CN111770507A

CN111770507A - Policy control method, device and system

Info

Publication number: CN111770507A
Application number: CN201910254003.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴义壮; 李永翠
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-03-30
Filing date: 2019-03-30
Publication date: 2020-10-13
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-30
Also published as: WO2020199733A1; CN111770507B

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a policy control method, a device and a system, which can reduce the requirement on network resources under the scene that high reliability of a service is ensured by transmitting one service through two redundant sessions. The method comprises the following steps: the strategy control network element knows that the first session is a redundant session; the policy control network element determines a first policy rule of the first session, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service (QoS) control information, and the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, where the at least two sessions include the first session and are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device; the policy control network element sends the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session.

Description

Policy control method, device and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a policy control method, device, and system.

Background

To address the challenges of wireless broadband technology, and to maintain the leading advantages of the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) networks, the 3GPP standards group has established a next generation mobile communication system (next generation system) network architecture, referred to as the fifth generation (5rd generation, 5G) network architecture, in the year 2016. An ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) scenario is defined in the 5G network architecture, and mainly includes services requiring low-latency and high-reliability connection, such as unmanned driving, industrial automation, and the like.

In the existing Packet Data Unit (PDU) session establishment process or PDU session process, a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element only considers relevant information of the current PDU session when determining a policy for the PDU session, that is, policy control of each PDU session is independently performed. However, in the service transmission process of the URLLC, in order to support high-reliability transmission, two redundant PDU sessions need to be established, that is, one service is transmitted through two PDU sessions to ensure high reliability of the service. In this scenario, if the existing policy control of the PDU session is still adopted, the PCF network element needs to determine a policy to make a single PDU session support high reliability of the service, and the requirement on network resources is more strict. In addition, independent control of each PDU session may result in failure of service delivery due to inadequate service requirements.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a policy control method, a device and a system, which can reduce the requirement on network resources under the scene that high reliability of a service is ensured by transmitting one service through two redundant sessions.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the embodiment of the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

in a first aspect, a policy control method is provided, where the method includes: the strategy control network element knows that the first session is a redundant session; the policy control network element determines a first policy rule of the first session, wherein the first policy rule includes first quality of service (QoS) control information, and the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, the service being transmitted through at least two sessions, including the first session, the at least two sessions being redundant sessions associated with a terminal device; the policy control network element sends the first policy rule to a first session managing network element serving the first session. Based on the scheme, the first QoS control information determined by the policy control network element is the QoS control information required by the first session to transmit the service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, and the at least two sessions are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device including the first session. That is, the policy control network element takes into account that the first session is a redundant session when determining the first policy rule for the first session. Therefore, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by independent control of each session can be solved.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, and may also be described as QoS control information required by the first session to transmit the service when the first QoS control information is transmitted through at least two sessions, which is described in this specification in a unified manner and is not described in detail below.

In one possible design, learning, by the policy control network element, that the first session is a redundant session includes: the policy control network element receives information of a first session from the first session management network element, wherein the information of the first session comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating that the first session is a redundant session. That is, when the first redundant session is established, the policy control network element may know that the first session is a redundant session according to the first indication information included in the information of the first session.

In one possible design, the at least two sessions further include a second session, and the method further includes: and the policy control network element generates a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service. That is, when establishing the first redundant session, the policy control network element may generate the first policy rule for the first session and the second policy rule for the second session at the same time.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, and may also be described as QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service when the second QoS control information is transmitted through at least two sessions, which is described in this specification in a unified manner and is not described in detail below.

It can be understood that the first policy rule and the second policy rule in the embodiment of the present application are collaborative policy rules, which are collectively described herein and are not described in detail below.

In one possible design, the first indication information includes first redundant sequence number, RSN, information.

In one possible design, the first RSN information is further used to indicate that the access device of the first session is a primary access device or a secondary access device; the policy control network element generating the first policy rule for the first session, including: and the policy control network element generates the first policy rule of the first session according to the first indication information. For example, if the policy control network element determines that the first session uses the primary access device for user plane transmission, the first policy rule of the first session is the policy rule when the primary access device is used for transmission; or, if the policy control network element determines that the first session uses the secondary access device for user plane transmission, the first policy rule of the first session is the policy rule when the secondary access device is used for transmission.

In one possible design, the at least two sessions further include a second session, the second session being a first redundant session of the terminal device, the first session being a second redundant session of the terminal device; the method for acquiring that the first session is a redundant session by the policy control network element includes: the policy control network element receives information associated with the second session from the first session management network element; and the strategy control network element acquires that the first session is a redundant session according to the information related to the second session. That is, when the second redundant session is established, the policy control network element may know that the first session is a redundant session according to the information associated with the second session.

In one possible design, the determining, by the policy control network element, the first policy rule for the first session includes: the policy control network element determines the context of the second session according to the information associated with the second session; the policy control network element obtains the first policy rule from the context of the second session; or, the policy control network element obtains a second policy rule of the second session from the context of the second session, and generates the first policy rule according to the second policy rule, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, when a first redundant session is established, a corresponding policy rule may be generated for a second redundant session; or when the second redundant session is established, generating the policy rule of the second redundant session according to the policy rule of the first redundant session.

In one possible design, the information associated with the second session includes first RSN information.

In one possible design, the at least two sessions further include a second session, and the method further includes: the policy control network element deletes the first policy rule and updates a second policy rule of the second session, wherein the second policy rule comprises second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting the service; the updated second policy rule of the second session includes third QoS control information, where the third QoS control information is QoS control information required when only the second session is used to transmit the service; and the policy control network element sends the updated second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session. Based on the scheme, the policy control network element can determine an appropriate policy rule for the session of the terminal equipment in real time.

In one possible design, the at least two sessions further include a second session, and the method further includes: the policy control network element deletes a second policy rule of the second session and updates the first policy rule, wherein the second policy rule comprises second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting the service; the updated first policy rule includes fourth QoS control information, where the fourth QoS control information is QoS control information required when the service is transmitted using only the first session; and the policy control network element sends the updated first policy rule to the first session management network element. Based on the scheme, the policy control network element can determine an appropriate policy rule for the session of the terminal equipment in real time.

In one possible design, the at least two sessions further include a second session, and the method further includes: the policy control network element determines to delete the first policy rule or a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service; the policy control network element deletes the first policy rule and the second policy rule; the policy control network element sends second indication information to the first session management network element, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating deletion of the first policy rule; and the policy control network element sends third indication information to a second session management network element serving the second session, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the second policy rule is deleted. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, it is considered that the policy rules established for the redundant sessions are collaborative policy rules, and therefore, if the policy control network element determines to delete one of the redundant sessions, the policy control network element may delete both the policy rules of the two redundant sessions, thereby avoiding a problem that service transmission fails because the undeleted policy rules cannot meet service requirements of the sessions.

In a second aspect, a policy control method is provided, the method comprising: the method comprises the steps that a policy control network element receives a first address of terminal equipment from an application function network element; the policy control network element determines a first policy rule of a first session and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the first address, where the first policy rule includes first QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service, and the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device; the policy control network element sends the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session; and the policy control network element sends the second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session. Based on the scheme, because the policy control network element considers the factors that the first session and the second session are redundant sessions when determining the first policy rule of the first session and the second policy rule of the second session, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure the high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that the service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by the independent control of each session can be avoided.

In a third aspect, a policy control method is provided, where the method includes: the method comprises the steps that a policy control network element receives a first address of terminal equipment from an application function network element; the policy control network element determines policy rules of a first session and a second session corresponding to the first address, where the policy rules include QoS control information, the QoS control information is QoS control information required when the first session and the second session are used to transmit services, and the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device; the policy control network element sends the policy rule to a first session management network element corresponding to the first session and a second session management network element corresponding to the second session. Based on the scheme, because the policy control network element considers the fact that the first session and the second session are redundant sessions when determining the policy rules of the first session and the second session, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by independent control of each session can be avoided.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in a possible design, the receiving, by the policy control network element, the first address of the terminal device from the application function network element includes: and the policy control network element receives a first message from the application function network element, wherein the first message comprises the first address and a second address of the terminal equipment corresponding to the second session. That is, in the embodiment of the present application, the first address and the second address may be carried by one message.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in a possible design, the receiving, by the policy control network element, the first address of the terminal device from the application function network element includes: the policy control network element receives a second message from the application function network element, the second message including the first address. That is, the first address may be transmitted through a single message.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: and the policy control network element knows that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: and the policy control network element receives a third message from the application function network element, wherein the third message comprises a second address of the terminal equipment corresponding to the second session.

With reference to the second aspect or the third aspect, in one possible design, the method further includes: and the policy control network element learns that the first session corresponding to the first address and the second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment. That is to say, when different messages respectively carry a first address and a second address, the policy control network element may determine, according to the first address and the second address, that a first session corresponding to the first address and a second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device.

In a fourth aspect, a policy control method is provided, the method comprising: an application function network element acquires at least one of a first address of a terminal device or a second address of the terminal device; wherein, a first session corresponding to the first address and a second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment; the application function network element sends at least one of the first address or the second address to a policy control network element.

In one possible design, at least one of the first address or the second address is used to determine a first policy rule for the first session and a second policy rule for the second session, the first policy rule including first QoS control information, the second policy rule including second QoS control information, the first QoS control information being QoS control information required for the first session to transmit traffic, the second QoS control information being QoS control information required for the second session to transmit the traffic. Based on the scheme, because the policy control network element considers the fact that the first session and the second session are redundant sessions when determining the policy rules of the first session and the second session, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by independent control of each session can be avoided.

In one possible design, at least one of the first address or the second address includes the first address and the second address; the sending, by the application function network element, at least one of the first address or the second address to the policy control network element, includes: the application function network element sends a first message to a policy control network element, the first message including the first address and the second address. That is, in the embodiment of the present application, the first address and the second address may be carried by one message.

In one possible design, at least one of the first address or the second address includes the first address and the second address; the sending, by the application function network element, at least one of the first address or the second address to the policy control network element, includes: and the application function network element sends a second message and a third message to the policy control network element, wherein the second message comprises the first address, and the third message comprises the second address. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, the first address and the second address may be respectively carried by different messages.

In a fifth aspect, a policy control method is provided, where the method includes: the session management network element determines that the session being established is a second redundant session; the session management network element determines the policy control network element serving the first redundant session as the policy control network element serving the second redundant session. Based on the scheme, the strategy control network elements serving the redundant session can be the same strategy control network element in the process of establishing the redundant session.

In a sixth aspect, a communications apparatus is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication device may be the policy control network element in the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, or a device including the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the application function network element in the fourth aspect, or a device including the application function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the session management network element in the fifth aspect, or a device including the session management network element. The communication device includes corresponding modules, units, or means (means) for implementing the above methods, and the modules, units, or means may be implemented by hardware, software, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the above functions.

In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method of any of the first to fifth aspects. The communication device may be the policy control network element in the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, or a device including the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the application function network element in the fourth aspect, or a device including the application function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the session management network element in the fifth aspect, or a device including the session management network element.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a processor; the processor is configured to be coupled to the memory, and after reading the instructions in the memory, perform the method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects as described above. The communication device may be the policy control network element in the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, or a device including the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the application function network element in the fourth aspect, or a device including the application function network element; alternatively, the communication device may be the session management network element in the fifth aspect, or a device including the session management network element.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the first to fifth aspects described above.

A tenth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the first to fifth aspects described above.

In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a communication device (which may be a chip or a system of chips, for example) comprising a processor for implementing the functionality referred to in any of the first to fifth aspects above. In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data. When the communication device is a chip system, the communication device may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

For technical effects brought by any one of the design manners of the sixth aspect to the eleventh aspect, reference may be made to the technical effects brought by different design manners of the first aspect to the fifth aspect, and details are not repeated here.

In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided that includes a policy control network element and a first session management network element that serves a first session. The policy control network element is configured to determine a first policy rule of a first session after knowing that the first session is a redundant session, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service QoS control information, and the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, where the at least two sessions include the first session, and the at least two sessions are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device; the policy control network element is further configured to send the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session. A first session managing network element for receiving the first policy rules from the policy control network element. The technical effects of the twelfth aspect can refer to the first aspect, and are not described herein again.

In a thirteenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes a policy control network element and an application function network element; the application function network element is used for acquiring a first address of the terminal equipment; and the application function network element is also used for sending the first address to the policy control network element. A policy control network element for receiving the first address from an application function network element; the policy control network element is further configured to determine a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service, and the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device; a policy control network element further configured to send the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session; and the policy control network element is further configured to send the second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session. For technical effects of the thirteenth aspect, reference may be made to the second aspect, which is not described herein again.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a first schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a first schematic view illustrating an application of the communication system in a 5G network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an application of the communication system in a 5G network according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a first flowchart of a policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic flowchart of a policy control method according to a fourth embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a sixth policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic flowchart of a policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic flowchart eight of a policy control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy control network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an application function network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Where in the description of the present application, "/" indicates a relationship where the objects associated before and after are an "or", unless otherwise stated, for example, a/B may indicate a or B; in the present application, "and/or" is only an association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, wherein A and B can be singular or plural. Also, in the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more than two unless otherwise specified. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of the 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. In addition, in order to facilitate clear description of technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same items or similar items having substantially the same functions and actions. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the terms "first," "second," etc. do not denote any order or quantity, nor do the terms "first," "second," etc. denote any order or importance.

In addition, the network architecture and the service scenario described in the embodiment of the present application are for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation to the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems along with the evolution of the network architecture and the appearance of a new service scenario.

As shown in fig. 1, a communication system 10 provided for the embodiment of the present application includes a policy control network element 101 and a first session management network element 102 in the communication system 10. The policy control network element 101 and the first session management network element 102 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The policy control network element 101 is configured to determine a first policy rule of a first session after knowing that the first session is a redundant session, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service (QoS) control information, and the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, where the at least two sessions include the first session, and the at least two sessions are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device. The policy control network element 101 is further configured to send the first policy rule to the first session managing network element 102 serving the first session. The first session managing network element 102 is configured to receive the first policy rule from the policy controlling network element 101. The specific implementation of the above scheme will be described in detail in the following method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the first session in this embodiment of the application may be a session established by a first one of the redundant sessions, or may also be a session established by a second one of the redundant sessions, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the service is transmitted using the first session and the second session, that is, one copy of the same data is copied and transmitted on the two sessions respectively. That is, two packets are transmitted for each packet, which is described herein in a unified manner and will not be described in detail below.

Based on the communication system, the first QoS control information determined by the policy control network element is the QoS control information required by the first session to transmit the service, wherein the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, and the at least two sessions are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment including the first session. That is, the policy control network element takes into account that the first session is a redundant session when determining the first policy rule for the first session. Therefore, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by independent control of each session can be solved.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 2, for another communication system 20 provided in the embodiment of the present application, the communication system 20 includes a policy control network element 201, an application function network element 202, a first session management network element 203, and a second session management network element 204. The policy control network element 201 and the application function network element 202 may communicate directly or may communicate through forwarding of other devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. The policy control network element 201 and the first session management network element 203 or the second session management network element 204 may communicate directly, or communicate through forwarding of other devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

The application function network element 202 is configured to send the first address of the terminal device to the policy control network element 201. A policy control network element 201, configured to receive a first address of a terminal device from the application function network element 202; the policy control network element 201 is further configured to determine a first policy rule of the first session and a second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the first address, where the first policy rule includes first QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session for transmitting a service, the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting a service, and the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device. A policy control network element 201 further configured to send a first policy rule to a first session managing network element 203 serving a first session; and the policy control network element 201 is further configured to send the second policy rule to a second session management network element 204 serving the second session. The first session managing network element 203 is configured to receive the first policy rule from the policy controlling network element 201. A second session management network element 204, configured to receive the second policy rule from the policy control network element 201. The specific implementation of the above scheme will be described in detail in the following method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

Optionally, the first session management network element 203 and the second session management network element 204 in this embodiment of the application may be the same session management network element or different session management network elements, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Based on the communication system, because the policy control network element considers the factors that the first session and the second session are redundant sessions when determining the first policy rule of the first session and the second policy rule of the second session, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure the high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that the service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by the independent control of each session can be avoided.

Alternatively, the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 or the communication system 20 shown in fig. 2 may be applied to a 5G network currently being discussed or other networks in the future, and the embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

Assuming that the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 or the communication system 20 shown in fig. 2 is applied to the currently discussed 5G network, for example, for a scenario where the first session management network element and the second session management network element are the same session management network element, as shown in fig. 3, a network element or an entity corresponding to the first session management network element or the second session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF) network element in the 5G network, a network element or an entity corresponding to the policy control network element may be a PCF network element in the 5G network, and a network element or an entity corresponding to the application function network element may be an Application Function (AF) network element in the 5G network.

In addition, as shown in fig. 3, the 5G network may further include a main access device, a User Plane Function (UPF) network element 1, an auxiliary access device, a UPF network element 2, an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element, a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element, and a Unified Data Repository (UDR) network element, which are not limited in this respect.

As shown in fig. 3, the terminal devices are connected to the primary access device and the secondary access device, respectively. The main access device communicates with the UPF network element 1 through a next generation network (N) 3 interface (abbreviated as N3), and the auxiliary access device communicates with the UPF network element 2 through N3. The UPF network element 1 and the UPF network element 2 communicate with a Data Network (DN) through an N6 interface (abbreviated as N6), respectively. In addition, the main access device communicates with the auxiliary access device through an Xn interface (Xn for short), the main access device communicates with the AMF network element through an N2 interface (N2 for short), and the UPF network element 1 and the UPF network element 2 communicate with the SMF network element through an N4 interface (N4 for short), respectively. And control plane network elements such as an AMF network element, an SMF network element, a PCF network element, a UDM network element or a UDR network element, an AF network element and the like adopt service interfaces for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by the AMF network element to the outside may be Namf; the service interface externally provided by the SMF network element can be Nsmf; the service interface externally provided by the PCF network element may be Npcf; a serving interface externally provided by the UDM network element can be Nudm; a serving interface externally provided by the UDR network element may be Nudr; the service interface provided by the AF network element to the outside may be Naf. For a related description, reference may be made to the 5G system architecture (5G system architecture) diagram in the 23501 standard, which is not repeated herein.

Wherein fig. 3 establishes two sessions with the terminal device to achieve end-to-end highly reliable transmission between the terminal device and the DN. Both sessions are controlled by one SMF network element. From the user plane, the user plane connection corresponding to one session (hereinafter referred to as session 1) is: terminal equipment-main access equipment-UPF network element 1-DN; the user plane connection corresponding to another session (hereinafter referred to as session 2) is: terminal equipment-auxiliary access equipment-UPF network element 2-DN. The two sessions are redundant sessions, transmit the same service message, and are deduplicated and duplicated by an endpoint (i.e., terminal equipment or DN). From the control plane, establishing a session 1 through signaling interaction among the terminal equipment, the main access equipment, the AMF network element and the SMF network element; and establishing a session 2 through signaling interaction among the terminal equipment, the main access equipment, the AMF network element and the SMF network element.

Alternatively, assuming that the communication system 10 shown in fig. 1 or the communication system 20 shown in fig. 2 is applied to the currently discussed 5G network, for example, in a scenario that the first session management network element and the second session management network element are not the same session management network element, as shown in fig. 4, the network element or entity corresponding to the first session management network element may be an SMF network element 1 in the 5G network, the network element or entity corresponding to the second session management network element may be an SMF network element 2 in the 5G network, the network element or entity corresponding to the policy control network element may be a network element in the 5G network, and the network element or entity corresponding to the application function network element may be an AF PCF network element in the 5G network.

In addition, as shown in fig. 4, the 5G network may further include a primary access device, a UPF network element 1, a secondary access device, a UPF network element 2, an AMF network element, a UDM network element, a UDR network element, and the like, which is not limited specifically herein.

As shown in fig. 4, the terminal devices are connected to the primary access device and the secondary access device, respectively. The primary access equipment communicates with the UPF network element 1 through N3, and the secondary access equipment communicates with the UPF network element 2 through N3. The UPF network element 1 and the UPF network element 2 communicate with the DN through N6, respectively. In addition, the main access device communicates with the auxiliary access device through Xn, the main access device communicates with the AMF network element through N2, the UPF network element 1 communicates with the SMF network element 1 through N4, and the UPF network element 2 communicates with the SMF network element 2 through N4. And control plane network elements such as an AMF network element, an SMF network element 1, an SMF network element 2, a PCF network element, an UDM network element or an UDR network element adopt service interfaces for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by the AMF network element to the outside may be Namf; the service interface provided by the SMF network element 1 and the SMF network element 2 to the outside may be Nsmf; the service interface externally provided by the PCF network element may be Npcf; a serving interface externally provided by the UDM network element can be Nudm; a serving interface externally provided by the UDR network element may be Nudr; the service interface provided by the AF network element to the outside may be Naf. The relevant description can refer to the 5G system architecture diagram in the 23501 standard, and is not repeated herein.

Wherein fig. 4 establishes two sessions with the terminal device to achieve end-to-end highly reliable transmission between the terminal device and the DN. The two sessions are controlled by two SMF network elements, respectively. From the user plane, the user plane connection corresponding to one session (hereinafter referred to as PDU session 1) is: terminal equipment-main access equipment-UPF network element 1-DN; the user plane connection corresponding to another session (hereinafter referred to as session 2) is: terminal equipment-auxiliary access equipment-UPF network element 2-DN. The two sessions are redundant sessions, transmit the same service message, and are deduplicated and duplicated by an endpoint (i.e., terminal equipment or DN). From the control plane, establishing a session 1 through signaling interaction among the terminal equipment, the main access equipment, the AMF and the SMF network element 1; and establishing a session 2 through signaling interaction among the terminal equipment, the main access equipment, the AMF network element and the SMF network element 2.

It should be noted that the communication systems shown in fig. 3 or fig. 4 are both exemplarily described by taking the case that two redundant sessions established by the terminal device are selected to the same PCF network element as an example. Of course, two redundant sessions established by the terminal device may also be selected to different PCF network elements, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the session in the embodiment of the present application may be a PDU session or other sessions, which are described herein in a unified manner and will not be described in detail below.

Optionally, the terminal device in this embodiment may be a device for implementing a wireless communication function, for example, a terminal or a chip that can be used in the terminal. The terminal may be a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a terminal unit, a terminal station, a mobile station, a distant station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a terminal agent or a terminal device, etc. in a 5G network or a PLMN which is evolved in the future. An access terminal may be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wearable device, 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, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and the like. The terminal may be mobile or stationary.

Optionally, the access device (including the main access device or the auxiliary access device) in this embodiment of the present application is a device for providing access to the terminal device, and includes a Radio Access Network (RAN) device and AN Access Network (AN) device. The RAN device is primarily a wireless network device of a 3GPP network and the AN may be a non- (non) -3GPP defined access network device.

The RAN device is mainly responsible for functions of radio resource management, QoS management, data compression, encryption and the like on the air interface side. The RAN equipment may include various forms of base stations, such as: macro base stations, micro base stations (also referred to as small stations), relay stations, access points, etc. In systems using different radio access technologies, the names of devices with base station functionality may differ, for example, in 5G systems, referred to as RAN or gNB (5G NodeB); in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, referred to as an evolved node B (eNB or eNodeB); in the third generation (3G) system, the node b is called node b (node b).

The AN device allows the terminal device and the 3GPP core network to use a non-3 GPP technology for interconnection and interworking, where the non-3 GPP technology includes, for example, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, and the like.

Optionally, the policy control network element, the session management network element (including the first session management network element or the second session management network element), or the application function network element in this embodiment may also be referred to as a communication device, which may be a general device or a special device, and this is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the relevant functions of the policy control network element, the session management network element (including the first session management network element or the second session management network element), or the application function network element in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by one device, or implemented by multiple devices together, or implemented by one or more functional modules in one device, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. It is understood that the above functions may be network elements in a hardware device, or software functions running on dedicated hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

For example, the related functions of the policy control network element, the session management network element (including the first session management network element or the second session management network element), or the application function network element in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by the communication device 500 in fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 500 includes one or more processors 501, a communication link 502, and at least one communication interface (illustrated in fig. 5 as including a communication interface 504 and one processor 501 for example), and optionally may also include a memory 503.

The processor 501 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

The communication link 502 may include a path for connecting different components.

The communication interface 504, which may be a transceiver module, is used for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, RAN, Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), etc. For example, the transceiver module may be a transceiver, or the like. Optionally, the communication interface 504 may also be a transceiver circuit located in the processor 501, so as to implement signal input and signal output of the processor.

The memory 503 may be a device having a storage function. Such as, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that may store static information and instructions, Random Access Memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that may store information and instructions, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication line 502. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 503 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for executing the present application, and is controlled by the processor 501 to execute. The processor 501 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 503, so as to implement the policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

Alternatively, in this embodiment of the present application, the processor 501 may also perform functions related to processing in a policy control method provided in the following embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 504 is responsible for communicating with other devices or a communication network, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In particular implementations, processor 501 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 5 as an example.

In particular implementations, communication device 500 may include multiple processors, such as processor 501 and processor 508 in fig. 5, for example, as an example. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, communication device 500 may also include an output device 505 and an input device 506, as one embodiment. An output device 505, which is in communication with the processor 501, may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 505 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 506 is in communication with the processor 501 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 506 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The communication device 500 may also be sometimes referred to as a communication apparatus, which may be a general-purpose device or a special-purpose device. For example, the communication device 500 may be a desktop computer, a portable computer, a network server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, the terminal device, the network device, or a device having a similar structure as in fig. 5. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the type of the communication device 500.

The following describes the policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 5.

It should be noted that, in the following embodiments of the present application, names of messages between network elements or names of parameters in messages are only an example, and other names may also be used in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Taking the example that the communication system shown in fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3, as shown in fig. 6, the policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application corresponds to a policy update flow, and includes the following steps:

s601, the AF network element obtains at least one of a first address of the terminal equipment or a second address of the terminal equipment.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after determining that the service of the PCF network element needs to be called, the AF network element may obtain information of the PCF network element from a Binding Support Function (BSF) network element. And for the highly reliable service, when the service is transmitted by using two sessions, the AF network element acquires at least one of the first address of the terminal equipment or the second address of the terminal equipment. And the first session corresponding to the first address and the second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment.

S602, the AF network element sends a message 1 to the PCF network element. The PCF network element receives message 1 from the AF network element.

Wherein the message 1 includes at least one of a first address of the terminal device or a second address of the terminal device, application information or service information, etc.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 6, the message 1 may be a policy authorization creation (policy authorization) message, for example.

Optionally, the application information or the service information in the embodiment of the present application may include, for example, a flow description or an application identifier, a bandwidth requirement, and the like, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

S603, the PCF network element determines a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address.

The first policy rule includes first QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session for transmitting the service, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting the service.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address may include: if the message 1 includes the first address of the terminal device and the second address of the terminal device, it means that the first session corresponding to the first address and the second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device, and the PCF network element may determine, according to the application information or the service information, the first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and the second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address.

Of course, the PCF network element may also determine the context of the first session based on the first address; and the PCF network element may determine the context of the second session based on the second address. Further, when determining the first policy rule and the second policy rule, the PCF network element may determine the first policy rule and the second policy rule in combination with the context of the first session or the context of the second session, which is not specifically limited herein.

Or, optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address may include: if the message 1 includes the first address of the terminal device, the PCF network element may determine the context of the first session according to the first address in the message 1, and further may learn, according to the context of the first session, that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session of the terminal device, and further the PCF network element may determine, according to the application information or the service information, the first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and the second policy rule of the second session associated with the first session.

Or, optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address may include: if the message 1 includes the second address of the terminal device, the PCF network element may determine the context of the second session according to the second address in the message 1, and further may know, according to the context of the second session, that the second session corresponding to the second address is a redundant session of the terminal device, and further, the PCF network element may determine, according to the application information or the service information, the second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address and the first policy rule of the first session associated with the second session.

Of course, in the scheme that the message 1 includes the first address or the second address, when determining the first policy rule and the second policy rule, the PCF network element may also determine the first policy rule and the second policy rule by combining the context of the first session or the context of the second session, which is not specifically limited herein.

Illustratively, the packet loss rate in the QoS control information when the traffic is transmitted using one session is 10^-6When transmitting a service using two sessions, the packet loss rate in the QoS control information used for transmitting the service in each session may be set to 10^-5。

S604, the PCF network element sends a message 2 to the SMF network element serving the first session and the second session. The SMF network element receives message 2 from the PCF network element.

Wherein the message 2 comprises a first policy rule and a second policy rule.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 6, the message 2 may be, for example, a Session Management (SM) policy control update notification (policy control update notification) request message.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the communication system shown in fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3 as an example, that is, a scenario in which two redundant sessions correspond to the same SMF network element is used. If the communication system shown in fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 4 as an example, that is, the two redundant sessions correspond to different SMF network elements, at this time, the PCF network element needs to send the first policy rule to the SMF network element 1 corresponding to the first session, and the PCF network element needs to send the second policy rule to the SMF network element 2 corresponding to the second session, which is described in a unified manner and will not be described again below.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the PCF network element may also send the first policy rule and the second policy rule to the SMF network element by sending two messages to the SMF network element serving the first session and the second session. For example, the PCF network element may also send a message a and a message B to an SMF network element serving the first session and the second session, where the message a includes the first policy rule, and the message B includes the second policy rule, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S605, the SMF network element sends a message 3 to the PCF network element. The PCF network element receives message 3 from the SMF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 6, the message 3 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification response message.

Further, after the step S604 is executed, the SMF network element may send a session modification request to the AMF network element, and trigger a session modification procedure, and the related description may refer to an existing implementation manner, which is not described herein again.

Of course, if the communication system shown in fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 4 for example, that is, it corresponds to a scenario that two redundant sessions respectively correspond to different SMF network elements, at this time, the respective SMF network elements need to send the message 3 to a PCF network element, which is described in a unified manner herein and will not be described again below.

Based on the policy control method provided by the embodiment of the application, because the PCF network element considers the first session and the second session as redundant sessions when determining the first policy rule of the first session and the second policy rule of the second session, under a scenario where high reliability of a service is guaranteed by transmitting one service through two redundant sessions, not only is the requirement for network resources reduced, but also the problem of service transmission failure due to the fact that the service requirement may not be met due to independent control of each session can be avoided.

The actions of the SMF network element or the AF network element in steps S601 to S605 may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

The embodiment shown in fig. 6 is described by taking as an example that after receiving the message 1, the PCF network element determines a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address, respectively. Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after receiving the message 1, the PCF network element may also generate the same policy rule for the first session and the second session, that is, the PCF network element determines the policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and the policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address, where the policy rules include QoS control information, and the QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session and the second session for transmitting services. Further, the PCF network element may send the policy rule to an SMF network element serving the first session and the second session; or the PCF network element sends the policy rule to the SMF network element serving the first session and the SMF network element serving the second session, respectively. The way for the PCF network element to determine the policy rule is similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and is not described herein again.

Optionally, taking that the communication system shown in fig. 1 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3, and in the process of establishing a redundant session, it is ensured that a PCF network element serving the redundant session is the same PCF network element, as shown in fig. 7, for the policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the policy control method corresponds to the process of establishing a first session (session 1 is assumed here) in the redundant session, and includes the following steps:

s701, the AMF network element sends a message 1 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives message 1 from the AMF network element.

The message 1 includes a session identifier (session ID) of the session 1, a Data Network Name (DNN) 1 or single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAI) 1 corresponding to the session 1, and a user permanent identifier (SUPI).

Illustratively, this message 1 may be, for example, a session creation SM context request, as shown in fig. 7.

S702, the SMF network element sends a message 2 to the UDM network element. The UDM network element receives message 2 from the SMF network element.

The message 2 includes information such as DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 1, and DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to DNN1 or S-NSSAI 1.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 7, the message 2 may be, for example, a subscription data acquisition request.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to the session 2 associated with the session 1 may be determined according to the DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to the session 1 included in the message 1 and the local configuration information. The local configuration information may be, for example, as shown in table one.

Watch 1

DNN1/S-NSSAI1

DNN2/S-NSSAI2

It should be noted that, the above table i only gives an exemplary mapping relationship between associated DNNs or S-NSSAIs, and of course, the table may further include more corresponding information, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

And S703, the UDM network element sends a message 3 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives message 3 from the UDM network element.

Wherein, the message 3 includes the subscription information of the terminal device.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 7, the message 3 may be, for example, a subscription data acquisition response.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, since session 1 is the first redundant session, there is no information about the redundant session on the UDM network element, and thus the message 3 does not include the session information of session 2 associated with session 1.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the table one is configured on the UDM network element, the message 2 may not include DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to DNN1 or S-NSSAI 1. Instead, the UDM network element determines, according to the DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to the session 1 provided by the SMF network element, that the session information of the session 2 associated with the session 1 is not included on the UDM network element, in combination with the local configuration information, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S704, the SMF network element determines that the established session 1 is a redundant session.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the SMF network element may determine that the established session 1 is a redundant session according to the DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to the session 1 and subscription information acquired from the UDM network element.

S705, the SMF network element determines the PCF network element serving session 1.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, since the message 3 does not include the session information of the session 2 associated with the session 1, the SMF network element may determine the PCF network element serving the session 1 according to the existing method for PCF network element selection.

S706, the SMF network element sends a message 4 to the UDM network element. The UDM network element receives the message 4 from the SMF network element.

Wherein, the message 4 includes the session identifier of session 1, DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 1, and the identifier of the PCF network element serving session 1, where the identifier of the PCF network element is used for determining that session 2 associated with session 1 uses the same PCF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 7, the message 4 may be, for example, a registration request.

And S707, the UDM network element sends a message 5 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives the message 5 from the UDM network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 7, the message 5 may be, for example, a registration response.

S708, the SMF network element sends a message 6 to the PCF network element serving session 1. The PCF network element receives the message 6 from the SMF network element.

The message 6 includes information of session 1, where the information of session 1 includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that session 1 is a redundant session.

Illustratively, this message 6 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation request, as shown in fig. 7.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the first indication information may include, for example, a Redundant Sequence Number (RSN). Illustratively, the RSN corresponding to session 1 herein may be set to 1, indicating that the first redundant session is established.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the RSN may be further configured to indicate that the access device of session 1 is a primary access device or a secondary access device, which is not specifically limited herein.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the information of session 1 may further include, for example, a session identifier of session 1, and information of DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 1, which is not specifically limited herein.

S709, optionally, if the PCF network element does not include the subscription information of the terminal device, the PCF network element obtains the subscription information of the terminal device from the UDR network element.

S710, the PCF network element learns that the session 1 is a redundant session according to the first indication information. Further, the PCF network element generates policy rule 1 for session 1. Wherein, the policy rule 1 includes QoS control information 1, and the QoS control information 1 is QoS control information required for session 1 to transmit traffic when session 1 and session 2 are used to transmit traffic.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the PCF network element may generate the policy rule 1 of the session 1 according to the subscription information of the terminal device.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, if the RSN may also be used to indicate that the access device of session 1 is a primary access device or a secondary access device, the PCF network element may generate the policy rule 1 of session 1 according to the subscription information of the terminal device and the RSN information. For example, if the PCF network element determines that session 1 uses the master access device for user plane transmission, then policy rule 1 of session 1 is the policy rule when using the master access device for transmission; or, if the PCF network element determines that the session 1 uses the secondary access device for user plane transmission, the policy rule 1 of the session 1 is a policy rule when the secondary access device is used for transmission, and is described in a unified manner here, and will not be described in detail below.

S711, optionally, the PCF network element generates a policy rule 2 for session 2 associated with session 1. Wherein, the policy rule 2 includes QoS control information 2, and the QoS control information 2 is QoS control information required for session 2 to transmit traffic when session 1 and session 2 are used to transmit traffic.

That is to say, in this embodiment of the application, after knowing that session 1 is a redundant session according to the first indication information, the PCF network element may generate policy rule 1 for session 1 and, at the same time, may generate policy rule 2 for session 2 according to the subscription information of the terminal device. The policy rule 1 of session 1 and the policy rule 2 of session 2 are collaborative policy rules.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, if the RSN may also be used to indicate that the access device of session 1 is a primary access device or a secondary access device, the PCF network element may generate the policy rule 2 of session 2 according to the subscription information of the terminal device and the RSN information.

Optionally, step S710 and step S711 take the example that the PCF network element generates policy rules for session 1 and session 2, respectively. The policy rule 1 of the session 1 and the policy rule 2 of the session 2 may be the same or different, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the PCF network element may also generate a policy rule for session 1 and session 2, where the policy rule includes QoS control information, and the QoS control information is QoS control information required by the session 1 and session 2 to transmit services, and this is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S712, the PCF network element sends a message 7 to the SMF network element serving session 1. The SMF network element receives a message 7 from the PCF network element.

Wherein the message 7 comprises the policy rules 1 for session 1.

Illustratively, this message 7 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation response, as shown in fig. 7.

Based on the policy control method provided by the embodiment of the application, the PCF network element considers the fact that session 1 is a redundant session when determining policy rule 1 of session 1. Optionally, the PCF network element considers the factor that session 2 is a redundant session when determining policy rule 2 for session 2. Therefore, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by independent control of each session can be solved.

The actions of the SMF network element or the PCF network element in steps S701 to S712 may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Or, optionally, taking that the communication system shown in fig. 1 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3, and in the process of establishing a redundant session, for example, it is ensured that a PCF network element serving the redundant session is the same PCF network element, as shown in fig. 8, another policy control method provided in this embodiment of the present application is provided, where the policy control method corresponds to the process of establishing a second session (session 2 is assumed here) in the redundant session, and includes the following steps:

s801, the AMF network element sends a message 1 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives message 1 from the AMF network element.

The message 1 includes the session identifier of session 2, the DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to session 2, and the SUPI.

Illustratively, this message 1 may be, for example, a session creation SM context request, as shown in fig. 8.

S802, the SMF network element sends a message 2 to the UDM network element. The UDM network element receives message 2 from the SMF network element.

The message 2 includes information such as DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to session 2, and DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to DNN2 or S-NSSAI 2.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 8, the message 2 may be, for example, a subscription data acquisition request.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to the session 1 associated with the session 2 may be determined according to the DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to the session 2 included in the message 1 and the local configuration information. The local configuration information may be, for example, as shown in table one above.

S803, the UDM network element sends a message 3 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives message 3 from the UDM network element.

In addition, since session 2 is the second redundant session, the UDM network element stores the information of session 1 associated with session 2, and the information of session 1 may include, for example, the session identifier of session 1, the DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 1, and the identifier of the PCF network element serving session 1.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 8, the message 3 may be, for example, a subscription data acquisition response.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the table one is configured on the UDM network element, the message 2 may not include DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to DNN2 or S-NSSAI 2. Instead, the UDM network element determines, according to the DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to the session 2 provided by the SMF network element, the session information including the session 1 associated with the session 2 on the UDM network element in combination with the local configuration information, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S804, the SMF network element determines that the established session 2 is a redundant session.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the SMF network element may determine, according to the DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to the session 2 and the subscription information acquired from the UDM network element, that the established session 2 is a redundant session.

S805, the SMF network element determines a PCF network element serving session 2.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the SMF network element may determine, according to the session 1 information associated with the session 2 included in the message 3, that the PCF network element serving the session 2 is the PCF network element identified by the identifier of the PCF network element serving the session 1.

And S806, the SMF network element sends a message 4 to the UDM network element. The UDM network element receives the message 4 from the SMF network element.

Wherein, the message 4 includes the session identifier of session 2, DNN2 or S-NSSAI2 corresponding to session 2, and the identifier of the PCF network element serving session 2.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 8, the message 4 may be, for example, a registration request.

S807, the UDM network element sends a message 5 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives the message 5 from the UDM network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 8, the message 5 may be, for example, a registration response.

S808, the SMF network element sends a message 6 to the PCF network element serving session 2. The PCF network element receives the message 6 from the SMF network element.

Wherein, the message 6 includes the information of session 2 and the information related to session 1.

Illustratively, this message 6 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation request, as shown in fig. 8.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, if the SMF network elements serving session 1 and session 2 are the same, the message 6 may also be an SM policy control update request. That is, the policy association established by the SMF network element and the PCF network element in session 1 may be reused at this time, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the information of session 2 may further include an RSN corresponding to session 2. Illustratively, the RSN for session 2 may be set to 2, indicating that a second redundant session is established.

Optionally, the RSN corresponding to session 2 may also be used to indicate that the access device of session 2 is a primary access device or a secondary access device, which is not specifically limited herein.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the information related to the session 1 may include one or more of a session identifier of the session 1, DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to the session 1, or an RSN corresponding to the session 1, which is not specifically limited herein.

S809, optionally, if the PCF network element does not include the subscription information of the terminal device, the PCF network element obtains the subscription information of the terminal device from the UDR network element.

S810, the PCF network element learns that the session 2 is a redundant session according to the information related to the session 1. And the PCF network element determines a policy rule 2 of the session 2 according to the information related to the session 1. Wherein, the policy rule 2 includes QoS control information 2, and the QoS control information 2 is QoS control information required by the session 2 for transmitting the traffic.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, the policy rule 2 of the session 2 according to the information associated with the session 1 may include: the PCF network element determines the context of the session 1 according to the information related to the session 1; the PCF network element obtains the policy rule 2 from the context of session 1 (this situation corresponds to a scenario in which the policy rule 2 of session 2 is generated at the same time when session 1 is established); or, the PCF network element obtains the policy rule 1 of session 1 from the context of session 1, and the PCF network element generates the policy rule 2 of session 2 according to the policy rule 1 of session 1 (this case corresponds to a scenario in which only the policy rule 1 of session 1 is generated when session 1 is established).

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if only the policy rule 1 of the session 1 is generated when the session 1 is established, when the PCF network element generates the policy rule 2 of the session 2 according to the policy rule 1 of the session 1, the policy rule 2 of the session 2 may also be generated in combination with the RSN corresponding to the session 2, which is not limited specifically herein.

S811, the PCF network element sends a message 7 to the SMF network element serving session 2. The SMF network element receives a message 7 from the PCF network element.

Wherein the message 7 comprises the policy rules 2 for the session 2.

Illustratively, this message 7 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation response, as shown in fig. 8.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the SMF network element of the service session 2 may be the same SMF network element as the SMF network element of the service session 1 in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, or may be a different SMF network element, which is not specifically limited herein.

Based on the policy control method provided by the embodiment of the application, because the PCF network element considers the fact that session 2 is a redundant session when determining policy rule 2 for session 2, under the scenario that high reliability of the service is guaranteed by transmitting one service through two redundant sessions, not only is the requirement for network resources reduced, but also the problem of service transmission failure due to the fact that the service requirement may not be met due to independent control of each session can be avoided.

The actions of the SMF network element or the PCF network element in steps S801 to S811 may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the SMF network element may determine, according to the session 1 information associated with the session 2 included in the message 3, that the PCF network element serving the session 2 is the PCF network element identified by the identifier of the PCF network element serving the session 1. Of course, it is also possible to configure a specific DNN and S-NSSAI by means of configuration to always select a PCF network element, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, the policy update procedure described in fig. 6 may be based on the session establishment procedures shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8, where the first session may be session 1 in fig. 7, and the second session may be session 2 in fig. 8; alternatively, the second session may be session 1 in fig. 7, and the first session may be session 2 in fig. 8. Or, based on the session establishment procedures shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8, taking the application of the communication system shown in fig. 2 to the 5G network shown in fig. 3 as an example, as shown in fig. 9, another policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided, where the policy control method corresponds to a policy update flow, and includes the following steps:

s901, similar to step S601 in the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the related description may refer to step S601, and is not repeated here.

S902, the AF network element sends at least one of the message 1 or the message 2 to the PCF network element. The PCF network element receives at least one of message 1 or message 2 from the AF network element.

The message 1 includes the first address of the terminal device, and application information or service information. The message 2 includes the second address of the terminal device, and application information or service information, etc. The description of the application information or the service information may refer to the embodiment shown in fig. 6, and is not repeated herein.

If in step S901, the AF network element only obtains the first address of the terminal device, then in step S902, the AF network element may only send a message 1 to the PCF network element; or, optionally, if in step S901, the AF network element only obtains the second address of the terminal device, then in step S902, the AF network element may only send message 2 to the PCF network element; or, optionally, if in step S901, the AF network element obtains the first address of the terminal device and the second address of the terminal device, in step S902, the AF network element sends message 1 and message 2 to the PCF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 9, this message 1 may be, for example, a policy authorization creation message 1; this message 2 may be, for example, a policy authorization creation message 2.

S903, the PCF network element determines a first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address.

Here, the first session may be session 1 in fig. 7, and the second session may be session 2 in fig. 8; alternatively, the second session may be session 1 in fig. 7, and the first session may be session 2 in fig. 8, which is not limited in this respect.

The first policy rule includes first QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session for transmitting the service, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting the service. The first QoS control information and the second QoS control information are coordinated QoS control information.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address may include: if the AF network element sends the message 1 and the message 2 to the PCF network element in step S902, the PCF network element may determine the context of the first session according to the first address, determine the context of the second session according to the second address, and further the PCF network element may determine, according to the context of the first session and the context of the second session, that the first session corresponding to the first address and the second session corresponding to the second address are the redundant sessions associated with the terminal device; and the PCF network element may determine, according to the application information or the service information, a first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address.

Of course, when determining the first policy rule and the second policy rule, the PCF network element may determine the first policy rule and the second policy rule in combination with the context of the first session or the context of the second session, which is not specifically limited herein.

Or, optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address may include: if the AF network element only sends the message 1 to the PCF network element in step S902, the PCF network element may determine the context of the first session according to the first address in the message 1, and further may learn, according to the context of the first session, that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session of the terminal device, and further, the PCF network element may determine, according to the application information or the service information, the first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and the second policy rule of the second session associated with the first session.

Or, optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the PCF network element, a first policy rule of a first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the second address may include: if the AF network element only sends the message 2 to the PCF network element in step S902, the PCF network element may determine the context of the second session according to the second address in the message 2, and further may know that the second session corresponding to the second address is a redundant session of the terminal device according to the context of the second session, and further, the PCF network element may determine the second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address and the first policy rule of the first session associated with the second session according to the application information or the service information.

Of course, in the scheme that the AF network element only sends the message 1 or the message 2 to the PCF network element, when determining the first policy rule and the second policy rule, the PCF network element may also determine the first policy rule and the second policy rule by combining the context of the first session or the context of the second session, which is not specifically limited herein.

S904, the PCF network element sends a message 3 to the SMF network element serving the first session and the second session. The SMF network element receives message 3 from the PCF network element.

Wherein the message 3 comprises a first policy rule and a second policy rule.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 9, this message 3 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification request message.

S905, the SMF network element sends a message 4 to the PCF network element. The PCF network element receives message 4 from the SMF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 9, the message 4 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification response message.

Further, after the step S904 is executed, the SMF network element may send a session modification request to the AMF network element, and trigger a session modification procedure, and the related description may refer to the existing implementation manner, which is not described herein again.

Of course, if the communication system shown in fig. 2 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 4 as an example for description, that is, it corresponds to a scenario where two redundant sessions respectively correspond to different SMF network elements, at this time, the respective SMF network elements need to send the message 4 to a PCF network element, which is described in a unified manner and is not described again below.

The actions of the SMF network element or the AF network element in steps S901 to S905 may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, in the policy updating process shown in fig. 6 or fig. 9, the AF network element may decompose the application requirement or the service requirement, that is, the first session corresponds to the first application requirement or the first service requirement, and the second session corresponds to the second application requirement or the second service requirement. Furthermore, when the PCF network element generates the policy rule, the corresponding policy rule may be generated according to the corresponding application requirement or service requirement, which is not specifically limited in this application embodiment.

Optionally, based on the session establishment procedures shown in fig. 7 and fig. 8, as shown in fig. 10, for another policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the policy control method corresponds to a policy update flow, and includes the following steps:

s1001, the PCF network element determines and updates the policy rule.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, the PCF network element receives the policy association termination procedure of one of the redundant sessions sent by the SMF network element, and may determine to update the policy rule of another redundant session.

S1002, the PCF network element deletes the strategy rule of one redundancy session and updates the strategy rule of another related redundancy session.

The updated policy rule includes QoS control information that is required when only the associated another redundant session is used for transmitting the service.

S1003, the PCF network element sends a message 1 to the SMF network element serving the associated another redundant session, and the SMF network element receives the message 1 from the PCF network element.

Wherein the message 1 comprises the updated policy rule of the associated further redundant session.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 10, this message 1 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification request message.

S1004, the SMF network element sends a message 2 to the PCF network element. The PCF network element receives message 2 from the SMF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 10, the message 2 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification response message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, for a redundant session that needs to delete a policy rule, the PCF network element may further notify the SMF network element serving the redundant session to delete the policy rule of the redundant session; if the policy rule is the last policy rule of the redundant session, the SMF network element may initiate a deletion process of the redundant session, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Further, after the step S1003 is executed, the SMF network element may send a session modification request to the AMF network element, and trigger a session modification procedure, and the related description may refer to an existing implementation manner, which is not described herein again.

Based on the scheme, the PCF network element can determine a proper policy rule for the session of the terminal equipment in real time.

The actions of the SMF network element or the PCF network element in steps S1001 to S1004 may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, after receiving the policy association termination procedure of one of the redundant sessions sent by the SMF network element, the PCF network element may decide to terminate the policy association procedure of the other associated redundant session, that is, the PCF network element and the SMF network element delete the policy rules of the two redundant sessions, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, taking that the communication system shown in fig. 1 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3, in the process of establishing a redundant session, a PCF network element serving the redundant session may be the same PCF network element, or may be a different PCF network element (i.e. not limiting the selection of the PCF network element), as shown in fig. 11, another policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application is provided, where the policy control method corresponds to the process of establishing a first session (session 1 is assumed here) in the redundant session, and includes the following steps:

S1101-S1104 are similar to steps S701-S704 in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, and the related description may refer to steps S701-S704 described above, which is not repeated herein.

S1105, the SMF network element determines PCF network element 1 serving session 1.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, since the message 3 does not include the session information of the session 2 associated with the session 1, the SMF network element may determine the PCF network element 1 serving the session 1 according to the existing method for PCF network element selection.

S1106, the SMF network element sends a message 4 to the UDM network element. The UDM network element receives the message 4 from the SMF network element.

The message 4 includes the session identifier of session 1 and DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 1.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 11, the message 4 may be, for example, a registration request.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the application, there is no necessary execution sequence between step S1106 and steps S1102 to S1105, and step S1106 may be executed at any time after step S1101, which is described in a unified manner and is not described again below.

S1107, the UDM network element sends a message 5 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives the message 5 from the UDM network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 11, the message 5 may be, for example, a registration response.

S1108-S1111 are similar to steps S708-S710 in the embodiment shown in fig. 7, for example, the PCF network element in steps S708-S710 is replaced by PCF network element 1 in the embodiment of the present application, and the rest of the related description may refer to steps S708-S710, which are not described again here.

S1112, PCF network element 1 sends message 7 to the UDR network element. The UDR network element receives message 7 from PCF network element 1.

Wherein the message 7 comprises the policy rules 1 for session 1.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 11, the message 7 may be, for example, a Data Management (DM) update request message.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the application, if the PCF network element 1 executes the step S1111, the message 7 may further include the policy rule 1 of the session 1.

S1113, the UDR network element sends a message 8 to the PCF network element 1. PCF network element 1 receives message 8 from the UDR network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 11, the message 8 may be, for example, a DM update response message.

S1114, PCF network element 1 sends message 9 to the SMF network element serving session 1. The SMF network element receives message 9 from PCF network element 1.

Wherein the message 9 comprises the policy rule 1 for session 1.

Illustratively, this message 9 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation response, as shown in fig. 11.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, there is no inevitable execution sequence between the step S1114 and the step S1112, and the step S1112 may be executed first, and then the step S1114 is executed; step S1114 may be executed first, and then step S1112 may be executed; step S1112 and step S1114 may also be executed simultaneously, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the application.

Based on the policy control method provided by the embodiment of the application, the PCF network element 1 considers the fact that the session 1 is a redundant session when determining the policy rule 1 of the session 1. Optionally, the PCF network element 1 considers the fact that session 2 is a redundant session when determining the policy rule 2 for session 2. Therefore, under the scene that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, the requirement on network resources is reduced, and the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement cannot be met possibly caused by independent control of each session can be solved.

The actions of the SMF network element or the PCF network element 1 in steps S1101 to S1114 described above may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Or, optionally, taking that the communication system shown in fig. 1 is applied to the 5G network shown in fig. 3, in the process of establishing the redundant session, the PCF network element serving the redundant session may be the same PCF network element, or may be a different PCF network element (i.e., without limiting the selection of the PCF network element), as shown in fig. 12, for another policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the policy control method corresponds to the process of establishing a second session (session 2 is assumed here) in the redundant session, and includes the following steps:

S1201-S1202, similar to the steps S801-S802 in the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the related description may refer to the steps S801-S802, and details are not repeated here.

S1203, the UDM network element sends a message 3 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives message 3 from the UDM network element.

In addition, since session 2 is the second redundant session, the UDM network element stores the information of session 1 associated with session 2, and the information of session 1 may include, for example, the session identifier of session 1 and DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 1.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 12, the message 3 may be, for example, a subscription data acquisition response.

S1204, the SMF network element determines that the established session 2 is a redundant session.

S1205, the SMF network element determines PCF network element 2 serving session 2.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the SMF network element may determine PCF network element 2 serving session 2 according to an existing PCF network element selection method.

Optionally, the PCF network element 2 in the embodiment of the present application and the PCF network element 1 in the embodiment shown in fig. 11 may be the same PCF network element, or may be different PCF network elements, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

And S1206, the SMF network element sends a message 4 to the UDM network element. The UDM network element receives the message 4 from the SMF network element.

The message 4 includes the session identifier of session 2 and DNN1 or S-NSSAI1 corresponding to session 2.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 12, the message 4 may be a registration request, for example.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, there is no necessary execution sequence between step S1206 and steps S1202 to S1205, and step S1206 may be executed at any time after step S1201, which is described in a unified manner and is not described again below.

S1207, the UDM network element sends a message 5 to the SMF network element. The SMF network element receives the message 5 from the UDM network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 12, the message 5 may be, for example, a registration response.

S1208, the SMF network element sends message 6 to PCF network element 2 serving session 2. PCF network element 2 receives message 6 from the SMF network element.

Illustratively, this message 6 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation request, as shown in fig. 12.

S1209, optionally, if the PCF network element 2 determines that the policy rule 2 of the session 2 is not stored in the PCF network element 2 according to the information associated with the session 1, the PCF network element 2 obtains the subscription information of the terminal device from the UDR network element.

Wherein, the subscription information includes a policy rule 1 of a session 1.

Of course, in this embodiment of the present application, if PCF network element 2 and PCF network element 1 are the same PCF network element, policy rule 2 of session 2 may be stored in PCF network element 2 (corresponding to the scenario of performing step S1111 in the embodiment shown in fig. 11), which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

S1210, the PCF network element 2 determines the policy rule 2 for session 2. Wherein, the policy rule 2 includes QoS control information 2, and the QoS control information 2 is QoS control information required for session 2 to transmit traffic when session 1 and session 2 are used to transmit traffic.

In a possible implementation manner, if step S1209 is executed, PCF network element 2 may generate policy rule 2 for session 2 according to policy rule 1 for session 1.

Or, in another possible implementation manner, the PCF network element determines the policy rule 2 for session 2 according to the information associated with session 1. For example, the PCF network element determines the context of session 1 according to the information associated with session 1; the PCF network element obtains the policy rules 2 from the context of session 1.

S1211, PCF network element 2 sends message 7 to the SMF network element serving session 2. The SMF network element receives a message 7 from the PCF network element.

Wherein the message 7 comprises the policy rules 2 for the session 2.

Illustratively, this message 7 may be, for example, an SM policy control creation response, as shown in fig. 12.

The actions of the SMF network element or the PCF network element 2 in steps S1201 to S1211 described above may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, based on the session establishment procedures shown in fig. 11 and 12, taking the application of the communication system shown in fig. 2 to the 5G network shown in fig. 4 as an example, as shown in fig. 13, for another policy control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the policy control method corresponds to a policy update flow, and includes the following steps:

s1301, the AF network element determines to call the service of the PCF network element.

In the embodiment of the present application, the AF network element may obtain information of the PCF network element from the BSF network element after determining that the service of the PCF network element needs to be invoked.

And (4) optional. In the embodiment of the present application, the information of the PCF network element serving two redundant sessions, which is obtained by the AF network element from the BSF network element, may be information of one PCF network element or information of two PCF network elements. If the information is information of one PCF network element, the subsequent process may refer to steps S601-S605 in the embodiment shown in fig. 6, which is not described herein again. The following embodiments of the present application take the information of the PCF network element serving two redundant sessions, which is acquired by the AF network element from the BSF network element, as the information of two PCF network elements as an example.

S1302, the AF network element sends a message 1 to a first PCF network element serving the first session. The PCF network element receives message 1 from the AF network element.

The message 1 includes a first address of the terminal device corresponding to the first session, application requirement information or service requirement information, and the like.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, the message 1 may be a policy authorization creation message, for example.

Here, the first session may be session 1 in fig. 11, and the first PCF network element may be PCF network element 1 in fig. 11; alternatively, the first session may be session 2 in fig. 12, and the first PCF network element may be PCF network element 2 in fig. 12, which is not limited in this embodiment.

S1303, the first PCF network element determines a first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, determining, by the first PCF network element, the first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and the second policy rule of the second session corresponding to the second address may include: the PCF network element may determine, according to the first address in the message 1, a context of the first session, and further may learn, according to the context of the first session, that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session of the terminal device, and the PCF network element may determine, according to the application information or the service information, a first policy rule of the first session corresponding to the first address and a second policy rule of a second session associated with the first session.

S1304, the first PCF network element sends a message 2 to the first SMF network element serving the first session. The first SMF network element receives message 2 from the first PCF network element.

Wherein the message 2 comprises the first policy rule.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, this message 2 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification request message.

After obtaining the first policy rule of the first session, the first SMF network element may initiate a modification procedure of the first session, which may specifically refer to an existing implementation manner and is not described herein again.

S1305, the first SMF network element sends a message 3 to the first PCF network element. The first PCF network element receives message 3 from the SMF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, the message 3 may be, for example, an SM policy control update notification response message.

S1306, the first PCF network element sends a message 4 to the UDR network element. The UDR network element receives the message 4 from the first PCF network element.

Wherein the message 4 comprises the second policy rules for the second session.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, the message 4 may be, for example, a DM update request message.

S1307, the UDR network element determines that the policy rule is updated, and sends a message 5 to the second PCF network element serving the second session. The second PCF network element receives message 5 from the UDR network element.

Wherein the message 5 comprises the second policy rules for the second session.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, this message 5 may be, for example, a policy update request message 1.

Optionally, if the first PCF network element may be PCF network element 1 in fig. 11, the second PCF network element may be PCF network element 2 in fig. 12; alternatively, if the first PCF network element may be PCF network element 2 in fig. 12, the second PCF network element may be PCF network element 1 in fig. 11, which is not limited in this embodiment.

S1308, the second PCF network element sends message 6 to the second SMF network element serving the second session. The second SMF network element receives message 6 from the second PCF network element.

Wherein the message 6 comprises the second policy rules for the second session.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, this message 6 may be, for example, a policy update request message 2.

After obtaining the second policy rule of the second session, the second SMF network element may initiate a modification procedure of the second session, which may specifically refer to the existing implementation manner and is not described herein again.

S1309, the second SMF network element sends message 7 to the second PCF network element. The second PCF network element receives message 7 from the second SMF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, this message 7 may be, for example, a policy update response message 2.

S1310, the second PCF network element sends a message 8 to the UDR network element. The UDR network element receives the message 8 from the second PCF network element.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 13, this message 8 may be, for example, a policy update response message 1.

Based on the policy control method provided by the embodiment of the application, because the first PCF network element considers the first session and the second session as redundant sessions when determining the first policy rule of the first session and the second policy rule of the second session, under a scenario that one service is transmitted through two redundant sessions to ensure high reliability of the service, not only is the requirement for network resources reduced, but also the problem that service transmission fails due to the fact that the service requirement may not be met due to independent control of each session can be avoided.

The actions of the first PCF network element or the AF network element in steps S1301 to S1310 described above may be executed by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the application program code stored in the memory 503, which is not limited in this embodiment.

It is to be understood that, in the above embodiments, the methods and/or steps implemented by the policy control network element may also be implemented by components available for the policy control network element; the methods and/or steps implemented by the application function network element may also be implemented by components available to the application function network element.

The above-mentioned scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced mainly from the perspective of interaction between network elements. Correspondingly, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, where the communication device may be a policy control network element in the foregoing method embodiment, or a device including the foregoing policy control network element, or a component that can be used for the policy control network element; alternatively, the communication device may be an application function network element in the above method embodiment, or a device including the above application function network element, or a component that can be used for the application function network element. It is to be understood that the communication device comprises corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions in order to realize the above-mentioned functions. Those of skill in the art would readily appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. 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 application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the communication apparatus may be divided into functional modules according to the method embodiments, for example, each functional module may be divided according to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

For example, taking the communication device as the policy control network element in the foregoing method embodiment as an example, fig. 14 shows a schematic structural diagram of a policy control network element 140. The policy control network element 140 comprises a transceiver module 1401 and a processing module 1402. The transceiver module 1401, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, may be a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or a communication interface, for example.

In one possible implementation:

a processing module 1402, configured to learn that the first session is a redundant session; determining a first policy rule of a first session, wherein the first policy rule comprises first QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit traffic, the traffic is transmitted through at least two sessions, the at least two sessions comprise the first session, and the at least two sessions are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device; a transceiver module 1401 for sending the first policy rule to a first session managing network element serving the first session.

Optionally, the processing module 1402 is configured to learn that the first session is a redundant session, and includes: the processing module 1402 and the usb disk receive the information of the first session from the first session management network element through the transceiver module 1401, where the information of the first session includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first session is a redundant session.

Optionally, the at least two sessions further include a second session; the processing module 1402 is further configured to generate a second policy rule for the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service.

Optionally, the first indication information includes first RSN information.

Further, the first RSN information is further used to indicate that the access device of the first session is a primary access device or a secondary access device; a processing module 1402, configured to generate a first policy rule for a first session, includes: the processing module 1402 is configured to generate a first policy rule of the first session according to the first indication information.

Optionally, the at least two sessions further include a second session, the second session is a first redundant session of the terminal device, and the first session is a second redundant session of the terminal device; the processing module 1402, configured to learn that the first session is a redundant session, includes: a processing module 1402, configured to receive, through the transceiver module 1401, information associated with the second session from the first session management network element; and according to the information related to the second session, the first session is known as a redundant session.

Optionally, the processing module 1402 is configured to determine a first policy rule of the first session, and includes: a processing module 1402 for determining a context of the second session based on the information associated with the second session; obtaining a first policy rule from the context of the second session; or acquiring a second policy rule of the second session from the context of the second session, and generating the first policy rule according to the second policy rule, wherein the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting the service.

Optionally, the at least two sessions further include a second session, and the processing module 1402 is further configured to delete the first policy rule and update a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit a service; the updated second policy rule of the second session includes third QoS control information, where the third QoS control information is QoS control information required when only the second session is used to transmit a service; the transceiver module 1401 is further configured to send the updated second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session.

Optionally, the at least two sessions further include a second session, and the processing module 1402 is further configured to delete a second policy rule of the second session, and update the first policy rule, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit a service; the updated first policy rule includes fourth QoS control information, and the fourth QoS control information is QoS control information required when only the first session is used for transmitting the service; the transceiver module 1401 is further configured to send the updated first policy rule to the first session managing network element.

Optionally, the at least two sessions further include a second session; the processing module 1402 is further configured to determine to delete the first policy rule or a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit a service; the processing module 1402 is further configured to delete the first policy rule and the second policy rule; the transceiver module 1401 is further configured to send second indication information to the first session management network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first policy rule is deleted; and the transceiver module 1401 is further configured to send third indication information to a second session management network element serving the second session, where the third indication information is used to indicate that the second policy rule is deleted.

In another possible implementation:

a transceiver module 1401, configured to receive a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element; a processing module 1402, configured to determine a first policy rule of a first session and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the first address, where the first policy rule includes first QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit a service, and the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device; a transceiver module 1401, further configured to send a first policy rule to a first session managing network element serving a first session; and a transceiver module 1401, further configured to send the second policy rule to a second session managing network element serving the second session.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is configured to receive a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element, and includes: a transceiver module 1401, configured to receive a first message from an application function network element, where the first message includes a first address and a second address of the terminal device corresponding to the second session.

Or, optionally, the transceiver module 1401, configured to receive a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element, includes: a transceiver module 1401 for receiving a second message from the application function network element, the second message comprising the first address.

Optionally, the processing module 1402 is further configured to learn that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session.

Optionally, the transceiver module 1401 is further configured to receive a third message from the application function network element, where the third message includes a second address of the terminal device corresponding to the second session.

Optionally, the processing module 1402 is further configured to learn that a first session corresponding to the first address and a second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device.

All relevant contents of each step related to the above method embodiment may be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and are not described herein again.

In the present embodiment, the policy control network element 140 is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, the policy control network element 140 may take the form of the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

For example, the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 may cause the communication device 500 to execute the policy control method in the above-described method embodiment by calling a computer stored in the memory 503 to execute the instructions.

In particular, the functions/implementation procedures of the transceiver module 1401 and the processing module 1402 in fig. 14 may be implemented by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling a computer stored in the memory 503 to execute instructions. Alternatively, the function/implementation procedure of the processing module 1402 in fig. 14 may be implemented by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 503, and the function/implementation procedure of the transceiver module 1401 in fig. 14 may be implemented by the communication interface 504 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5.

Since the policy control network element 140 provided in this embodiment can execute the policy control method, the technical effect obtained by the policy control network element 140 can refer to the above method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

Or, for example, taking the communication device as the application function network element in the foregoing method embodiment as an example, fig. 15 shows a schematic structural diagram of an application function network element 150. The application function network element 150 comprises a transceiver module 1501 and a processing module 1502. The transceiver module 1501, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, may be a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or a communication interface, for example.

The processing module 1502 is configured to obtain at least one of a first address of a terminal device or a second address of the terminal device; a first session corresponding to the first address and a second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment; the transceiver module 1501 is configured to send at least one of the first address or the second address to the policy control network element.

Optionally, at least one of the first address or the second address is used to determine a first policy rule of the first session and a second policy rule of the second session, where the first policy rule includes first QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service.

In the present embodiment, the application function network element 150 is presented in a form of dividing each function module in an integrated manner. A "module" herein may refer to a particular ASIC, a circuit, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other device that provides the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, the application function network element 150 may take the form of the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Specifically, the functions/implementation procedures of the transceiver module 1501 and the processing module 1502 in fig. 15 can be implemented by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling the computer execution instructions stored in the memory 503. Alternatively, the function/implementation procedure of the processing module 1502 in fig. 15 may be implemented by the processor 501 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 503, and the function/implementation procedure of the transceiver module 1501 in fig. 15 may be implemented by the communication interface 504 in the communication device 500 shown in fig. 5.

Since the application function network element 150 provided in this embodiment can execute the policy control method, the technical effect obtained by the application function network element can refer to the method embodiment described above, and is not described herein again.

It should be noted that one or more of the above modules or units may be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of both. When any of the above modules or units are implemented in software, which is present as computer program instructions and stored in a memory, a processor may be used to execute the program instructions and implement the above method flows. The processor may be built in a SoC (system on chip) or ASIC, or may be a separate semiconductor chip. The processor may further include a necessary hardware accelerator such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a PLD (programmable logic device), or a logic circuit for implementing a dedicated logic operation, in addition to a core for executing software instructions to perform an operation or a process.

When the above modules or units are implemented in hardware, the hardware may be any one or any combination of a CPU, a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip, a Micro Controller Unit (MCU), an artificial intelligence processor, an ASIC, an SoC, an FPGA, a PLD, a dedicated digital circuit, a hardware accelerator, or a non-integrated discrete device, which may run necessary software or is independent of software to perform the above method flow.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device (for example, the communication device may be a chip or a system-on-chip), where the communication device includes a processor, and is configured to implement the method in any of the above method embodiments. In one possible design, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory for storing the necessary program instructions and data, the processor may call the program code stored in the memory to instruct the communication device to perform the method of any of the above-described method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be in the communication device. When the communication device is a chip system, the communication device may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The procedures or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the present application are all or partially generated upon loading and execution of computer program instructions on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or can comprise one or more data storage devices, such as a server, a data center, etc., that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

While the present application has been described in connection with various embodiments, other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed application, from a review of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the word "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Although the present application has been described in conjunction with specific features and embodiments thereof, it will be evident that various modifications and combinations can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, the specification and figures are merely exemplary of the present application as defined in the appended claims and are intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents within the scope of the present application. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method of policy control, the method comprising:

the strategy control network element knows that the first session is a redundant session;

the policy control network element determines a first policy rule of the first session, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service (QoS) control information, and the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, where the at least two sessions include the first session and are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device;

the policy control network element sends the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy control network element learning that the first session is a redundant session comprises:

the policy control network element receives information of the first session from the first session management network element, where the information of the first session includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first session is a redundant session.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least two sessions further comprise a second session, the method further comprising:

and the policy control network element generates a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the first indication information comprises first Redundant Sequence Number (RSN) information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first RSN information is further used for indicating that the access device of the first session is a primary access device or a secondary access device;

the policy control network element generating the first policy rule for the first session, including:

and the policy control network element generates the first policy rule of the first session according to the first indication information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two sessions further comprise a second session, and wherein the second session is a first redundant session of the terminal device, and wherein the first session is a second redundant session of the terminal device; the method for acquiring that the first session is a redundant session by the policy control network element includes:

the policy control network element receiving information associated with the second session from the first session management network element;

and the policy control network element learns that the first session is a redundant session according to the information associated with the second session.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining, by the policy control network element, the first policy rule for the first session comprises:

the policy control network element determines the context of the second session according to the information associated with the second session;

the policy control network element obtains the first policy rule from the context of the second session;

or, the policy control network element obtains a second policy rule of the second session from a context of the second session, and generates the first policy rule according to the second policy rule, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the information associated with the second session comprises first RSN information.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the at least two sessions further comprise a second session, the method further comprising:

the policy control network element deletes the first policy rule and updates a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service; the updated second policy rule of the second session includes third QoS control information, where the third QoS control information is QoS control information required when only the second session is used to transmit the service;

and the policy control network element sends the updated second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session.

10. The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the at least two sessions further comprise a second session, the method further comprising:

the policy control network element deletes a second policy rule of the second session and updates the first policy rule, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service; the updated first policy rule includes fourth QoS control information, where the fourth QoS control information is QoS control information required when the service is transmitted only using the first session;

and the policy control network element sends the updated first policy rule to the first session management network element.

11. The method according to any of claims 1-8, wherein the at least two sessions further comprise a second session, the method further comprising:

the policy control network element determines to delete the first policy rule or a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service;

the policy control network element deletes the first policy rule and the second policy rule;

the policy control network element sends second indication information to the first session management network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first policy rule is deleted;

and the policy control network element sends third indication information to a second session management network element serving the second session, where the third indication information is used to indicate to delete the second policy rule.

12. A method of policy control, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a policy control network element receives a first address of terminal equipment from an application function network element;

the policy control network element determines a first policy rule of a first session and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the first address, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service (QoS) control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session for transmitting a service, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session for transmitting the service; the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment;

the policy control network element sending the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session; and the policy control network element sends the second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the policy control network element receiving a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element comprises:

and the policy control network element receives a first message from an application function network element, wherein the first message comprises the first address and a second address of the terminal equipment corresponding to the second session.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the policy control network element receiving a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element comprises:

and the policy control network element receives a second message from an application function network element, wherein the second message comprises the first address.

15. The method according to claim 12 or 14, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the policy control network element learns that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session.

16. A method of policy control, the method comprising:

an application function network element acquires at least one of a first address of a terminal device or a second address of the terminal device; a first session corresponding to the first address and a second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment;

the application function network element sends at least one of the first address or the second address to a policy control network element.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of the first address or the second address is used to determine a first policy rule for the first session and a second policy rule for the second session, wherein the first policy rule comprises first quality of service (QoS) control information, wherein the second policy rule comprises second QoS control information, wherein the first QoS control information is QoS control information required for the first session to transmit traffic, and wherein the second QoS control information is QoS control information required for the second session to transmit the traffic.

18. A policy control network element, wherein the policy control network element comprises: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the processing module is used for acquiring that the first session is a redundant session;

the processing module is further configured to determine a first policy rule of the first session, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service QoS control information, and the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, where the service is transmitted through at least two sessions, where the at least two sessions include the first session, and the at least two sessions are redundant sessions associated with a terminal device;

the transceiver module is configured to send the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session.

19. The policy control network element according to claim 18, wherein said processing module is configured to learn that the first session is a redundant session, and comprises:

the processing module is configured to receive, through the transceiver module, information of the first session from the first session management network element, where the information of the first session includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the first session is a redundant session.

20. The policy control network element according to claim 19, wherein said at least two sessions further comprise a second session;

the processing module is further configured to generate a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service.

21. The policy control network element according to claim 19 or 20, wherein said first indication information comprises first redundant sequence number, RSN, information.

22. The policy control network element according to claim 21, wherein the first RSN information is further used to indicate that the access device of the first session is a primary access device or a secondary access device;

the processing module is configured to generate the first policy rule for the first session, and includes:

the processing module is configured to generate the first policy rule of the first session according to the first indication information.

23. The policy control network element according to claim 18, wherein said at least two sessions further comprise a second session, said second session being a first redundant session of said terminal device, said first session being a second redundant session of said terminal device; the processing module is configured to learn that the first session is a redundant session, and includes:

the processing module is configured to receive, through the transceiver module, information associated with the second session from the first session management network element; and according to the information related to the second session, acquiring that the first session is a redundant session.

24. The policy control network element according to claim 23, wherein said processing module, configured to determine the first policy rule for the first session, comprises:

the processing module is configured to determine a context of the second session according to the information associated with the second session; obtaining the first policy rule from the context of the second session; or acquiring a second policy rule of the second session from the context of the second session, and generating the first policy rule according to the second policy rule, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service.

25. The policy control network element according to any one of claims 18-24, wherein said at least two sessions further comprise a second session;

the processing module is further configured to delete the first policy rule and update a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service; the updated second policy rule of the second session includes third QoS control information, where the third QoS control information is QoS control information required when only the second session is used to transmit the service;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the updated second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session.

26. The policy control network element according to any one of claims 18-24, wherein said at least two sessions further comprise a second session;

the processing module is further configured to delete a second policy rule of the second session, and update the first policy rule, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service; the updated first policy rule includes fourth QoS control information, where the fourth QoS control information is QoS control information required when the service is transmitted only using the first session;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the updated first policy rule to the first session management network element.

27. The policy control network element according to any one of claims 18-24, wherein said at least two sessions further comprise a second session;

the processing module is further configured to determine to delete the first policy rule or a second policy rule of the second session, where the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service;

the processing module is further configured to delete the first policy rule and the second policy rule;

the transceiver module is further configured to send second indication information to the first session management network element, where the second indication information is used to indicate that the first policy rule is deleted;

and the transceiver module is further configured to send third indication information to a second session management network element serving the second session, where the third indication information is used to indicate to delete the second policy rule.

28. A policy control network element, wherein the policy control network element comprises: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the receiving and sending module is used for receiving a first address of the terminal equipment from the application function network element;

the processing module is configured to determine a first policy rule of a first session and a second policy rule of a second session corresponding to the first address, where the first policy rule includes first quality of service QoS control information, the second policy rule includes second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required by the first session to transmit a service, the second QoS control information is QoS control information required by the second session to transmit the service, and the first session and the second session are redundant sessions associated with the terminal device;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the first policy rule to a first session management network element serving the first session; and the transceiver module is further configured to send the second policy rule to a second session management network element serving the second session.

29. The policy control network element according to claim 28, wherein said transceiver module is configured to receive a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element, and comprises:

the transceiver module is configured to receive a first message from an application function network element, where the first message includes the first address and a second address of the terminal device corresponding to the second session.

30. The policy control network element according to claim 28, wherein said transceiver module is configured to receive a first address of a terminal device from an application function network element, and comprises:

the transceiver module is configured to receive a second message from an application function network element, where the second message includes the first address.

31. The policy control network element according to claim 30, wherein the processing module is further configured to learn that the first session corresponding to the first address is a redundant session.

32. An application function network element, wherein the application function network element comprises: the device comprises a processing module and a transmitting-receiving module;

the processing module is used for acquiring at least one of a first address of the terminal equipment or a second address of the terminal equipment; a first session corresponding to the first address and a second session corresponding to the second address are redundant sessions associated with the terminal equipment;

the transceiver module is configured to send at least one of the first address or the second address to a policy control network element.

33. The network element of claim 32, wherein at least one of the first address or the second address is used to determine a first policy rule for the first session and a second policy rule for the second session, the first policy rule comprises first QoS control information, the second policy rule comprises second QoS control information, the first QoS control information is QoS control information required for the first session to transmit traffic, and the second QoS control information is QoS control information required for the second session to transmit the traffic.