CN112910662B

CN112910662B - Method, device and medium for reporting and receiving and reporting traffic information

Info

Publication number: CN112910662B
Application number: CN201911134552.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 高有军; 李申; 任容玮
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Xiongan ICT Co Ltd
Current assignee: China Mobile Information System Integration Co ltd; China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Xiongan ICT Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-19
Filing date: 2019-11-19
Publication date: 2023-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2039-11-19
Also published as: CN112910662A

Abstract

The invention discloses a method, a device and a medium for reporting and receiving traffic information, which comprise the following steps: the edge computing node determines the flow information generated by the local edge computing service forwarded by the terminal through the user plane function; and reporting the terminal and the traffic information generated by the terminal to a service operation support system by the edge computing node. And the service operation support system receives the flow information reported by the edge computing node, and determines the charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal. By adopting the invention, the problem that the generated flow can not be charged after the edge computing service appears in the 5G is solved, the edge computing service refined operation can be realized, a differentiated charging mode is provided, and powerful support is provided for the innovation and the increase of the edge computing.

Description

Method, device and medium for reporting and receiving and reporting traffic information

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a method, a device, and a medium for reporting and receiving traffic information.

Background

The BOSS (Business & Operation Support System) is generally divided into four parts: a charging and settlement system, a business and accounting system, a customer service system and a decision support system.

The BOSS is a framework from the service aspect, and carries a service system, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, and a charging system. Longitudinal and transverse management in a unified framework is realized.

HSS (Home Subscriber Server) provides user registration information for BOSS system, PGW (Packet Data Gateway, PDN: packet Data Network) provides Data type and value added service type information for BOSS, and CG (Charging Gateway) provides voice type Charging information for BOSS.

In the cellular network of the operator, facing to the existing business model, the charging mode is mostly that the BOSS system counts the user usage flow (data service), the service usage duration (voice service) or the service customization relationship (such as directional flow) for charging. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure related to charging, and as shown in the figure, charging ticket information (including user information, service traffic, and the like) is mainly generated by a PGW and is summarized by a BOSS system.

The prior art is not sufficient in that some services appearing in 5G do not have a corresponding charging mode.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a method, equipment and medium for reporting and receiving and reporting traffic information, which are used for solving the problem that the MEC service cannot be charged.

The embodiment of the invention provides a traffic information reporting method, which comprises the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that an MEC node determines flow information generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal through a UPF;

and the MEC node reports the terminal and the flow information generated by the terminal to the BOSS.

In implementation, the MEC node reports the terminal and the traffic information generated by the terminal to the BOSS through the UPF over the core network.

In implementation, the MEC node is sent to the core network via the uptf, and is sent to the core network via the RESTFUL protocol.

The embodiment of the invention provides a method for reporting received flow information, which comprises the following steps:

the BOSS receives flow information reported by the MEC node, wherein the flow information is generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC node through UPF;

and the BOSS determines the charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal.

In implementation, the traffic information is reported to the BOSS by the MEC node through the core network via the UPF.

In an implementation, the traffic information is sent by the MEC node to the core network via the UPF via the restul protocol.

The embodiment of the invention provides an MEC node, which comprises:

a processor for reading the program in the memory, performing the following processes:

determining flow information generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal through a UPF;

a transceiver for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor, performing the following processes:

and reporting the terminal and the traffic information generated by the terminal to the BOSS.

In the implementation, the terminal and the flow information generated by the terminal are reported to the BOSS through the UPF through the core network.

In practice, the UPF is sent to the core network via RESTFUL protocol.

The embodiment of the invention provides an MEC node, which comprises:

the determining module is used for determining the flow information generated by the local MEC business forwarded by the terminal through the UPF;

and the reporting module is used for reporting the terminal and the generated flow information to the BOSS.

In implementation, the reporting module is further configured to report the terminal and the traffic information generated by the terminal to the BOSS through the UPF via the core network.

In an implementation, the reporting module is further configured to send the report to the core network via the uptf according to the RESTFUL protocol.

The embodiment of the invention provides a BOSS, which comprises the following steps:

receiving flow information reported by an MEC node, wherein the flow information is generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC node through a UPF;

and determining the charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal.

the receiving module is used for receiving flow information reported by the MEC node, wherein the flow information is flow information generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC node through UPF;

and the execution module is used for determining the charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal.

In an implementation, the receiving module is further configured to receive the traffic information that is reported to the BOSS by the MEC node through the core network via the UPF.

In an implementation, the receiving module is further configured to receive the traffic information sent by the MEC node to the core network through the uptf via the RESTFUL protocol.

The embodiment of the invention provides communication equipment, which comprises a memory, a processor and a computer program which is stored on the memory and can run on the processor, wherein the processor realizes a traffic information reporting method and/or a received traffic information reporting method when executing the computer program.

The embodiment of the invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for executing a traffic information reporting method and/or a received traffic information reporting method.

The invention has the following beneficial effects:

in the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, as the MEC node can count the flow generated by the local MEC service forwarded by the UPF and report the counted flow information to the BOSS, the BOSS can charge the flow generated by the part of service, thereby overcoming the problem that the generated flow cannot be charged after the MEC service appears in 5G.

It is easy to understand that since the charging scheme of local forwarding service of edge calculation type is introduced into the network system of the operator, the refined operation of MEC service can be realized, a differentiated charging mode is provided, and powerful support is provided for innovation and growth of edge calculation.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the invention and not to limit the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure related to charging in the background art;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a method for reporting traffic information on an MEC node side in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a method for reporting received traffic information at a BOSS side in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an overall communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a video application platform;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an implementation of the video application platform of FIG. 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an MEC platform in an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an MEC node in the embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a BOSS according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The inventor notices in the process of invention that:

as shown in fig. 1, in the conventional LTE network, the data plane function is mainly focused on the P-GW at the boundary between the LTE network and the internet, and all data flows must pass through the P-GW, even data flows between users in the same cell must pass through the P-GW, so that charging ticket information (including user information, traffic flow, etc.) mainly generated by the PGW is delivered to the BOSS system to always meet the service requirements of the LTE network.

However, with the arrival of 5G MEC (multiple-access edge computing), a large amount of video services need to be coded, decoded, structured and forwarded at the edge side, and in a scenario where a 5G UPF (User plane Function) sinks to a garden or a building, a large amount of video services need to be charged and forwarded at the edge side.

Specifically, in order to support edge calculation, the 5G network may select a UPF with a closer position for the terminal user according to subscription information of the terminal, a user position, related information (service Application identifier, network name, slice identifier, and the like) provided by an AF (Application Function), and other policies and routing rules, and satisfy access and access to the local edge network and the service Application through data distribution. That is, the 5G core network completes the routing of the user data stream to the local edge network through the selection of the UPF.

It can be seen that the above functions can be summarized as flexible selection of UPF, session continuity, qoS (Quality of Service), charging, etc., and based on convergence and distributed deployment of the 5G network user plane, flexible selection/reselection of the user plane close to the terminal and efficient routing forwarding can be realized, thereby satisfying the requirements for access and access to the local edge network and content. Among them, flexible selection/reselection of UPF includes the influence of AF network elements on Data routing, single PDU (Packet Data Unit) session holding multiple PDU session anchors, and location-based local network discovery.

For example: services such as cloud games and video conferences have application scenarios similar to edge computing, such as network game delay (< 20 ms), high-definition video (4k.

Based on this, the embodiment of the invention provides a scheme for charging the MEC service, in the scheme, a flow acquisition function is added at the MEC node side, the MEC service forwarded by the UPF is counted, and the counted result is reported to the BOSS system through the UPF. The following describes embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

In the description process, the implementation from the MEC node and the BOSS side, respectively, will be described, wherein each relevant network element entity will also be involved, and then an example of a cooperative implementation based on the two will also be given to better understand the implementation of the scheme given in the embodiment of the present invention. Such a description does not mean that the two must be implemented together or separately, and actually, when the MEC node and the BOSS are implemented separately, the MEC node and the BOSS solve the problems of the MEC node side and the BOSS side respectively, and when the MEC node and the BOSS are used in combination, a better technical effect is obtained.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of an implementation flow of a method for reporting traffic information at an MEC node side, where as shown in the figure, the method may include:

step 201, an MEC node determines flow information generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal through a UPF;

step 202, the MEC node reports the terminal and the traffic information generated by the terminal to the BOSS.

In a specific implementation, the MEC node is sent to the core network through the RESTFUL protocol when being sent to the core network through the UPF.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of an implementation flow of a method for reporting received traffic information at a BOSS side, where as shown in the figure, the method may include:

step 301, a BOSS receives traffic information reported by an MEC node, where the traffic information is generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC node through a UPF;

and step 302, determining the charging information of the terminal by the BOSS according to the flow information of the terminal.

In a specific implementation, the traffic information is sent by the MEC node to the core network via the UPF via the RESTFUL protocol.

For convenience of description, a functional module for implementing the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention on the MEC node side is referred to as a charging module.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an overall architecture of a communication system, in which the communication system implements the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention, and the system is as follows:

the 5G network supports three shunting modes of UPF:

1. and (3) splitting an uplink destination address: the method is usually a first-choice deployment and has no requirement on the terminal;

2. UE IP source address selection and distribution: the method is introduced as required, requires to support IPv6 (version 6, IP), and is beneficial to realizing SSC (Session and Service Continuity) mode 3;

3. local data network distribution: this approach is introduced on demand, requiring support for location identification, contributing to local campus scenarios.

The UPF dynamic shunting supported by the 5G network mainly comprises the following steps:

the AF requests a core Network to customize a local distribution rule for a third-party APP (Application) through an NEF (Network open Function);

PCF (Policy Control Function) dynamically generates a local shunting Policy according to NEF information and configures the local shunting Policy to SMF;

and the SMF (Session Management Function) selects a local UPF according to the UE (User Entity) position information and configures a distribution strategy according to the service information.

At this time, according to a charging module deployed by the MEC platform, the local service subscription times are determined according to a BOSS system of a reverse information flow.

In the BOSS system, the flow access service and the local forwarding service through the Internet are distinguished, and different charging strategies are formulated.

The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention in the above communication system mainly includes the following processes:

1. a terminal application layer triggers a high-performance service request;

2. the UPF receives the service access request and forwards the service access request to a core network;

3. a core network issues a UPF forwarding strategy;

4. the charging module of the edge computing platform counts the number of times of subscribing the local forwarding service;

5. reporting the subscription frequency data to a core network through UPF;

6. the core network synchronizes the data to the BOSS system;

7. and the BOSS system calculates different charging results according to different flow paths.

Fig. 5 is an implementation schematic diagram of a video application platform, as shown in the figure, in an application scenario where the video application platform provides an MEC service, for example, services such as providing a cloud game, a video conference, a snow project, and the like, if a plurality of users do not perform audio/video communication or video AI analysis inside an MEC node via the Internet (the connection relationship of the services is illustrated by a dotted line in the figure), charging can be performed according to a local charging mode and according to the number of times; if the user interacts and accesses to the center cloud through the Internet, the charging is carried out according to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of the video application platform of fig. 5, where a local forwarding class is a service passing through the Internet, a non-local forwarding class is a service not passing through the Internet, and implementation flows of each network element are shown in the figure, where the related commands are: local data transfer request, local data transfer response, center data transfer request, and center data transfer response.

In implementation, the information of the charging message statistics usually includes an identifier of the UE to which the service belongs, for example, an S1-APID (S1 interface-APP identifier), an S1 interface UE is a unique identifier, or an ID number of another unique identifier UE; and traffic statistics, e.g., measured in bytes or bits.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an MEC platform, as shown in the figure, a charging module may be added inside the MEC platform, and when the MEC charging module feeds back traffic charging information, a signaling protocol may use a RESTFUL protocol, and in combination with a cloud-edge interaction situation, for a local forwarding class, the local forwarding charging statistical information is transferred to a 5G NGC (Next Generation Core) according to local forwarding charging statistics information, and then to a BOSS system, and data interacted with a central cloud may be charged according to the technical scheme provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

Based on the same inventive concept, the embodiment of the present invention further provides an MEC node, a BOSS, a communication device, and a computer-readable storage medium, and because the principles of solving the problems of these devices are similar to the traffic information reporting method and the received traffic information reporting method, the implementation of these devices may refer to the implementation of the methods, and the repeated parts are not described again.

When the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention is implemented, the implementation can be carried out as follows.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an MEC node, as shown in the figure, a base station includes:

the processor 800, which is used to read the program in the memory 820, executes the following processes:

a transceiver 810 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 800, performing the following processes:

and reporting the terminal and the generated flow information to the BOSS.

In practice, the UPF is sent to the core network via RESTFUL protocol.

Where in fig. 8, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits being linked together, particularly one or more processors represented by processor 800 and memory represented by memory 820. 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 810 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 800 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 820 may store data used by the processor 800 in performing operations.

The embodiment of the invention provides an MEC node, which comprises:

the determining module is used for determining the flow information generated by the local MEC service forwarded by the terminal through the UPF;

For convenience of description, each part of the above-described apparatus is separately described as being functionally divided into various modules or units. Of course, the functionality of the various modules or units may be implemented in the same one or more pieces of software or hardware in practicing the invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a BOSS, and as shown in the figure, the base station includes:

a transceiver 910 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of the processor 900, performing the following processes:

a processor 900 for reading the program in the memory 920, executing the following processes:

Where in fig. 9, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with various circuits being linked together, particularly one or more processors represented by processor 500 and memory represented by memory 920. 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 910 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium. The processor 900 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 920 may store data used by the processor 900 in performing operations.

The specific implementation may refer to implementation of the traffic information reporting method and/or the received traffic information reporting method.

In summary, in the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention, based on the 5G network capability opening, an interface is newly added between the edge computing platform and the BOSS system, so that a differentiated charging service can be provided;

the scheme also specifically provides a signaling flow of edge computing local video forwarding, which comprises a policy communication scheme among network elements such as edge computing, a 5G core network, a BOSS and the like.

According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, the video local forwarding service charging protocol flow is introduced into the operator network system, the video service fine operation is realized, a differentiated charging mode is provided, and powerful support is provided for the video service innovation and growth based on edge calculation.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

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

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

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

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for reporting traffic information is characterized in that the method comprises the following steps:

the edge computing MEC node determines the flow information generated by the local MEC business forwarded by the terminal through a user plane function UPF;

the MEC node reports the terminal and the flow information generated by the terminal to a business operation support system BOSS;

wherein, the first and the second end of the pipe are connected with each other,

the UPF feeds back the number of local service subscriptions to the BOSS system according to the charging function deployed by the MEC platform and a reverse information flow; in a BOSS system, flow access service and local forwarding service through the Internet are distinguished, and different charging strategies are formulated;

the MEC node reports the terminal and the flow information generated by the terminal to the BOSS through the UPF through the core network;

the MEC node is sent to the core network through RESTFUL protocol when being sent to the core network through UPF.

2. A method for reporting received traffic information is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the BOSS receives flow information reported by the MEC node, wherein the flow information is generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC node through UPF; the UPF feeds back the number of local service subscriptions to the BOSS system according to the charging function deployed by the MEC platform and the reverse information flow;

the BOSS determines the charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal; in the BOSS system, flow access service and local forwarding service through the Internet are distinguished, and different charging strategies are formulated;

the flow information is reported to the BOSS by the MEC node through the UPF through the core network;

and the traffic information is sent to the core network by the MEC node through UPF through RESTFUL protocol.

3. An MEC node, comprising:

reporting the terminal and the generated flow information to a BOSS;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the UPF feeds back the number of local service subscriptions to the BOSS system according to the charging function deployed by the MEC platform and a reverse information flow; in the BOSS system, flow access service and local forwarding service through the Internet are distinguished, and different charging strategies are formulated;

reporting the terminal and the generated flow information to the BOSS through the UPF through the core network;

when the data is sent to the core network through UPF, the data is sent to the core network through RESTFUL protocol.

4. An MEC node, comprising:

the reporting module is used for reporting the terminal and the generated flow information to the BOSS;

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the reporting module is further used for reporting the terminal and the generated flow information to the BOSS through the UPF through the core network;

the reporting module is further configured to send the report to the core network via the uptf according to the RESTFUL protocol.

5. A BOSS, comprising:

receiving flow information reported by an MEC, wherein the flow information is generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC through a UPF; the UPF feeds back the number of local service subscriptions to the BOSS system according to the charging function deployed by the MEC platform and the reverse information flow;

determining charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal; in the BOSS system, flow access service and local forwarding service through the Internet are distinguished, and different charging strategies are formulated;

6. A BOSS, comprising:

the receiving module is used for receiving flow information reported by the MEC, wherein the flow information is flow information generated by a local MEC service forwarded by a terminal determined by the MEC through a UPF; the UPF feeds back the number of local service subscriptions to the BOSS system according to the charging function deployed by the MEC platform and the reverse information flow;

the execution module is used for determining the charging information of the terminal according to the flow information of the terminal; in the BOSS system, flow access service and local forwarding service through the Internet are distinguished, and different charging strategies are formulated;

the receiving module is further used for receiving the flow information reported to the BOSS by the MEC node through the UPF through the core network;

the receiving module is further configured to receive the traffic information sent by the MEC node to the core network through the uptf via the RESTFUL protocol.

7. A communication device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the method of any of claims 1 to 2 when executing the computer program.

8. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 2.