CN112468529B

CN112468529B - Session management method and device

Info

Publication number: CN112468529B
Application number: CN201910866193.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王丹
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2019-09-09
Filing date: 2019-09-09
Publication date: 2022-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-09
Also published as: CN112468529A; WO2021047448A1

Abstract

The invention provides a session management method and session management equipment, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method is applied to network side equipment, wherein the network side equipment is a Session Management Function (SMF) and comprises the following steps: sending first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt data packets of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session; and sending second configuration information to a second UPF, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the second UPF to carry out local forwarding on the data packet of the virtual network group. The scheme of the invention solves the problem of realizing grouping requirements for different services.

Description

Session management method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a session management method and device.

Background

At present, a network determines which 5G VN (virtual network) group a protocol data unit PDU session of a user equipment UE belongs to by judging a data network name DNN carried by the UE. All PDU sessions within a 5G VN group can communicate directly between user plane functions UPF or multiple UPFs.

However, a PDU session can only belong to a 5G VN group and is distinguished by DNN carried by the terminal. Thus, if a UE wants to join more than two 5G VN groups, for example, in a power grid scenario, a terminal of one data transmission unit DTU needs to directly communicate with multiple DTU terminals at the same time, and the 5G VN groups formed between the DTUs are often dynamically changed, the terminal must carry more than 2 DNNs to establish more than 2 corresponding PDU sessions, which requires high complexity for both the terminal and the network.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a session management method and equipment, which solve the problem of meeting the grouping requirements for different services.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management method, applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a session management function SMF, and the session management method includes:

sending first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt a data packet of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

and sending second configuration information to a second UPF, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the second UPF to carry out local forwarding on the data packet of the virtual network group.

Optionally, the first configuration information at least includes: a destination internet protocol, IP, address, a destination uniform resource locator, URL, or a destination port number of the packet.

Optionally, the second configuration information at least includes: one of source terminal IP address information, source terminal port number, destination terminal IP address information, destination terminal port number, or service identification information.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

and inquiring policy information corresponding to the PDU session from a policy control function PCF, wherein the policy information comprises the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

Optionally, the policy information is provided by the application function AF to the PCF via a network open function NEF.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management method, applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a first UPF, and the session management method includes:

receiving first configuration information sent by an SMF, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt data packets of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.

Optionally, the first configuration information at least includes: one of a destination IP address, a destination URL, or a destination port number of the packet.

Optionally, after the receiving the first configuration information sent by the SMF, the method further includes:

and shunting according to at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL and the destination port number of the data packet, and sending the shunted data packet to a corresponding second UPF.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management method, applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF, and the session management method includes:

and receiving second configuration information sent by the SMF, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the second UPF to carry out local forwarding on the data packet of the virtual network group.

Optionally, the second configuration information at least includes: one of source terminal IP address information, source terminal port number, destination terminal IP address information, destination terminal port number or service identification information.

Optionally, after the receiving the second configuration information sent by the SMF, the method further includes:

receiving a data packet sent by a first UPF;

searching whether the destination terminal of the data packet is in the service range of the second UPF or not according to the IP address information and the port number of the destination terminal;

if the destination terminal is in the service range of the second UPF, local route forwarding is carried out;

and if the destination terminal is not in the service range of the second UPF, forwarding the data packet to a third UPF or a local network.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network side device, where the network side device is an SMF, and the network side device includes: a transceiver and a processor;

the transceiver is configured to send first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to offload data packets of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

the transceiver is further configured to send second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group.

Optionally, the first configuration information at least includes: one of a destination internet protocol, IP, address, a destination uniform resource locator, URL, or a destination port number of the data packet.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to:

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network side device, where the network side device is a first UPF, and the network side device includes: a transceiver and a processor;

the transceiver is configured to receive first configuration information sent by the SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to offload data packets of a protocol data unit PDU session.

Optionally, the processor is configured to perform offloading according to at least one of a destination IP address, a destination URL, and a destination port number of the packet, and send the offloaded packet to a corresponding second UPF.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF, and the network side device includes: a transceiver and a processor;

the transceiver is configured to receive second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group.

Optionally, the transceiver is further configured to receive a data packet sent by the first UPF;

the processor is used for searching whether the destination terminal of the data packet is in the service range of the second UPF according to the destination terminal IP address information and the destination terminal port number;

the transceiver is further configured to perform local route forwarding if the destination terminal is in the service range of the second UPF;

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management apparatus, applied to a network side device, where the network side device is an SMF, and the session management apparatus includes:

a first sending module, configured to send first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to split a data packet of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

and the second sending module is configured to send second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and the query module is used for querying the strategy information corresponding to the PDU session from a strategy control function PCF, wherein the strategy information comprises the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management apparatus, applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a first UPF, and the session management apparatus includes:

a first receiving module, configured to receive first configuration information sent by an SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to split a data packet of a protocol data unit PDU session.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

and the first processing module is used for shunting according to at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL and the destination port number of the data packet and sending the shunted data packet to the corresponding second UPF.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management apparatus, applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF, and the session management apparatus includes:

a second receiving module, configured to receive second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

the data packet receiving module is used for receiving a data packet sent by the first UPF;

a third processing module, configured to search, according to the destination terminal IP address information and the destination terminal port number, whether a destination terminal of the data packet is in the service range of the second UPF;

the fourth processing module is configured to perform local route forwarding if the destination terminal is in the service range of the second UPF;

and the fifth processing module is configured to forward the data packet to a third UPF or a local network if the destination terminal is not in the service range of the second UPF.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network side device, including: a transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor; the processor, when executing the computer program, implements a session management method as applied to the SMF, or a session management method as applied to the first UPF, or a session management method as applied to the second UPF.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements a session management method as applied to an SMF, or a session management method as applied to a first UPF, or steps in a session management method as applied to a second UPF.

The technical scheme of the invention has the following beneficial effects:

according to the method provided by the embodiment of the invention, the first configuration information for configuring the first UPF to shunt the data packet of the PDU session and the second configuration information for configuring the second UPF to locally forward the data packet of the virtual network group are sent, so that the first UPF can shunt the data packet of the PDU session firstly, and then the second UPF corresponding to the shunted data packet locally forwards, and the requirements of one PDU session and grouping of different services are met.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the steps of a method applied to SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a PDU session scenario;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the steps of a method applied to a first UPF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the method steps applied to a second UPF in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a first UPF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a second UPF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of an apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a network-side device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the following detailed description is given with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

In various embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood that the sequence numbers of the following processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

Additionally, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein.

In the embodiments provided herein, it should be understood that "B corresponding to a" means that B is associated with a from which B can be determined. It should also be understood that determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may be determined from a and/or other information.

As shown in fig. 1, a session management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a session management function SMF, and includes:

step 101, sending first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to shunt a data packet of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session.

Here, the first UPF is a UPF with an uplink offload function ULCL, and the SMF may configure the ULCL UPF to offload data packets of the PDU session by sending the first configuration information to the ULCL UPF.

Step 102, sending second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group.

Here, the second UPF is a UPF with a session anchor point function PSA, and the SMF configures the PSA UPF to forward packets locally for the configured virtual network group by sending second configuration information to the PSA UPF. The virtual network group VN group refers to a terminal group that establishes a session using a specified data network name DNN, and the network performs unified management on terminals in the group, such as unified QoS guarantee or unified online and offline. Preferably, the PSA UPF corresponds to a virtual network group one-to-one, e.g., one PSA UPF for one 5G VN group.

Through step 101 and step 102, the SMF applying the method of the embodiment of the present invention sends the first configuration information configuring the first UPF to offload the data packet of the PDU session, and configures the second configuration information configuring the second UPF to locally forward the data packet of the virtual network group, so that the first UPF can first offload the data packet of the PDU session, and then locally forward the data packet by the second UPF corresponding to the offloaded data packet, thereby satisfying the requirements of one PDU session and different services for realizing grouping.

In this embodiment, the execution sequence of step 101 and step 102 is not limited, and the first configuration information may be sent first and then the second configuration information, the second configuration information may be sent first and then the first configuration information, or the first configuration information and the second configuration information may be sent synchronously.

Here, the first configuration information transmitted to the first UPF includes at least: and one of the destination IP address, the destination URL or the destination port number of the data packet, so that the first UPF decomposes the data packet of the PDU session onto different PSA UPFs through configuration based on at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL and the destination port number of the data packet after receiving the first configuration information. Of course, each packet belongs to a virtual network group.

Here, the second configuration information transmitted to the PSA UPF (second UPF) includes at least: one of the source terminal IP address information, the source terminal port number, the destination terminal IP address information, the destination terminal port number, or the service identification information, so that the PSA UPF, after receiving the second configuration information, performs local forwarding on the corresponding service data packet through configuration.

Wherein, the service identification information may be QoS flow ID. The second configuration information may be delivered by the SMF through a group-level N4 session.

After receiving the second configuration information, the second UPF searches whether a destination terminal of the data packet is in a service range of the second UPF for the received data packet sent by the first UPF; if yes, local routing forwarding is carried out, namely the data packet is directly forwarded to the destination terminal through the second UPF; if not, the packet is forwarded to a third UPF (other PSA UPF) or local network.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the PSA UPF filters a packet sent by the received ULCL UPF, and searches whether a destination UE exists in the service range of the PSA UPF, and if so, the PSA UPF directly performs routing forwarding, that is, the packet is directly forwarded to the destination terminal through the PSA UPF. If the destination UE is not found, the PSA UPF forwards the packet to other PSA UPFs or passes the packet to port N6.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the SMF is selected after the access and mobility management function AMF receives a PDU session assignment request initiated by the user equipment UE. Wherein, the AMF selects the SMF according to the signed network slice selection auxiliary information S-NSSAI and the data network name DNN (or the access point name APN). The PDU session initiated by the UE supports multiple virtual network groups, that is, the PDU session has multiple QoS flows, and the multiple QoS flows belong to different virtual network groups. And, the PDU session is established by the UE using one DNN (or APN), which is an exclusive DNN dedicated to the home network.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Here, before sending the first configuration information and the second configuration information, the SMF queries policy information corresponding to the PDU session from the PCF, so as to configure the UPF based on the policy information, and support that one terminal may use multiple services in one PDU session, and the multiple services belong to different virtual network groups, such as a 5G VN group. After inquiring the strategy information, the strategy information is pre-configured on the SMF, and the SMF configures the two strategies on the corresponding UPF.

The policy information is divided into a local offloading policy and a virtual network group policy, the local offloading policy includes first configuration information, and the virtual network group policy includes second configuration information. The policy information includes: how many virtual network groups to serve when the PDU session is established. As such, the SMF may send the adapted second configuration information to the PSA UPF. Preferably, the number of virtual network groups is equal to the number of PSA UPFs, one PSA UPF dedicated to forwarding packets locally for one virtual network group.

Certainly, before acquiring the policy information from the PCF, the SMF may also acquire, from the same data management UDM, subscription information established for the PDU session of the UE, where the subscription information indicates that the PDU session supports multiple virtual network groups, and local offloading and virtual network group capabilities are enabled.

In this embodiment, optionally, the policy information is provided by the application function AF to the PCF via the network open function NEF.

In the following, with reference to fig. 3, an application of the method of the embodiment of the present invention in a specific scenario is described, where the scenario is a PDU session initiated by an enterprise local network user equipment, and since the enterprise local network has a dedicated DNN, a UE initiates a PDU session by using one DNN, the PDU session has multiple QoS flows, and the multiple QoS flows belong to different 5G VN groups.

1. The UE initiates a PDU session to the AMF by using the DNN, such as sending a PDU session initialization request to the AMF.

2. And the AMF receives a PDU session initialization Request initiated by the UE, selects a proper SMF and requests the PDU session creation, such as sending an Nsmf _ PDUSESS _ CreateSSMContext Request to the selected SMF.

3. The SMF PCF removing inquires the strategy information of the UE PDU conversation, and the strategy information comprises: configuration information for ULCL UPF and configuration information for PSA UPF. Furthermore, the policy information will indicate how many 5G VN groups the PDU session needs to be serviced at the time of establishment. Wherein the policy information is provided by the AF to the PCF via the NEF.

4. The SMF respectively configures the ULCL UPF and the PSA UPF based on the inquired strategy information, so that the configured ULCL UPF can shunt the data packet of the PDU session according to at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL or the destination port number of the data packet; and after receiving the data packet with the configured service identification information, the configured PSA UPF performs local forwarding.

5. And the SMF feeds back a creating response of the PDU session by the AMF after the ULCL UPF and PSA UPF are configured.

6. And the AMF feeds back the PDU session establishment response to the UE based on the SMF feedback.

In summary, in the method according to the embodiment of the present invention, by sending the first configuration information for configuring the first UPF to offload the data packet of the PDU session and the second configuration information for configuring the second UPF to locally forward the data packet of the virtual network group, the first UPF can first offload the data packet of the PDU session, and then locally forward the data packet by the second UPF corresponding to the offloaded data packet, so that the requirements of implementing grouping for one PDU session and different services are met.

As shown in fig. 4, a session management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a first UPF, and includes:

step 401, receiving first configuration information sent by an SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to offload data packets of a protocol data unit PDU session.

Here, the first UPF is a ULCL UPF, and by receiving the first configuration information sent by the SMF, the SMF can meet the requirement for the ULCL UPF based on the indication of the first configuration information, and the data packet of the PDU session is shunted.

Optionally, after step 401, further comprising:

Thus, the ULCL UPF, upon receiving the first configuration information, by configuring, will split the packets of the PDU session onto different PSA UPFs based on at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL, and the destination port number of the packet. Of course, each packet belongs to a virtual network group.

Thus, after receiving the first configuration information sent by the SMF, the method of the embodiment of the present invention can offload the data packet of the PDU session by using at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL, and the destination port number of the data packet based on the indication of the first configuration information, and then send the offloaded data packet to the corresponding PSA UPF for local forwarding, thereby meeting the requirements of implementing grouping for one PDU session and different services.

It should be noted that the method is implemented in cooperation with the method applied to the SMF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the method applied to the SMF is applicable to the method, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 5, the session management method according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF, and includes:

step 501, receiving second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group.

Here, the second UPF is a PSA UPF, and by receiving the second configuration information sent by the SMF, the request of the SMF to the PSA UPF can be realized based on the indication of the second configuration information, and the packet can be locally forwarded to the corresponding virtual network group.

The PSA UPF corresponds to a virtual network group, for example, one PSA UPF corresponds to one 5G VN group.

Here, the second configuration information transmitted to the PSA UPF (second UPF) includes at least: one of the source terminal IP address information, the source terminal port number, the destination terminal IP address information, the destination terminal port number, or the service identification information, so that the PSA UPF, after receiving the second configuration information, performs local forwarding on the data packet of the corresponding virtual network group through configuration.

Optionally, after step 501, the method further includes:

receiving a data packet sent by a first UPF;

Thus, after receiving the second configuration information, the second UPF searches whether the destination terminal of the data packet is in the service range of the second UPF for the received data packet sent by the first UPF; if yes, local routing forwarding is carried out, namely the data packet is directly forwarded to the destination terminal through the second UPF; if not, the packet is forwarded to a third UPF (other PSA UPF) or local network.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the PSA UPF filters a packet sent by the received ULCL UPF, and searches whether a destination UE exists in the service range of the PSA UPF, and if so, the PSA UPF directly performs routing forwarding, that is, the packet is directly forwarded to the destination terminal through the PSA UPF. If the destination UE is not found, the PSA UPF will forward the packet to other PSA UPFs or pass the packet to port N6.

Thus, after receiving the second configuration information sent by the SMF, the method of the embodiment of the present invention can receive the data packet sent by the ULCL UPF based on the indication of the second configuration information, and locally forward the data packet, thereby meeting the requirements of a PDU session and realizing grouping of different services.

It should be noted that the method is implemented in cooperation with the method applied to SMF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the method applied to SMF is applicable to the method, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network side device, where the network side device is an SMF600, and the network side device includes: a transceiver 610 and a processor 620;

the transceiver 610 is configured to send first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to split a data packet of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

the transceiver 610 is further configured to send second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group.

Optionally, the transceiver 610 is further configured to:

The SMF sends first configuration information for configuring the first UPF to shunt the data packet of the PDU session and second configuration information for configuring the second UPF to locally forward the data packet of the virtual network group, so that the first UPF can shunt the data packet of the PDU session first and then locally forward the data packet by the second UPF corresponding to the shunted data packet, and the requirements of one PDU session and grouping of different services are met.

It should be noted that the SMF applies the session management method applied to the SMF, and the implementation of the embodiment of the session management method applied to the SMF is applicable to the SMF, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 7, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network-side device, where the network-side device is a first UPF700, and includes: a transceiver 710 and a processor 720;

the transceiver 710 is configured to receive first configuration information sent by an SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to offload data packets of a protocol data unit PDU session.

Optionally, the processor 720 is configured to perform offloading according to at least one of a destination IP address, a destination URL, and a destination port number of the data packet, and send the offloaded data packet to a corresponding second UPF.

After receiving the first configuration information sent by the SMF, the first UPF can offload the data packet of the PDU session by at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL, and the destination port number of the data packet based on the indication of the first configuration information, and then send the offloaded data packet to the corresponding PSA UPF for local forwarding, thereby satisfying the requirements of implementing grouping for one PDU session and different services.

It should be noted that the session management method applied to the first UPF is applied to the first UPF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the method applied to the first UPF is applied to the first UPF, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 8, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF800, and the network side device includes: a transceiver 810 and a processor 820;

the transceiver 810 is configured to receive second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group.

Optionally, the transceiver 810 is further configured to receive a data packet sent by the first UPF;

the processor 820 is configured to search whether a destination terminal of the data packet is in a service range of the second UPF according to the destination terminal IP address information and a destination terminal port number;

the transceiver 810 is further configured to perform local route forwarding if the destination terminal is in the service range of the second UPF;

After receiving the second configuration information sent by the SMF, the second UPF can receive the data packet sent by the ULCL UPF based on the indication of the second configuration information, and locally forward the data packet, thereby meeting the requirements of a PDU session and different services for realizing grouping.

It should be noted that, the second UPF applies the session management method applied to the second UPF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the method applied to the second UPF is applied to the second UPF, and the same technical effect can also be achieved.

As shown in fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management apparatus, which is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is an SMF, and includes:

a first sending module 910, configured to send first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to split a data packet of a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

a second sending module 920, configured to send second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

The device distributes the data packets of the PDU session by sending the first configuration information for configuring the first UPF and the second configuration information for configuring the second UPF to locally forward the data packets of the virtual network group, so that the first UPF can distribute the data packets of the PDU session first and then locally forward the data packets corresponding to the distributed data packets, and the requirements of one PDU session and grouping of different services are met.

It should be noted that, the device applies the session management method applied to the SMF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the session management method applied to the SMF is applied to the device, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 10, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management apparatus, which is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a first UPF, and includes:

a first receiving module 1010, configured to receive first configuration information sent by an SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to offload a data packet of a protocol data unit PDU session.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

After receiving the first configuration information sent by the SMF, the device can shunt the data packet of the PDU session by at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL and the destination port number of the data packet based on the indication of the first configuration information, and then send the shunted data packet to the corresponding PSA UPF for local forwarding, thereby meeting the requirements of grouping the PDU session and different services.

It should be noted that the device applies the session management method applied to the first UPF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the method applied to the first UPF is applicable to the device, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

As shown in fig. 11, an embodiment of the present invention provides a session management apparatus, which is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF, and includes:

a second receiving module 1110, configured to receive second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a fourth processing module, configured to perform local route forwarding if the destination terminal is in the service range of the second UPF;

After receiving the second configuration information sent by the SMF, the device can receive the data packet sent by the ULCL UPF based on the indication of the second configuration information, and locally forward the data packet, thereby meeting the requirements of a PDU session and grouping of different services.

It should be noted that, the device applies the session management method applied to the second UPF, and the implementation manner of the embodiment of the method applied to the second UPF is also applicable to the device, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

A network-side device according to another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 12, includes a transceiver 1210, a processor 1200, a memory 1220, and a computer program stored in the memory 1220 and operable on the processor 1200; the processor 1200, when executing the computer program, implements the session management method as applied to the SMF, or the session management method as applied to the first UPF, or the session management method as applied to the second UPF.

The transceiver 1210 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 1200.

Where, in fig. 12, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors, represented by processor 1200, and various circuits, represented by memory 1220, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 1210 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 1200 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1220 may store data used by the processor 1200 in performing operations.

A computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention stores thereon a computer program, and when executed by a processor, the computer program implements the above-described session management method applied to the SMF, or the above-described session management method applied to the first UPF, or the above-described steps in the session management method applied to the second UPF, and can achieve the same technical effects, and therefore, in order to avoid repetition, the description is omitted here. The computer-readable storage medium may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

It is further noted that many of the functional units described in this specification have been labeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize their implementation independence.

In embodiments of the present invention, modules may be implemented in software for execution by various types of processors. An identified module of executable code may, for instance, comprise one or more physical or logical blocks of computer instructions which may, for instance, be constructed as an object, procedure, or function. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module need not be physically located together, but may comprise disparate instructions stored in different bits which, when joined logically together, comprise the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of executable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, and may even be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, operational data may be identified within modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized within any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may be collected as a single data set, or may be distributed over different locations including over different storage devices, and may exist, at least partially, merely as electronic signals on a system or network.

When a module can be implemented by software, considering the level of existing hardware technology, a module implemented by software may build a corresponding hardware circuit to implement a corresponding function, without considering cost, and the hardware circuit may include a conventional Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) circuit or a gate array and an existing semiconductor such as a logic chip, a transistor, or other discrete components. A module may also be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as field programmable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.

The exemplary embodiments described above are described with reference to the drawings, and many different forms and embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and teaching of the invention, therefore, the invention is not to be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of elements may be exaggerated for clarity. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Unless otherwise indicated, a range of values, when stated, includes the upper and lower limits of the range and any subranges therebetween.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A session management method is applied to a network side device, wherein the network side device is a Session Management Function (SMF), and the session management method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

sending first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt data packets of different services in the same Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

sending second configuration information to a second UPF, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group after being shunted by the first UPF;

the PDU session is established by the terminal by using a data network name, and the data network name of the virtual network group corresponding to the second UPF is the same as the data network name corresponding to the PDU session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first configuration information at least comprises: one of a destination internet protocol, IP, address, a destination uniform resource locator, URL, or a destination port number of the data packet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second configuration information at least comprises: one of source terminal IP address information, source terminal port number, destination terminal IP address information, destination terminal port number or service identification information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the policy information is provided by the application function AF to the PCF through a network open function NEF.

6. A session management method is applied to a network side device, wherein the network side device is a first UPF, and the session management method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

receiving first configuration information sent by an SMF, wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt data packets of different services in the same Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

the distributed data packet is locally forwarded through a second UPF, the PDU session is established by the terminal by using a data network name, and the data network name of the virtual network group corresponding to the second UPF is the same as the data network name corresponding to the PDU session.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first configuration information at least comprises: one of a destination IP address, a destination URL, or a destination port number of the packet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein after the receiving the first configuration information sent by the SMF, further comprising:

the shunting is carried out according to at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL and the destination port number of the data packet,

and sending the shunted data packet to a corresponding second UPF.

9. A session management method is applied to a network side device, wherein the network side device is a second UPF, and the session management method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

receiving second configuration information sent by the SMF, wherein the second configuration information is used for indicating the second UPF to locally forward data packets of a virtual network group after being shunted by the first UPF, and the first UPF shunts data packets of different services in the same PDU session;

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second configuration information at least comprises: one of source terminal IP address information, source terminal port number, destination terminal IP address information, destination terminal port number or service identification information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein after the receiving the second configuration information sent by the SMF, further comprising:

receiving a data packet sent by a first UPF;

searching whether the destination terminal of the data packet is in the service range of the second UPF or not according to the destination terminal IP address information and the destination terminal port number;

12. A network side device is an SMF, and is characterized by comprising: a transceiver and a processor;

the transceiver is used for sending first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), wherein the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt data packets of different services in the same Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

the transceiver is further configured to send second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group that is split by the first UPF;

the PDU session is established by the terminal by using a data network name, and the data network of the virtual network group corresponding to the second UPF is the same as the data network name corresponding to the PDU session.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first configuration information comprises at least: a destination internet protocol, IP, address, a destination uniform resource locator, URL, or a destination port number of the packet.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second configuration information comprises at least: one of source terminal IP address information, source terminal port number, destination terminal IP address information, destination terminal port number or service identification information.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

16. The arrangement according to claim 15, characterized in that said policy information is provided by the application function AF to the PCF via the network open function NEF.

17. A network side device, wherein the network side device is a first UPF, comprising: a transceiver and a processor;

the transceiver is configured to receive first configuration information sent by an SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct the first UPF to shunt data packets of different services in a same protocol data unit PDU session;

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first configuration information comprises at least: one of a destination IP address, a destination URL, or a destination port number of the packet.

19. The apparatus of claim 18,

the processor is used for shunting according to at least one of the destination IP address, the destination URL and the destination port number of the data packet and sending the shunted data packet to the corresponding second UPF.

20. A network side device, wherein the network side device is a second UPF, comprising: a transceiver and a processor;

the transceiver is configured to receive second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group, which is split by the first UPF, and the first UPF splits data packets of different services in the same PDU session;

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second configuration information comprises at least: one of source terminal IP address information, source terminal port number, destination terminal IP address information, destination terminal port number or service identification information.

22. The apparatus of claim 21,

the transceiver is also used for receiving a data packet sent by the first UPF;

23. A session management device is applied to a network side device, wherein the network side device is an SMF, and the session management device is characterized by comprising:

the device comprises a first sending module, a first configuration module and a second sending module, wherein the first sending module is used for sending first configuration information to a first User Plane Function (UPF), and the first configuration information is used for indicating the first UPF to shunt data packets of different services in the same Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session;

a second sending module, configured to send second configuration information to a second UPF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of the virtual network group that is split by the first UPF;

24. A session management device is applied to a network side device, wherein the network side device is a first UPF, and the session management device is characterized by comprising:

a first receiving module, configured to receive first configuration information sent by an SMF, where the first configuration information is used to instruct a first UPF to split data packets of different services in a same protocol data unit PDU session;

25. A session management device is applied to a network side device, where the network side device is a second UPF, and the session management device is characterized by comprising:

a second receiving module, configured to receive second configuration information sent by the SMF, where the second configuration information is used to instruct the second UPF to locally forward a data packet of a virtual network group that is shunted by the first UPF, and the first UPF shunts data packets of different services in the same PDU session;

26. A network-side device, comprising: a transceiver, a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor; characterized in that the processor, when executing the computer program, implements a session management method according to any of claims 1-5, or a session management method according to any of claims 6-8, or a session management method according to any of claims 9-11.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the steps of the session management method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, or the session management method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, or the session management method according to any one of claims 9 to 11.