments (embodiment one to embodiment five).

In the first to fifth embodiments, a policy control network element is PCF, a network slice selection network element is NSSF, a user plane network element is UPF, a session management network element is SMF, an access management network element is AMF, a network data analysis network element is NWDAF, a network capability open network element is NEF, a unified data management network element is UDM, a unified data storage network element is UDR, an application function network element is AF, and a network warehouse function network element is NRF. As an example, the first network may be an HPLMN, the policy control network element in the first network may be an h-PCF, the first network slice selection network element in the first network may be an h-NSSF, and other network elements may refer to the process; the second network may be a VPLMN, the second network slice selection network element in the second network may be a v-NSSF, and other network elements may refer to the process.

Example one

In the first embodiment, a possible implementation flow of the network slice selection method will be described mainly for a scenario in which a service network of a terminal device is an HPLMN in the first scheme.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

step 501, the h-PCF obtains the application information of the terminal device from the AF, where the application information of the terminal device includes the identifier of the first application and the requirements of multiple service data flows of the first application on the network performance.

Here, the first application may be any one of one or more applications used by the terminal device, for example, the applications used by the terminal device include APP-A, APP-B and APP-C, and then the first application may be APP-A, APP-B or APP-C, which will be described in this embodiment as APP- ｃA. Further, the first application may include a service data flow 1, a service data flow 2, and a service data flow 3, where, taking the network performance as an SLA level as an example, the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance may be an SLA level 1, the requirement of the service data flow 2 on the network performance may be an SLA level 2, and the requirement of the service data flow 3 on the network performance may be an SLA level 3.

In step 502, the h-PCF obtains network slice information from the h-NSSF, the network slice information including an identification of one or more network slices in the HPLMN, and network capabilities of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN.

Here, the identification of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN may comprise the subscription hS-NSSAI of the end device in the HPLMN. For example, the contracts hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN comprise hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2 and hS-NSSAI 3. Wherein, the network performance of the network slice identified by hS-NSSAI1 (i.e., network slice a1) is SLA level 1, the network performance of the network slice identified by hS-NSSAI 2 (i.e., network slice a2) is SLA level 2, and the network performance of the network slice identified by hS-NSSAI3 (i.e., network slice a3) is SLA level 3.

Thus, the h-PCF may generate the first NSSP based on the application information and the network slice information of the terminal device.

In one example, the first NSSP may include a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors, respectively. See table 3 for an example of what the first NSSP includes.

Table 3: example of content included in first NSSP

As shown in table 3, the first NSSP includes three communication descriptors and three routing descriptors corresponding to the three communication descriptors. Illustratively, the first communication descriptor includes an identification of the first application (APP- ｃA), ｃA requirement of the traffic datｃA flow 1 for network performance; the first routing descriptor includes an identification of network slice a1(hS-NSSAI 1); that is, the network slice corresponding to the service datｃA flow 1 of APP- ｃA is network slice ｃA 1. The second communication descriptor comprises the identity of the first application (APP- ｃA), the requirements of the service datｃA flow 2 on the network performance; the second routing descriptor includes an identification of network slice a2(hS-NSSAI 2); that is, the network slice corresponding to the service datｃA flow 2 of APP- ｃA is network slice ｃA 2. The third communication descriptor includes the identity of the first application (i.e. APP- ｃA), the requirements of the service datｃA flow 3 on network performance; the third routing descriptor includes an identification of network slice a3 (i.e., hS-NSSAI 3). That is, the network slice corresponding to the service datｃA flow 3 of APP- ｃA is network slice ｃA 3.

In other words, the information illustrated in table 3 may also be understood as including in the first NSSP: the APP-A, the requirement of the first service datｃA flow on the network performance and the correlation between the hS-NSSAI 1; the APP-A, the requirement of the second service datｃA flow on the network performance and the correlation between the hS-NSSAI 2; APP-A, third service datｃA flow requirements for network performance, and hS-NSSAI 3.

In this embodiment of the present application, the network performance of a network slice corresponding to a certain service data flow in the first NSSP can meet the requirement of the service data flow on the network performance. For example, in table 3, the network performance of network slice a1 meets the requirement of service data flow 1 on the network performance, the network performance of network slice a2 meets the requirement of service data flow 2 on the network performance, and the network performance of network slice a3 meets the requirement of service data flow 3 on the network performance.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the time for the h-PCF to generate the first NSSP is not limited, and only needs to be generated before step 504.

Steps 503a to 503f are procedures for the terminal device to register with the HPLMN.

Step 503a, the terminal device sends a registration request to the h-AMF through the AN device, where the registration request may carry AN identifier of the terminal device.

Step 503b, the h-AMF determines the UDM for managing the subscription data of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device, and acquires the subscription data of the terminal device from the UDM, wherein the subscription data of the terminal device includes the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, that is, hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, and hS-NSSAI 3.

Step 503c, after verifying that the identity of the terminal device is legal, the h-AMF sends a network slice selection request to the h-NSSF, where the network slice selection request includes location information of the terminal device and a signed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN.

In step 503d, the h-NSSF sends a network slice selection response to the h-AMF, where the network slice selection response includes the allowed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN.

The allowed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN refers to a contracted hS-NSSAI that the network can provide service for the terminal device in the current registration area after the terminal device is registered in the HPLMN. As an example, the allowed hS-NSSAIs in the HPLMN of the terminal device include hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, hS-NSSAI3, i.e., the subscribed hS-NSSAIs that the network can provide service for the terminal device in the current registration area include hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, hS-NSSAI 3.

In step 503e, the h-AMF receives the registration request from the terminal device, and sends a registration response indicating that the registration is successful to the terminal device through the AN device, where the registration response includes the allowed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, that is, hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, and hS-NSSAI 3.

Accordingly, the terminal equipment receives the response message of successful registration and stores the allowed hS-NSSAI.

In step 503f, after the terminal device is successfully registered, the h-AMF may register context data of the terminal device with the UDM for managing subscription data of the terminal device, where the context data of the terminal device is used for registration management and mobility management of the terminal device.

Step 503g, in the process of processing the registration request, the h-PCF may subscribe to the UDM for a context data change event of the terminal device, so that, after the h-AMF registers the context data of the terminal device with the UDM, the UDM may send a notification message to the h-PCF.

Step 504, after receiving the notification message, the h-PCF sends a first NSSP to the terminal device.

Here, after receiving the notification message, the h-PCF may further determine whether the terminal device needs to perform NSSP configuration or update, and if it is determined that the NSSP configuration or update is needed, send the first NSSP to the terminal device; if it is determined that no configuration or update is required, the first NSSP may not be sent to the terminal device.

Illustratively, there are many implementations in which the h-PCF determines whether the NSSP needs to be configured or updated for the terminal device. Illustratively, the notification message may include the NSSP (for convenience of description, referred to as the original NSSP) stored by the terminal device; after the h-PCF receives the notification message, if it is determined that the notification message includes the original NSSP, the h-PCF may compare the original NSSP with the first NSSP, and when the original NSSP is different from the first NSSP (for example, the first NSSP includes the contents shown in table 3, and the original NSSP includes only the contents shown in the first three rows in table 3, and does not include the contents shown in the fourth row), the h-PCF may determine that the NSSP needs to be updated for the terminal device; in this case, the h-PCF may send the terminal device the entire content of the first NSSP, or the h-PCF may send the content of the first NSSP that is different from the original NSSP (i.e., part of the content of the first NSSP, such as the content shown in the fourth row of table 3). If the notification message does not include the original NSSP, which means that the terminal device may not store the NSSP, the h-PCF may determine that the NSSP needs to be configured for the terminal device.

Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives and stores the first NSSP sent by the h-PCF.

In step 505, the terminal device determines that the service data stream 1 of the first application needs to be sent.

Here, when ｃA first application (generally, ｃA client program of the first application) needs to send ｃA service datｃA flow 1, ｃA datｃA sending interface provided by the terminal device is called, and an identifier (APP- ｃA) of the first application, the service datｃA flow 1, and ｃA requirement of the service datｃA flow 1 on network performance are provided. Thus, the terminal device can obtain the identifier (APP- ｃA) of the first application, the service datｃA flow 1, and the requirement of the service datｃA flow 1 on the network performance.

Step 506, after the terminal device determines that the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 is the network slice a1 according to the identifier of the first application, the requirement of the service data flow 1 for the network performance, and the first NSSP, if the identifier (hS-NSSAI1) of the network slice a1 is allowed hS-NSSAI, step 507 may be executed. If the identifier (hS-NSSAI1) of the network slice a1 is not allowed hS-NSSAI, in a possible implementation manner, the terminal device may adjust the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance, and the specific adjustment basis may be set by a person skilled in the art, and is not limited. For example, the terminal device adjusts the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance to SLA level 2, so that the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 can be determined based on the adjusted requirement. In yet another possible implementation manner, the terminal device may send a prompt message to the user, prompt the user to confirm whether the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance can be adjusted to SLA level 2, and if the user confirms that the terminal device may determine the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 based on the adjusted requirement.

In step 507, the terminal device determines whether there is a PDU session established using hS-NSSAI1, if so, step 508 may be executed, and if not, the terminal device may establish the PDU session using hS-NSSAI 1.

In step 508, the terminal device sends service data flow 1 through the existing PDU session in network slice a 1.

In this embodiment of the present application, an operator may deploy one or more Network Slice Instances (NSIs) for one S-NSSAI-identified network slice, and when the operator deploys a plurality of network slice instances for one S-NSSAI-identified network slice, network performances of the plurality of network slice instances may be the same or may also be different.

It should be noted that: in the first and second embodiments, if an operator deploys multiple network slice instances for one S-NSSAI-identified network slice (such as network slice a1), the network performance of the multiple network slice instances is the same, and the network performance of network slice a1 is the network performance of any one of the multiple network slice instances. In the third, fourth, and fifth embodiments mentioned below, if an operator deploys multiple network slice instances for one S-NSSAI-identified network slice, the network performance of the multiple network slice instances may be the same or different, which is specifically referred to the following description.

The terminal device establishes a PDU session using hS-NSSAI1, which may be: if network slice a1 has one network slice instance, the specific implementation procedure for the terminal device to establish the PDU session using hS-NSSAI1 includes (not illustrated in fig. 5 for the moment): step a1, the terminal equipment sends a session establishment request to the h-AMF network element through the AN equipment, wherein the session establishment request carries hS-NSSAI 1; step a2, the h-AMF network element requests a network warehouse function (NRF) network element to determine the h-SMF network element according to the hS-NSSAI1 carried in the session establishment request; the address of the NRF may be provided to the h-AMF network element by the hnsf network element in the registration process of the terminal device, or may be obtained when the h-AMF network element requests the hnsf network element to select a network slice for the hS-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request message after receiving the session establishment request message; step a3, the NRF network element selects the h-SMF network element in the network slice a1 according to the hS-NSSAI1, and returns the address of the h-SMF to the h-AMF; step a4, the h-AMF transmits a session establishment request to the selected h-SMF network element; step a5, after receiving the session establishment request, the h-SMF network element selects a proper h-UPF network element and controls the selected h-UPF network element to establish a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session; step a6, the h-SMF network element sends the session establishment response message to the terminal device through the h-AMF and the AN device, and simultaneously notifies the AN device of the session related information through the h-AMF network element, wherein the session related information may include the tunnel address of the session user plane and the quality of service (QoS) parameters.

If the network slice a1 has multiple network slice instances, for example, the network slice a1 has network slice instance a11 and network slice instance a12, where the network performance of the network slice instance a11 and the network slice instance a12 is the same as the network performance of the network slice a1, and both are SLA level 1, the specific implementation process of the terminal device to establish the PDU session using hS-NSSAI1 may include steps 509 to 511.

In step 509, the terminal device sends a first request to the h-NSSF, where the first request includes hS-NSSAI 1.

Here, the sending, by the terminal device, the first request to the h-NSSF network element may be: the terminal equipment sends a session establishment request to the h-AMF through the AN equipment, wherein the session establishment request carries hS-NSSAI 1; correspondingly, after receiving the session establishment request, the h-AMF sends a network slice instance selection request to the h-NSSF, wherein the network slice instance selection request comprises hS-NSSAI 1.

At step 510, the h-NSSF selects a network slice instance a11 for traffic data flow 1 from the plurality of network slice instances comprised by network slice a1 in accordance with the first request. Here, the specific basis for selecting the network slice example in the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

At step 511, the h-NSSF sends the h-AMF the identity of network slice instance a 11.

At step 512, the h-AMF may request from the NRF to determine h-SMF network elements within the network slice instance a11 according to the identity of the network slice instance a11, and then request the h-SMF network elements to establish a PDU session. The specific implementation process may refer to the steps a2 to a 6.

In step 513, the terminal device sends service data flow 1 through the newly established PDU session in network slice instance a 11.

Example two

In the second embodiment, a possible implementation flow of the network slice selection method will be described mainly for a scenario in which a service network of the terminal device in the first embodiment is a VPLMN.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to a second embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

step 601 and step 602 may refer to step 501 and step 502 in fig. 5.

Step 603, the h-NSSF sends network slice information to the v-NSSF. Wherein the network slice information includes an identification of one or more network slices in the HPLMN, a network performance of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN.

Here, the identification of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN may comprise the subscription hS-NSSAI of the end device in the HPLMN. For example, the contracts hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN comprise hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2 and hS-NSSAI 3. Wherein, the network performance of hS-NSSAI1 is SLA level 1, the network performance of hS-NSSAI 2 is SLA level 2, and the network performance of hS-NSSAI3 is SLA level 3.

In step 604, the v-NSSF generates mapping information 1 based on the roaming agreement, the network performance of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN, and the network performance of the one or more network slices in the VPLMN.

The mapping information 1 is used to indicate network slices in the VPLMN corresponding to one or more network slices in the HPLMN, respectively, as shown in table 4, which is an example of the mapping information 1.

Table 4: mapping information 1 example

As shown in table 4, vS-NSSAI1 is the identity of network slice b1 in VPLMN, vS-NSSAI 2 is the identity of network slice b2 in VPLMN, and vS-NSSAI 3 is the identity of network slice b3 in VPLMN. Network slice a1 corresponds to network slice b1, or network slice a1 maps to network slice b 1; network slice a2 corresponds to network slice b2, or network slice a2 maps to network slice b 2; network slice a3 corresponds to network slice b3, or network slice a3 maps to network slice b 3.

In mapping information 1 in the embodiment of the present application, the network performance of a network slice in the HPLMN corresponding to a certain network slice in the VPLMN matches the network performance of the network slice. Illustratively, the network performance of network slice b1 matches the network performance of network slice a 1; the network performance of network slice b2 matches the network performance of network slice a 2; the network performance of network slice b3 matches the network performance of network slice a 3.

In other possible embodiments, considering that the operator may plan for type of service (TOS) values or flow identifications (flow IDs) such that different TOS values and/or flow identifications correspond to network performance, TOS values and/or flow identifications may also be used to represent network performance for network slices in HPLMN and VPLMN, such as TOS1 and/or flow identification 1 representing SLA level 1. In this case, the v-NSSF may also generate the mapping information 1 according to the roaming agreement, the TOS value and/or the flow identification of the network slice, where in the mapping information 1, the TOS value and/or the flow identification of a certain network slice in the VPLMN matches (is the same as or corresponding to the roaming agreement) the TOS value and/or the flow identification of the corresponding network slice in the HPLMN.

Steps 605a to 605f are procedures for registering the terminal device to the VPLMN.

Step 605a, the terminal device sends a registration request to the v-AMF through the AN device, where the registration request may carry AN identifier of the terminal device.

And step 605b, the v-AMF determines the UDM for managing the subscription data of the terminal equipment according to the identifier of the terminal equipment, and acquires the subscription data of the terminal equipment from the UDM, wherein the subscription data of the terminal equipment comprises the subscribed hS-NSSAI (hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2 and hS-NSSAI 3) of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN.

And step 605c, after verifying that the identity of the terminal equipment is legal, the v-AMF sends a network slice selection request to the v-NSSF, wherein the network slice selection request comprises the position information of the terminal equipment and the signed hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN.

Step 605d, the v-NSSF sends a network slice selection response to the v-AMF, where the network slice selection response includes the allowed vS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the VPLMN and mapping information 2, and the mapping information 2 is used to indicate the allowed vS-NSSAI and its corresponding hS-NSSAI.

The allowed vS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the VPLMN refers to vS-NSSAI which can be used by a network for providing service for the terminal equipment in a current registration area after the terminal equipment is registered in the VPLMN. As an example, the allowed vS-NSSAIs of the terminal device in the VPLMN includes vS-NSSAI1 and vS-NSSAI 2, i.e., the vS-NSSAI that the network can provide service for the terminal device in the current registration area includes vS-NSSAI1 and vS-NSSAI 2, and the vS-NSSAI that cannot provide service for the terminal device includes vS-NSSAI 3. Accordingly, mapping information 2 is used to indicate vS-NSSAI1, vS-NSSAI 2 and their corresponding hS-NSSAI. See table 5 for an example of mapping information 2.

Table 5: mapping information 2 example

hS-NSSAI	vS-NSSAI
		hS-NSSAI 1	vS-NSSAI 1
hS-NSSAI 2	vS-NSSAI 2

In the embodiment of the present application, the mapping information 2 may be a part of the content of the mapping information 1, as shown in table 5. In other possible embodiments, if all of the vS-NSSAIs in the mapping information 1 are allowed vS-NSSAIs, the mapping information 2 may also be the same as the mapping information 1.

Step 605e, the v-AMF accepts the registration request of the terminal device, and sends a registration response of successful registration to the terminal device through the AN device, wherein the registration response includes allowed vS-NSSAI (i.e. vS-NSSAI1, vS-NSSAI 2) and mapping information 2 of the terminal device in the VPLMN.

Accordingly, the terminal device receives the response message of successful registration and stores the allowed vS-NSSAI and the mapping information 2.

In step 605f, after the terminal device is successfully registered, the v-AMF may register context data of the terminal device with the UDM for managing subscription data of the terminal device, where the context data of the terminal device is used for registration management and mobility management of the terminal device.

Step 605g, after v-AMF registers context data of the terminal device with UDM, UDM may send notification message to h-PCF.

Step 606, after receiving the notification message, the h-PCF sends the first NSSP to the terminal device.

In step 607, the terminal device determines that the service data flow 1 of the first application needs to be transmitted.

Step 608, the terminal device determines, according to the identifier of the first application, the requirement of the service data flow 1 for the network performance, and the first NSSP, that the network slice in the HPLMN corresponding to the service data flow 1 is the network slice a1, and then determines, according to the mapping information 2, that the network slice in the VPLMN corresponding to the service data flow 1 is the network slice b 1. If the identification of network slice b1(vS-NSSAI 1) is an allowed vS-NSSAI, step 609 may be performed.

Step 609, the terminal device determines whether there is a PDU session established using vS-NSSAI1, if so, step 610 may be executed, and if not, the terminal device may establish the PDU session using vS-NSSAI 1.

In step 610, the terminal equipment transmits service data flow 1 through the existing PDU session in network slice b 1.

The terminal device establishes a PDU session using vS-NSSAI1, which may be: if network slice b1 has one network slice instance, the specific implementation procedure for the terminal device to establish the PDU session using vS-NSSAI1 includes (not illustrated in fig. 5 for the moment): step b1, the terminal equipment sends a session establishment request to the v-AMF network element through the AN equipment, wherein the session establishment request carries vS-NSSAI 1; step 2, the v-AMF network element determines the v-SMF network element according to the vS-NSSAI1 carried in the session establishment request to the NRF request; the address of the NRF may be provided to the v-AMF by the vnssef in the registration process of the terminal device, or obtained when the v-AMF network element requests the vnssef network element to select a network slice for the vS-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request message after receiving the session establishment request message; step b3, the NRF network element selects the v-SMF network element in the network slice b1 according to the vS-NSSAI1, and returns the address of the v-SMF to the v-AMF; step 4, the v-AMF forwards a session establishment request to the selected v-SMF network element; b5, after the v-SMF network element receives the session establishment request, selecting a proper v-UPF network element and controlling the selected v-UPF network element to establish a PDU session; and b6, the v-SMF network element sends the session establishment response message to the terminal equipment through the v-AMF and the AN equipment, and simultaneously informs the AN equipment of the session related information through the v-AMF network element, wherein the session related information can comprise information such as a tunnel address of a session user plane, QoS parameters and the like.

If the network slice b1 has multiple network slice instances, for example, the network slice b1 has network slice instance b11 and network slice instance b12, where the network performance of the network slice instance b11 and the network slice instance b12 is the same as the network performance of the network slice b11, and both are SLA level 1, the specific implementation process of the terminal device to establish the PDU session using vS-NSSAI1 may include steps 611 to 613.

Step 611, the terminal equipment sends a second request to the v-NSSF, where the second request includes the vS-NSSAI 1.

In step 612, the v-NSSF selects a network slice instance b11 for the traffic data flow 1 from the plurality of network slice instances comprised by network slice a1 according to the second request. Here, the specific basis for selecting the network slice example in the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

Step 613, the v-NSSF sends the v-AMF an identification of network slice instance b 11.

In step 614, the v-AMF may request the NRF to determine the v-SMF network elements within the network slice instance b11 according to the identifier of the network slice instance b11, and then request the v-SMF network elements to establish the PDU session. The specific implementation process may refer to the steps b2 to b 6.

In step 615, the terminal device sends service data flow 1 through the PDU session established in network slice instance b 11.

EXAMPLE III

In the third embodiment, a possible implementation flow of the network slice selection method will be described mainly for a scenario in which the service network of the terminal device in the second embodiment is the HPLMN.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to a third embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 7, the method includes:

in step 701, the h-PCF obtains an identifier of one or more applications in the terminal device, where the one or more applications include the first application. Here, the h-PCF may obtain the identifier of the first application in the terminal device from the AF, and optionally, the h-PCF may further obtain, from the AF, a plurality of service data flow templates of the first application, performance characteristics of a plurality of service data flows of the first application, and the like.

In step 702, the h-PCF obtains the identity of one or more network slices in the HPLMN. Here, the identification of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN may comprise the subscription hS-NSSAI of the end device in the HPLMN. For example, the contracts hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN comprise hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2 and hS-NSSAI 3. Alternatively, the h-PCF can acquire the signed hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN from the h-NSSF.

Thus, the h-PCF may generate a second NSSP according to the identity of the first application and the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, and the second NSSP may be used to indicate at least one network slice in the HPLMN corresponding to the first application in the terminal device. See table 6 for an example of the content included in the second NSSP.

Table 6: example of content included in the second NSSP

Identification of applications	Routing descriptor
		APP-A	hS-NSSAI 1，hS-NSSAI 2
APP-B	hS-NSSAI 3

As shown in table 6, the network slice in the HPLMN corresponding to the first application (APP- ｃA) includes network slice ｃA1(hS-NSSAI1), network slice ｃA2(hS-NSSAI 2), and network slice ｃA3(hS-NSSAI 3).

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the time for the h-PCF to generate the second NSSP is not limited.

Steps 703a to 703g are procedures for registering the terminal device with the HPLMN.

Step 703a, the terminal device sends a registration request to the h-AMF through the AN device, where the registration request may carry AN identifier of the terminal device.

And step 703b, the h-AMF determines the UDM for managing the subscription data of the terminal equipment according to the identifier of the terminal equipment, and acquires the subscription data of the terminal equipment from the UDM, wherein the subscription data of the terminal equipment comprises the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN, namely hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2 and hS-NSSAI 3.

And step 703c, after verifying that the identity of the terminal equipment is legal, the h-AMF sends a network slice selection request to the h-NSSF, wherein the network slice selection request comprises the position information of the terminal equipment and the signed hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN.

Step 703d, the h-NSSF sends a network slice selection response to the h-AMF, where the network slice selection response includes the allowed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN and the network performance of the network slice identified by the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN (i.e., the network performance of network slice a1, network slice a2, and network slice a 3). For example, the allowable hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN includes hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, hS-NSSAI 3; the network performance of the network slice identified by hS-NSSAI1 (i.e., network slice a1) is SLA level 1, the network performance of the network slice identified by hS-NSSAI 2 (i.e., network slice a2) is SLA level 2, and the network performance of the network slice identified by hS-NSSAI3 (i.e., network slice a3) is SLA level 3.

In step 703e, the h-AMF receives the registration request of the terminal device and sends a registration response of successful registration to the terminal device through the AN device, where the registration response includes the allowed hS-NSSAI (i.e., hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, hS-NSSAI 3) of the terminal device in the HPLMN and the network performance of the network slice signed by the hS-NSSAI identifier of the terminal device in the HPLMN.

Accordingly, the terminal equipment receives the response message of successful registration and stores the network performance of the allowed hS-NSSAI and the network slice of the signed hS-NSSAI identification of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN.

In step 703f, after the terminal device is successfully registered, the h-AMF may register context data of the terminal device with the UDM that manages the subscription data of the terminal device, where the context data of the terminal device is used for registration management and mobility management of the terminal device.

Step 703g, in the process of processing the registration request, the h-PCF may subscribe to the UDM for a context data change event of the terminal device, so that, after the h-AMF registers the context data of the terminal device with the UDM, the UDM may send a notification message to the h-PCF.

Step 704, after receiving the notification message, the h-PCF sends a second NSSP to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives and stores the second NSSP sent by the h-PCF.

Step 705, the terminal device determines that the service data flow 1 of the first application needs to be sent.

Here, when ｃA first application (generally, ｃA client program of the first application) needs to send ｃA service datｃA flow 1, ｃA datｃA sending interface provided by the terminal device is called, and an identifier (APP- ｃA) of the first application, the service datｃA flow 1, and ｃA requirement of the service datｃA flow 1 on network performance are provided. In this way, the terminal device may obtain the identifier (APP- ｃA) of the first application, the service datｃA flow 1, and the requirement of the service datｃA flow 1 for the network performance (e.g., slｃA level 1).

Step 706, the terminal device determines the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 as the network slice a1 according to the identifier of the first application, the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance, the network performance of the second NSSP, the network slice identified by the subscription hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, and the allowed hS-NSSAI, wherein the network performance of the network slice a1 meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Here, the terminal device may determine, according to the identifier of the first application and the second NSSP, that the network slice corresponding to the first application includes the network slice a1 and the network slice a2, and since the hS-NSSAI1 and the hS-NSSAI 2 are allowed hS-NSSAI, the terminal device may determine, according to the requirement of the service data stream 1 on the network performance and the network performance of each allowed hS-NSSAI, the network slice a1 whose network performance meets the requirement of the service stream on the network performance from the network slice a1 and the network slice a 2.

Steps 707 to 713 refer to the description of steps 507 to 513 in fig. 5.

It should be noted that in implementation a1 described above, in the registration process of the terminal device, the h-NSSF may send, to the terminal device, the network performance of the network slice identified by the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN (see, the network slice selection response in step 703d includes the network performance of the network slice identified by the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, and the registration response in step 703e includes the network performance of the network slice identified by the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN). In another possible implementation, the h-NSSF may not send the network performance of the network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier of the terminal device in the HPLMN to the terminal device, that is, the network slice selection response in step 703d does not include the network performance of the network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier of the terminal device in the HPLMN, and the registration response in step 703e does not include the network performance of the network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier of the terminal device in the HPLMN; in this case, after step 705, steps 706 'to 713' may be performed.

Step 706', the terminal device selects a network slice for the service data flow 1 according to the identifier of the first application, the second NSSP, and the allowed hS-NSSAI.

Here, the terminal device may determine that the network slice corresponding to the first application includes the network slice a1, the network slice a2, and the network slice a3 according to the identifier of the first application and the second NSSP, and since the hS-NSSAI1 and the hS-NSSAI 2 are allowed hS-NSSAI, the terminal device may select one network slice from the network slice a1 and the network slice a2, and perform step 707' according to the selected network slice.

Step 707 ', if the network slice selected in step 706' is network slice a1, the terminal device determines whether there is a PDU session established using hS-NSSAI1, if there is a PDU session that has been established and meets the condition, step 708 may be executed, and if there is a PDU session that has been established and does not meet the condition, step 706 'is returned to be executed, where the network slice selected in step 706' may be network slice a 2. If there is no PDU session established using hS-NSSAI1, the terminal device may establish a PDU session using hS-NSSAI 1.

The terminal device may store a correspondence between the established PDU session and the requirement of the service data stream on the network performance, as shown in table 7.

Table 7: example of correspondence between PDU sessions and traffic data flow requirements for network performance

Identification of PDU sessions	Network performance requirements of traffic data flows
		PDU Session 1	SLA level 1
PDU Session 2	SLA level 2

Wherein, the PDU session 1 is a PDU session established by using the hS-NSSAI 1.

In this embodiment of the present application, the established PDU session meeting condition may refer to that the established PDU session meets the requirement of the service data stream 1 on the network performance, that is, the requirement of the service data stream corresponding to the established PDU session on the network performance is the same as the requirement of the service data stream 1 on the network performance. Since the requirement of the service data flow corresponding to PDU session 1 in table 7 on the network performance is SLA level 1, PDU session 1 can be considered to satisfy the condition. The correspondence between the established PDU session and the requirement of the service data stream for the network performance may come from a record of the established session stored by the terminal device after the session is successfully established, where the record includes the correspondence between the established session identifier and the requirement of the service data stream to be sent for triggering establishment of the session for the network performance, which may be specifically referred to in step 712'.

In step 708', the terminal device sends the traffic data stream 1 via the PDU session already existing in network slice a 1.

The terminal device establishes a PDU session using hS-NSSAI1, which may be: if the network slice a1 has one network slice instance, a PDU session may be established through step a1 to step a 5. If the network slice a1 has multiple network slice instances, for example, the network slice a1 has a network slice instance a11 and a network slice instance a12, wherein the network performance of the network slice instance a11 and the network slice instance a12 may be the same or different, the specific implementation process of the terminal device establishing the PDU session using the hS-NSSAI1 may include steps 709 'to 711'.

Step 709', the terminal device sends a third request to the h-NSSF, where the third request includes hS-NSSAI1 and the requirement of service data flow 1 on network performance.

Here, the terminal device sends a third request to the h-NSSF, which may be: the terminal equipment sends a session establishment request to the h-AMF through the AN equipment, wherein the session establishment request carries hS-NSSAI1 and the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance; correspondingly, after receiving the session establishment request, the h-AMF sends a network slice instance selection request to the h-NSSF, wherein the network slice instance selection request comprises the hS-NSSAI1 and the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Step 710 ', h-NSSF, according to the third request, if it is determined that there is a network slice instance whose network performance satisfies the requirement of the service data flow 1 for the network performance among the plurality of network slice instances included in the network slice a1 identified by the hS-NSSAI1, selecting the network slice instance (for example, the network slice instance a11) for the service data flow, and executing step 711'; if it is determined that there is no network slice instance with network performance satisfying the requirement of the traffic data flow 1 on the network performance among the plurality of network slice instances included in the network slice a1, the step 706 'is returned to be executed, where the network slice selected in the step 706' may be the network slice a 2.

Step 711', h-NSSF sends the h-AMF the identification of network slice instance a 11.

Step 712', the h-AMF may request from the NRF to determine h-SMF network elements within network slice instance a11 based on the identity of network slice instance a11, and then request the h-SMF network elements to establish a PDU session. The specific implementation process may refer to the steps a2 to a 6. Further, after the PDU session is successfully established, the terminal device may store the correspondence between the PDU session and the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Step 713', the terminal device sends the traffic data stream 1 via the newly established PDU session in network slice instance a 11.

Example four

In the fourth embodiment, a possible implementation flow of the network slice selection method will be described mainly for a scenario in which the service network of the terminal device in the second scheme is a VPLMN.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a network slice selection method according to a fourth embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, includes:

step 801 and step 802 may refer to the description of step 701 and step 702 in fig. 7.

Step 803, h-NSSF sends network slice information to v-NSSF. Wherein the network slice information includes an identification of one or more network slices in the HPLMN, a network performance of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN. Wherein the one or more network slices in the HPLMN include one or more network slices in the HPLMN for which the end device subscribes to the hS-NSSAI.

In step 804, the v-NSSF generates mapping information 1 based on the roaming agreement, the network performance of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN, and the network performance of the one or more network slices in the VPLMN. The mapping information 1 can be seen from table 4.

Steps 805a to 805f are procedures for registering the terminal device with the VPLMN.

Step 805a, the terminal device sends a registration request to the v-AMF through the AN device, and the registration request may carry the identifier of the terminal device.

In step 805b, the v-AMF determines the UDM for managing the subscription data of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device, and acquires the subscription data of the terminal device from the UDM, wherein the subscription data of the terminal device includes the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, that is, hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, hS-NSSAI3, hS-NSSAI 4, and hS-NSSAI 5.

And step 805c, after verifying that the identity of the terminal equipment is legal, the v-AMF sends a network slice selection request to the v-NSSF, wherein the network slice selection request comprises the position information of the terminal equipment and the signed hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN.

Step 805d, the v-NSSF sends a network slice selection response to the v-AMF, wherein the network slice selection response includes the allowed vS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the VPLMN and mapping information 2, and the mapping information 2 is used for indicating the hS-NSSAI corresponding to the allowed vS-NSSAI. The mapping information 2 is shown in table 5.

Step 805e, the v-AMF accepts the registration request of the terminal device, and sends a registration response of successful registration to the terminal device through the AN device, wherein the registration response includes allowed vS-NSSAI (i.e. vS-NSSAI1, vS-NSSAI 2) and mapping information 2 of the terminal device in the VPLMN.

In step 805f, after the terminal device is successfully registered, the v-AMF may register context data of the terminal device with the UDM that manages subscription data of the terminal device, where the context data of the terminal device is used for registration management and mobility management of the terminal device.

Step 805g, after v-AMF registers context data of the terminal device with UDM, UDM may send notification message to h-PCF.

Step 806, after receiving the notification message, the h-PCF sends a second NSSP to the terminal device.

In step 807, the terminal device determines that the service data stream 1 of the first application needs to be transmitted.

Step 808, the terminal device determines that the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 is the network slice b1 according to the identifier of the first application, the network performance (for example, SLA level 1) of the service data flow 1, the network performance of the network slice identified by the subscription hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, the mapping information 2, and the allowed vS-NSSAI, where the network performance of the network slice b1 meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance. The network performance of the network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier in the HPLMN of the terminal device may be obtained and stored in the process of registering the terminal device in the HPLMN.

Here, the terminal device may determine, according to the identifier of the first application and the second NSSP, that the network slice in the HPLMN corresponding to the first application includes network slice a1 and network slice a 2; further, according to the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance and the network performance of the network slice identified by the subscription hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN (i.e., the network performance of the network slice a1 and the network slice a2), determining a network slice a1 whose network performance meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance; further, it is determined that the network slice corresponding to the network slice a1 is the network slice b1 and the vS-NSSAI1 is the allowed vS-NSSAI according to the mapping information 2, and thus, the network slice corresponding to the service data stream 1 may be determined to be the network slice b 1. In the embodiment of the present application, since the network slice a1 matches the network performance of the network slice b1, the network performance of the network slice b1 also meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Steps 809 to 815 may refer to the descriptions of steps 609 to 615.

It should be noted that: in the above-described implementation manner, the terminal device may obtain the network performance of the pre-stored network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier of the terminal device in the HPLMN. In yet another possible implementation, the terminal device may not acquire the network performance of the network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier in the HPLMN (for example, the terminal device may not acquire the network performance because the terminal device does not have pre-stored information), but during the registration process of the terminal device, the v-NSSF may send the network performance of the network slice allowing the vS-NSSAI identifier to the terminal device, that is, the network slice selection response in step 905d may include the network performance of the network slice allowing the vS-NSSAI identifier, and the registration response in step 905e may include the network performance of the network slice allowing the vS-NSSAI identifier; in this case, the step 808 may be a step 808':

step 808', the terminal device determines the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 as the network slice b1 according to the identifier of the first application, the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance (for example, SLA level 1), the second NSSP, the mapping information 2, and the network performance of the network slice allowing the identification of vS-NSSAI, where the network performance of the network slice b1 meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Here, the terminal device may determine, according to the identifier of the first application and the second NSSP, that the network slice corresponding to the first application includes network slice a1 and network slice a 2; further, according to the mapping information 2, network slices allowing the identification of the vS-NSSAI in the VPLMN corresponding to the network slice a1 and the network slice a2, that is, the network slice b1 and the network slice b2 are obtained; further, according to the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance and the network performances of the network slice b1 and the network slice b2, the network slice b1 whose network performance meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance can be determined.

In another possible implementation manner, the terminal device may not acquire the network performance of the network slice signed with the hS-NSSAI identifier in the HPLMN (for example, the terminal device does not have pre-stored information and cannot acquire the network performance), and the v-NSSF may not send the network performance of the network slice allowing the vS-NSSAI identifier to the terminal device, in this case, after the step 807, steps 808 "to 815" may be executed as follows:

step 808 ", the terminal device selects a network slice for the service data stream 1 according to the identifier of the first application, the second NSSP, the mapping information 2, and the allowed vS-NSSAI.

Here, the terminal device may determine, according to the identifier of the first application and the second NSSP, that the network slice in the HPLMN corresponding to the first application includes network slice a1 and network slice a 2; further, it is determined according to the mapping information 2 that the network slice corresponding to the network slice a1 is network slice b1, and vS-NSSAI1 is allowed vS-NSSAI, the network slice corresponding to the network slice a2 is network slice b2, and vS-NSSAI 2 is allowed vS-NSSAI. Thus, the terminal device may select one network slice for traffic data flow 1 from network slice b1, network slice b2, and perform step 809 "according to the selected network slice.

Step 809 ", if the network slice selected in step 808" is network slice b1, the terminal device determines whether there is a PDU session established using vS-NSSAI1, if there is a PDU session that has been established and meets the condition, step 810 may be executed, if there is a PDU session that has been established and does not meet the condition, step 808 "is returned to be executed, and at this time, the network slice selected in step 808" may be network slice b 2. If there is no PDU session established using hS-NSSAI1, the terminal device may establish a PDU session using vS-NSSAI 1.

The terminal device may store a correspondence between the established PDU session and the requirement of the service data stream for the network performance, and the condition that the established PDU session meets the condition may mean that the requirement of the service data stream corresponding to the established PDU session for the network performance is the same as the requirement of the service data stream 1 for the network performance.

In step 810 ", the terminal device sends service data flow 1 via the PDU session already existing in network slice b 1.

The terminal device establishes a PDU session using vS-NSSAI1, which may be: if the network slice b1 has one network slice instance, a PDU session can be established by performing steps b1 through b 5. If the network slice b1 has multiple network slice instances, for example, the network slice b1 has network slice instance b11 and network slice instance b12, wherein the network performance of the network slice instance b11 and the network slice instance b12 may be the same or different, the specific implementation process of the terminal device establishing the PDU session using vS-NSSAI1 may include steps 811 "to 813".

Step 811 ", the terminal equipment sends a fourth request to the v-NSSF, where the fourth request includes the vS-NSSAI1 and the requirement of the service data flow 1 for the network performance.

Here, the terminal device sends a fourth request to the v-NSSF, which may be: the terminal equipment sends a session establishment request to the v-AMF through the AN equipment, wherein the session establishment request carries vS-NSSAI1 and the requirement of a service data stream 1 on the network performance; correspondingly, after receiving the session establishment request, the v-AMF sends a network slice instance selection request to the v-NSSF, where the network slice instance selection request includes the vS-NSSAI1 and the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Step 812 ″, if, according to the fourth request, the v-NSSF determines that there is a network slice instance whose network performance satisfies the requirement of the traffic data flow 1 on the network performance among the multiple network slice instances included in the network slice b1, the network slice instance is selected for the traffic data flow (for example, the network slice instance b11), and step 813 ″ is executed; if it is determined that there is no network slice instance with network performance meeting the requirement of the traffic data flow 1 on the network performance among the plurality of network slice instances included in the network slice b1, the process returns to step 808 ", where the network slice selected in step 808" may be the network slice b 2.

Step 813 ", v-NSSF sends the v-AMF the identification of network slice instance b 11.

Step 814 ", the v-AMF may establish the PDU session based on the identity of the network slice instance b 11. The specific implementation process may refer to the steps b2 to b 6. Further, after the PDU session is successfully established, the terminal device may store the correspondence between the PDU session and the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Step 815 ", the terminal device sends the service data flow 1 via the PDU session established in the network slice instance b 11.

EXAMPLE five

In the fifth embodiment, a further possible implementation flow of the network slice selection method will be described mainly for a scenario in which the service network of the terminal device in the second scheme is a VPLMN.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a network slice selection method according to a fifth embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 9, the method includes:

step 901 and step 902 can refer to the description of step 701 and step 702 in fig. 7.

Step 903, the h-NSSF sends the identification of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN to the v-NSSF. Here, the identification of the one or more network slices in the HPLMN may comprise the subscription hS-NSSAI of the end device in the HPLMN. For example, the contracts hS-NSSAI of the terminal equipment in the HPLMN comprise hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2 and hS-NSSAI 3.

Step 904, the v-NSSF generates mapping information 3 according to the roaming agreement, and the mapping information 3 is used for indicating the network slices in the HPLMN corresponding to the one or more network slices in the VPLMN, respectively. Referring to table 8, an example of the mapping information 3 is shown.

Table 8: mapping information 3 example

As shown in table 8, network slice b1 corresponds to network slice a1, network slice b2 corresponds to network slice a2, and network slice b3 corresponds to network slice a 3.

Steps 905a to 905f are procedures for registering the terminal device to the VPLMN.

Step 905a, the terminal device sends a registration request to the v-AMF through the AN device, where the registration request may carry AN identifier of the terminal device.

Step 905b, the v-AMF determines the UDM for managing the subscription data of the terminal device according to the identifier of the terminal device, and acquires the subscription data of the terminal device from the UDM, wherein the subscription data of the terminal device includes the subscribed hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN, that is, hS-NSSAI1, hS-NSSAI 2, and hS-NSSAI 3.

Step 905c, after verifying that the identity of the terminal device is legal, the v-AMF sends a network slice selection request to the v-NSSF, where the network slice selection request includes location information of the terminal device and a contract hS-NSSAI of the terminal device in the HPLMN.

Step 905d, the v-NSSF sends a network slice selection response to the v-AMF, where the network slice selection response includes allowed vS-NSSAI (such as vS-NSSAI1, vS-NSSAI 2) of the terminal device in the VPLMN, an identification of a network slice allowed to be identified by the vS-NSSAI, network performance of a network slice allowed to be identified by the vS-NSSAI, and mapping information 4. The mapping information 4 is used to indicate that the hS-NSSAI corresponding to the vS-NSSAI is allowed. The mapping information 4 is shown in table 9.

Table 9: mapping information 4

hS-NSSAI	vS-NSSAI
		hS-NSSAI 1	vS-NSSAI 1
hS-NSSAI 2	vS-NSSAI 2

In the embodiment of the present application, the mapping information 4 may be a part of the content of the mapping information 3, as shown in table 9. In other possible embodiments, if all of the vS-NSSAIs in the mapping information 3 are allowed vS-NSSAIs, the mapping information 4 may also be the same as the mapping information 3.

Step 905e, the v-AMF accepts the registration request of the terminal device, and sends a registration response of successful registration to the terminal device through the AN device, where the registration response includes allowed vS-NSSAI (i.e. vS-NSSAI1 and vS-NSSAI 2) of the terminal device in the VPLMN, network performance of the network slice identified by the allowed vS-NSSAI, and mapping information 4.

Accordingly, the terminal device receives the response message of successful registration, and stores the allowed vS-NSSAI, the network performance of the network slice identified by the allowed vS-NSSAI, and the mapping information 4.

In step 905f, after the terminal device is successfully registered, the v-AMF may register context data of the terminal device with the UDM for managing subscription data of the terminal device, where the context data of the terminal device is used for registration management and mobility management of the terminal device.

Step 905g, after v-AMF registers context data of the terminal device to UDM, UDM may send a notification message to h-PCF.

Step 906, after receiving the notification message, the h-PCF sends a second NSSP to the terminal device.

In step 907, the terminal device determines that the service data flow 1 of the first application needs to be sent.

Step 908, the terminal device determines, according to the identifier of the first application, the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance (for example, SLA level 1), the second NSSP, the mapping information 4, and the network performance of the network slice allowing the identification of vS-NSSAI, that the network slice corresponding to the service data flow 1 is the network slice b1, where the network performance of the network slice b1 meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance.

Here, the terminal device may determine, according to the identifier of the first application and the second NSSP, that the network slice corresponding to the first application includes network slice a1, network slice a2, and network slice a 3; further, according to mapping information 4, network slices allowing the identification of the vS-NSSAI in the VPLMN corresponding to network slice a1 and network slice a2, that is, network slice b1 and network slice b2 are obtained (where hS-NSSAI3 identifying network slice a3 is not included in mapping information 4, and thus there is no corresponding network slice allowing the identification of the vS-NSSAI); further, according to the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance and the network performances of the network slice b1 and the network slice b2, the network slice b1 whose network performance meets the requirement of the service data flow 1 on the network performance can be determined.

Steps 909 to 915 may refer to the description of steps 609 to 615.

It should be noted that, in the implementation described above, during the registration process of the terminal device, the v-NSSF may send the network capability of the network slice allowing the identification of the vS-NSSAI to the terminal device (see that the network slice selection response in step 905d includes the network capability of the network slice allowing the identification of the vS-NSSAI, and the registration response in step 905e includes the network capability of the network slice allowing the identification of the vS-NSSAI). In another possible implementation, the v-NSSF may not send the network capability of the network slice allowing the vS-NSSAI identification to the terminal device, that is, the network slice selection response in step 905d does not include the network capability of the network slice allowing the vS-NSSAI identification, and the registration response in step 905e includes the network capability of the network slice not allowing the vS-NSSAI identification; in this case, after the above step 907, steps 908 "to 915" may be performed, and the specific contents of steps 908 "to 915" may be referred to as steps 808 "to 815".

It should be noted that: (1) the differences between the first embodiment and the fifth embodiment can be referred to the description of the first scheme and the second scheme, and the first embodiment and the fifth embodiment can be referred to each other except the differences; for each of the first to fifth embodiments, when there are multiple possible implementation manners, only differences between the multiple possible implementation manners are described in the embodiments of the present application, and other contents may be referred to each other. (2) The first mapping information involved in the flow described in fig. 2 may be the mapping information 1 described in the second embodiment, the fourth embodiment, and the fifth embodiment, or may also be the mapping information 2 described in the second embodiment, the fourth embodiment, and the fifth embodiment. The second mapping information involved in the flow described in fig. 4 may be the mapping information 3 described in the fifth embodiment, or may also be the mapping information 4 described in the fifth embodiment.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the present application is mainly introduced from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is to be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, each network element includes a corresponding hardware structure and/or software module (or unit) for performing each function. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software, with the exemplary elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

In case of an integrated unit, fig. 10 shows a possible exemplary block diagram of the apparatus involved in the embodiments of the present application, which apparatus 1000 may be present in the form of software. The apparatus 1000 may include: a processing unit 1002 and a communication unit 1003. The processing unit 1002 is used for controlling and managing operations of the apparatus 1000. The communication unit 1003 is configured to support communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices or network elements. Optionally, the communication unit 1003, also referred to as a transceiving unit, may include a receiving unit and/or a transmitting unit for performing receiving and transmitting operations, respectively. The device 1000 may further comprise a storage unit 1001 for storing program codes and data of the device 1000.

The processing unit 1002 may be, among other things, a processor or controller that may implement or execute the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiment disclosure. The communication unit 1003 may be a communication interface, a transceiver circuit, or the like, wherein the communication interface is referred to as a generic term, and in a specific implementation, the communication interface may include a plurality of interfaces. The storage unit 1001 may be a memory.

The apparatus 1000 may be the terminal device in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a semiconductor chip disposed in the terminal device. Processing unit 1002 may enable apparatus 1000 to perform the actions of the terminal device in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly supports the internal actions of the terminal device in the method example executed by the apparatus 1000, and the communication unit 1003 may support the communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices or network elements. For example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 204 in fig. 2, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 203, step 205, step 208, step 209 in fig. 2; as another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 304 in fig. 3, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 303, step 305, step 308, step 309 in fig. 3; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 405 in fig. 4, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 403 and step 406 in fig. 4; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform steps 506 and 507 in fig. 5, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform steps 503a, 503e, 508, 509 and 513 in fig. 5; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 608 and step 609 in fig. 6, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 605a, step 605e, step 610, step 611 and step 615 in fig. 6; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform steps 706 and 707 in fig. 7, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform steps 703a, 703e, 708, 709, and 713 in fig. 7; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform steps 808 and 809 in fig. 8, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform steps 805a, 805e, 810, 811 and 815 in fig. 8; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 908 and step 909 in fig. 9, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 905a, step 905e, step 910, step 911 and step 915 in fig. 9.

Exemplarily, in an embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is configured to receive, from a policy control network element in a first network, a network slice selection policy, where the network slice selection policy is used to indicate a network slice in the first network to which a plurality of traffic data streams of a first application in a terminal device respectively correspond, where the plurality of traffic data streams of the first application include the first traffic data stream; the processing unit 1002 is configured to determine, according to a network slice selection policy, that a network slice in a first network corresponding to a first service data stream to be sent is a first network slice.

In one possible design, the network slice selection policy includes an association between an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance, and an identification of the first network slice.

In one possible design, the network slice selection policy includes a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors, respectively; the plurality of communication descriptors includes a first communication descriptor corresponding to the first routing descriptor; the first communication descriptor comprises an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance; the first routing descriptor includes an identification of the first network slice.

In one possible design, the processing unit 1002 is specifically configured to: acquiring an identifier of an application to which a first service data flow belongs and a requirement of the first service data flow on network performance; and if the identifier of the application to which the first service data flow belongs and the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance are matched with the first communication descriptor, determining that the network slice corresponding to the first service data flow is the first network slice.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the communication unit 1003 may further be configured to: a first traffic data stream is transmitted over a first network slice.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the communication unit 1003 may further be configured to: receiving first mapping information sent by a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the first mapping information is used for indicating one or more network slices in the first network which respectively correspond to network slices in the second network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise a first network slice, the network slice in the second network which corresponds to the first network slice is a second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice is matched with the network performance of the first network slice; and sending the first service data stream through a second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

Exemplarily, in yet another embodiment, the communication unit 1003 is configured to receive a network slice selection policy from a policy control network element in the first network, the network slice selection policy being used to indicate at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to the first application in the terminal device; the processing unit 1002 is configured to determine, for a first service data stream to be sent, a first network slice from among at least one network slice according to a network slice selection policy and a network performance of at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to a first application, where a plurality of service data streams of the first application include the first service data stream, and a network performance of the first network slice meets a requirement of the first service data stream for the network performance.

In one possible design, if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the communication unit 1003 may further be configured to: receiving first mapping information from a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the first mapping information is used for indicating network slices in the second network respectively corresponding to one or more network slices in the first network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise the first network slice, the network slice in the second network corresponding to the first network slice is the second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice is matched with the network performance of the first network slice; and then, according to the first mapping information, the first service data stream is sent through a second network slice corresponding to the first network slice.

The apparatus 1000 may also be a network device (such as a policy control network element) in any of the above embodiments, or may also be a semiconductor chip disposed in the network device. The processing unit 1002 may enable the apparatus 1000 to perform the actions of the policy control network element in the above method examples. Alternatively, the processing unit 1002 mainly supports the internal actions of the policy control network element in the method example performed by the apparatus 1000, and the communication unit 1003 may support communication between the apparatus 1000 and other devices or network elements. For example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 201 in fig. 2, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 202 in fig. 2; as another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 301 in fig. 3, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 302 in fig. 3; as another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 401 in fig. 4, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform step 402 in fig. 4; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform the action of generating the first NSSP in fig. 5, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to perform the steps 501, 502, and 504 in fig. 5; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute the action of generating the first NSSP in fig. 6, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute step 601, step 602, and step 606 in fig. 6; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute the action of generating the second NSSP in fig. 7, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute the steps 701, 702, and 704 in fig. 7; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute the action of generating the second NSSP in fig. 8, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute step 801, step 802, and step 806 in fig. 8; for another example, the processing unit 1002 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute the operation of generating the second NSSP in fig. 9, and the communication unit 1003 is configured to support the apparatus 1000 to execute the steps 901, 902, and 906 in fig. 9.

Exemplarily, in an embodiment, the processing unit 1002 is configured to generate a network slice selection policy for the terminal device, where the network slice selection policy is used to indicate network slices in the first network respectively corresponding to a plurality of traffic data streams of the first application in the terminal device; a communication unit 1003, configured to send the network slice selection policy to the terminal device.

In one possible design, the plurality of traffic data flows of the first application includes a first traffic data flow, and a network slice in the first network corresponding to the first traffic data flow is a first network slice; the network performance of the first network slice satisfies the network performance requirements of the first traffic data stream.

In a possible design, the communication unit 1003 is further configured to obtain application information and network slice information of the terminal device, where the application information includes an identifier of the first application, a requirement of a plurality of traffic data flows of the first application on network performance, and the network slice information includes an identifier of one or more network slices in the first network, and network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network; the processing unit is further configured to generate a network slice selection policy according to the application information and the network slice information.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application. For convenience of explanation, fig. 11 shows only main components of the terminal device. As shown in fig. 11, the terminal device 1100 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input-output means. The terminal device 1100 can be applied to the system architecture shown in fig. 1, and performs the functions of the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

The processor is mainly configured to process the communication protocol and the communication data, control the entire terminal device, execute a software program, process data of the software program, and control the terminal device to perform the actions described in the above method embodiments. The memory is used primarily for storing software programs and data. The control circuit is mainly used for converting baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals. The control circuit and the antenna together, which may also be called a transceiver, are mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are used primarily for receiving data input by a user and for outputting data to the user.

When the terminal device is turned on, the processor can read the software program in the storage unit, interpret and execute the instruction of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit after performing baseband processing on the data to be sent, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and sends the radio frequency signal outwards in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal equipment, the radio frequency circuit receives radio frequency signals through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signals into baseband signals and outputs the baseband signals to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signals into the data and processes the data.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that fig. 11 shows only one memory and processor for ease of illustration. In an actual terminal device, there may be multiple processors and memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or a storage device, and the like, which is not limited in this application.

As an alternative implementation manner, the processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit, where the baseband processor is mainly used to process a communication protocol and communication data, and the central processing unit is mainly used to control the whole terminal device, execute a software program, and process data of the software program. The processor in fig. 11 integrates the functions of the baseband processor and the central processing unit, and those skilled in the art will understand that the baseband processor and the central processing unit may also be independent processors, and are interconnected through a bus or the like. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terminal device may include a plurality of baseband processors to accommodate different network formats, the terminal device may include a plurality of central processors to enhance its processing capability, and various components of the terminal device may be connected by various buses. The baseband processor may also be expressed as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The central processing unit may also be expressed as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The function of processing the communication protocol and the communication data may be built in the processor, or may be stored in the storage unit in the form of a software program, and the processor executes the software program to realize the baseband processing function.

For example, if the apparatus 1000 illustrated in fig. 10 is a terminal device, in the embodiment of fig. 11, an antenna and a control circuit having a transceiving function may be regarded as a communication unit of the apparatus 1000, and a processor having a processing function may be regarded as a processing unit of the apparatus 1000. As shown in fig. 11, the terminal device 1100 includes a communication unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102. The communication unit 1101 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiving means, etc. Alternatively, a device for implementing a receiving function in the communication unit 1101 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and a device for implementing a transmitting function in the communication unit 1101 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the communication unit 1101 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. For example, the receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and the sending unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting circuit, etc.

The terminal device 1100 shown in fig. 11 is capable of implementing various processes involving the terminal device in the method embodiments illustrated in fig. 2 to 9. The operations and/or functions of the respective modules in the terminal device 1100 are respectively for implementing the corresponding flows in the above-described method embodiments. Specifically, reference may be made to the description of the above method embodiments, and the detailed description is appropriately omitted herein to avoid redundancy.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the apparatus 1200 may be a policy control network element described in the foregoing method embodiment. The apparatus 1200 may be used to implement what is described in the above method embodiments, and specific reference may be made to the description in the above method embodiments.

The apparatus 1200 may include one or more processors 1201, where the processors 1201 may also be referred to as processing units and may implement certain control functions. The processor 1201 may be a general-purpose processor, a special-purpose processor, or the like, and may be, for example, a baseband processor.

In one possible design, the processor 1201 may also have instructions and/or data 1203 stored therein, and the instructions and/or data 1203 may be executed by the processor, so that the apparatus 1200 performs the method described in the above method embodiment.

In one possible design, a transceiver unit to perform receive and transmit functions may be included in processor 1201. The transceiving unit may be a transceiving circuit, or an interface, for example. The circuits or interfaces used to implement the receive and transmit functions may be separate or integrated.

In yet another possible design, apparatus 1200 may include circuitry that may implement the functionality of transmitting or receiving in the foregoing method embodiments.

Optionally, the apparatus 1200 may include one or more memories 1202 having instructions 1204 stored thereon, which are executable on the processor, so that the apparatus 1200 performs the methods described in the above embodiments. Optionally, the memory may further store data therein. Optionally, instructions and/or data may also be stored in the processor. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated together.

Optionally, the apparatus 1200 may also include a transceiver 1205 and/or an antenna 1206. The processor 1201 may be referred to as a processing unit, and controls the apparatus. The transceiver 1205 may be referred to as a transceiving unit, a transceiver, transceiving circuitry, or a transceiver, etc. for implementing transceiving functions of the apparatus.

In one possible design, an apparatus 1200 (e.g., an integrated circuit, a wireless device, a circuit module, a radar, etc.) may include a processor 1201 and a transceiver 1205.

In implementation, the steps of the method provided by this embodiment may be implemented by hardware integrated logic circuits in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a transistor logic device, a hardware component, or any combination thereof; or a combination that performs a computing function, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors, DSPs, and microprocessors, among others. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

It will be appreciated that the memory or storage units in the embodiments of the application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in or transmitted over a computer-readable storage medium. 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 that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; or an optical medium, such as a DVD; it may also be a semiconductor medium, such as a Solid State Disk (SSD).

The various illustrative logical units and circuits described in this application may be implemented or operated upon by design of a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other similar configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in the embodiments herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software element executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software cells may be stored in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. For example, a storage medium may be coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC, which may be disposed in a terminal device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a terminal device.

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

Although the embodiments of the present application have been described with reference to specific features, it is apparent that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of embodiments of the application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the embodiments of the application.

Claims

1. A method for network slice selection, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a network slice selection strategy from a strategy control network element in a first network, wherein the network slice selection strategy is used for indicating network slices in the first network corresponding to a plurality of service data flows of a first application in the terminal device respectively, and the plurality of service data flows of the first application comprise the first service data flow;

and the terminal equipment determines that the network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data stream to be sent is the first network slice according to the network slice selection strategy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network performance of the first network slice satisfies the network performance requirements of the first traffic data flow.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the network slice selection policy comprises an association between an identification of the first application, a requirement of network performance by the first traffic data flow, and an identification of the first network slice.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the network slice selection policy comprises a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors respectively;

the plurality of communication descriptors includes a first communication descriptor corresponding to a first routing descriptor;

the first communication descriptor comprises an identification of the first application, a requirement of the first traffic data flow for network performance; the first routing descriptor includes an identification of the first network slice.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining, by the terminal device, the first network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data flow according to the network slice selection policy comprises:

the terminal equipment acquires an identifier of an application to which the first service data flow belongs and the requirement of the first service data flow on network performance;

and if the terminal equipment determines that the identifier of the application to which the first service data flow belongs and the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance are matched with the first communication descriptor, determining that the network slice corresponding to the first service data flow is the first network slice.

6. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the method further comprises:

and the terminal equipment sends the first service data stream through the first network slice.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first network slice has a plurality of network slice instances;

the terminal device sends the first service data stream through the first network slice, including:

the terminal device sends a first request to a first network slice selection network element in the first network, where the first request includes an identifier of the first network slice, and the first request is used to request to determine a first network slice instance in the multiple network slice instances, where network performance of the first network slice instance satisfies a requirement of the first service data flow for network performance, and the first network slice instance is used to transmit the first service data flow.

8. The method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the method further comprises:

the terminal device receives first mapping information sent by a second network slice selection network element in a second network, wherein the first mapping information is used for indicating one or more network slices in the first network respectively corresponding to network slices in the second network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise the first network slice, the network slice in the second network corresponding to the first network slice is a second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice is matched with the network performance of the first network slice;

and the terminal equipment sends the first service data stream through the second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

9. A method for network slice selection, the method comprising:

a policy control network element in a first network generates a network slice selection policy for a terminal device, wherein the network slice selection policy is used for indicating network slices in the first network corresponding to a plurality of service data streams of a first application in the terminal device respectively;

and the strategy control network element sends the network slice selection strategy to the terminal equipment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of traffic data flows for the first application comprise a first traffic data flow, and wherein a network slice in a first network corresponding to the first traffic data flow is a first network slice;

the network performance of the first network slice meets the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the network slice selection policy comprises an association between an identification of the first application, a requirement of network performance by the first traffic data flow, and an identification of the first network slice.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the network slice selection policy comprises a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors respectively;

13. The method according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the policy control network element generates a network slice selection policy for a terminal device, comprising:

the policy control network element obtains application information and network slice information of the terminal device, where the application information includes an identifier of the first application and requirements of multiple service data flows of the first application on network performance, and the network slice information includes identifiers of one or more network slices in the first network and network performance of the one or more network slices in the first network;

and the strategy control network element generates the network slice selection strategy according to the application information and the network slice information.

14. A method for network slice selection, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a terminal device receives a network slice selection strategy from a strategy control network element in a first network, wherein the network slice selection strategy is used for indicating at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal device;

the terminal device determines a first network slice from at least one network slice for a first service data stream to be sent according to the network slice selection policy and the network performance of at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to the first application, wherein the plurality of service data streams of the first application include the first service data stream, and the network performance of the first network slice meets the requirement of the first service data stream on the network performance.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the method further comprises:

16. The method of claim 14, wherein if the serving network of the terminal device is a second network, the method further comprises:

the terminal device receives first mapping information from a second network slice selection network element in the second network, wherein the first mapping information is used for indicating network slices in the second network respectively corresponding to one or more network slices in the first network, the one or more network slices in the first network comprise the first network slice, the network slices in the second network corresponding to the first network slice are second network slices, and the network performance of the second network slices is matched with the network performance of the first network slices;

17. A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises:

a communication unit, configured to receive a network slice selection policy from a policy control network element in a first network, where the network slice selection policy is used to indicate a network slice in the first network to which a plurality of service data streams of a first application in the terminal device respectively correspond, where the plurality of service data streams of the first application include the first service data stream;

and the processing unit is used for determining that the network slice in the first network corresponding to the first service data stream to be sent is the first network slice according to the network slice selection strategy.

18. The terminal device of claim 17, wherein the network performance of the first network slice meets the network performance requirements of the first traffic data flow.

19. The terminal device of claim 18, wherein the network slice selection policy comprises an association between an identity of the first application, a requirement of network performance by the first traffic data flow, and an identity of the first network slice.

20. The terminal device according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the network slice selection policy comprises a plurality of communication descriptors and routing descriptors corresponding to the plurality of communication descriptors respectively;

21. The terminal device of claim 20, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

acquiring an identifier of an application to which the first service data flow belongs and a requirement of the first service data flow on network performance;

and if the identifier of the application to which the first service data flow belongs and the requirement of the first service data flow on the network performance are determined to be matched with the first communication descriptor, determining that the network slice corresponding to the first service data flow is the first network slice.

22. The terminal device according to any of claims 17 to 21, wherein if the serving network of the terminal device is the first network, the communication unit is further configured to:

and transmitting the first service data stream through the first network slice.

23. The terminal device according to any of claims 17 to 21, wherein if the serving network of the terminal device is the second network, the communication unit is further configured to:

receiving first mapping information sent by a second network slice selection network element in the second network, where the first mapping information is used to indicate network slices in the second network respectively corresponding to one or more network slices in the first network, the one or more network slices in the first network include the first network slice, the network slice in the second network corresponding to the first network slice is a second network slice, and the network performance of the second network slice matches the network performance of the first network slice;

and sending the first service data stream through the second network slice corresponding to the first network slice according to the first mapping information.

24. A network device, characterized in that the network device comprises:

the processing unit is used for generating a network slice selection strategy for the terminal equipment, wherein the network slice selection strategy is used for indicating network slices in a first network respectively corresponding to a plurality of service data streams of a first application in the terminal equipment;

and the communication unit is used for sending the network slice selection strategy to the terminal equipment.

25. The network device of claim 24, wherein the plurality of traffic data flows for the first application comprise a first traffic data flow, and wherein the first traffic data flow corresponds to a first network slice in a first network;

26. A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises:

a communication unit, configured to receive a network slice selection policy from a policy control network element in a first network, where the network slice selection policy is used to indicate at least one network slice in the first network corresponding to a first application in the terminal device;

a processing unit, configured to determine, for a first service data stream to be sent, a first network slice from among the at least one network slice according to the network slice selection policy and a network performance of the at least one network slice in a first network corresponding to the first application, where a plurality of service data streams of the first application include the first service data stream, and a network performance of the first network slice meets a requirement of the first service data stream for the network performance.

27. A terminal device, characterized in that the terminal device comprises a processor and a memory, the processor being configured to execute instructions stored on the memory, which when executed, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 8 or the method of any of claims 14 to 16.

28. A network device, comprising a processor and a memory, the processor to execute instructions stored on the memory that, when executed, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 9 to 13.

29. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, implement the method of any of claims 1 to 16.

30. A computer program product, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.