CN113473569A

CN113473569A - Discovery method of application server and related device

Info

Publication number: CN113473569A
Application number: CN202010247659.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周晓云
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-31
Filing date: 2020-03-31
Publication date: 2021-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2040-03-31
Also published as: CN113473569B; WO2021197175A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a discovery method and a related device of an application server. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that first network equipment receives first information of second network equipment, wherein the first information comprises an application identifier; the first network equipment determines at least one first access position according to at least the first information, wherein the first access position is a candidate access position for the user equipment to access the application; the first network equipment sends the identification information of the at least one first access position to the second network equipment; and the second network equipment determines the address of the server of the application according to the identification information of the at least one first access position. By implementing the method and the device, the configuration of the DNS AF can be simplified.

Description

Discovery method of application server and related device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of mobile communications, and in particular, to a method for discovering an application server and a related device.

Background

In a fifth generation (5th-generation, 5G) communication system, after a User Equipment (UE) accesses a network, a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session is established, and an external Data Network (DN) is accessed through the PDU session, interacting with an application server deployed in the DN. The application server of the same application can be deployed at a plurality of positions, so that the network can select a PDU Session Anchor (PSA) which is close to the UE and supports the UE to access the DN according to the access position of the UE, thereby reducing routing roundabout and reducing network delay.

If the UE wants to access the application server, the UE needs to query an address of the UE through a Domain Name System (DNS) Application Function (AF), determine an optimal access location according to the address of the UE, and query the DNS server according to the access location to obtain the address of the application server. This results in a complicated DNS AF configuration.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a discovery method and a related device of an application server, which can simplify DNS AF configuration.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for discovering an application server, where the method includes: the method comprises the steps that first network equipment receives first information of second network equipment, wherein the first information comprises an application identifier; the first network device determines at least one first access location according to at least the first information, where the first access location is a candidate access location for a user device to access the application; and the first network device sends the identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device, wherein the identification information of the at least one first access location is used for determining the address of the server of the application.

In this embodiment, the second network device is a DNS AF, and the candidate access location of the application may be determined by the first network device and sent to the second network device, so that the second network device determines the address of the server of the application according to the identification information of the candidate access location. By implementing the embodiment of the application, the configuration of the DNS AF can be simplified. In addition, the first network device may determine at least one candidate access location, improving the reliability of the server of the application ultimately selected by the DNS.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device is a session management network element; the method further comprises the following steps: and the first network receives request information sent by the second network device, where the request information is used to request the first network device to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In this embodiment of the present application, the first network device is a Session Management Function (SMF), and since the SMF has configured a topology structure of the entire network, the SMF determines a candidate access position, and may select an application server for the UE nearby.

In a possible implementation manner, the request information further includes identification information of a second access location, and the at least one first access location includes the second access location.

In this embodiment of the application, when the candidate access locations are not unique, the second network device may carry the identification information of the access location in the request information, so that the first network device selects a user plane network element for the user equipment to access the application according to the identification information.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the first network device, at least one first access location according to the first information includes: the first network device determines the at least one first access location according to at least one of data-oriented control information corresponding to the application, current location information of the user device, an operator policy, and a load condition of a current network.

In the embodiment of the present application, the SMF may comprehensively determine the candidate access location according to at least one of the data steering control information corresponding to the application, the current location information of the user equipment, the operator policy, and the load condition of the current network, so that the success rate of the finally selected user plane network element may be improved, the routing roundabout may be reduced, and the network delay may be reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application is obtained by the first network device from a unified data repository or a policy control network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device is a policy control network element; the first network device determines at least one first access location at least according to the first information, and includes: the first network device sends second information to a session management network element, where the second information is used to request the user equipment to access an access location of the application; and the first network device receives the identification information of the at least one access position sent by the session management network element.

In this embodiment, the first network device is a Policy Control Function (PCF), and the PCF initiates the third information to the SMF, and the SMF determines the candidate access position and sends the candidate access position to the PCF. Since the SMF has configured the topology of the entire network, the SMF determines candidate access locations and may select an application server for the UE in the near vicinity.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information of the at least one first access location is determined by the session management network element according to at least one of data steering control information corresponding to the application, current location information of the user equipment, an operator policy, and a load condition of a current network.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device provides, to the session management network element, data-oriented control information corresponding to the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network device receives request information of the second network device, where the request information is used to request the session management network element to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one data network access identification DNAI and/or subnet information.

In a possible implementation manner, the at least one DNAI is a DNAI corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment may employ to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the at least one piece of subnet information is subnet information corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment can employ to access the application.

In one possible implementation, the subnet information includes IPv6 subnet information or IPv4 subnet information.

In a possible implementation manner, the address of the server of the application is an address sent by a domain name system DNS server to the second network device.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for discovering an application server, including: the second network equipment sends first information to the first network equipment, wherein the first information comprises an application identifier; the second network equipment receives first identification information of at least one first access position sent by the first network equipment; the first access position is a candidate access position for accessing the application by the user equipment; and the second network device determines the address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the second network device, an address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location includes: the second network device sends third information to a first Domain Name System (DNS) server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; the second network device receives an address of at least one server of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; the second network device determines the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one server.

In this embodiment of the application, the first DNS server is a centralized DNS server, the DNS AF sends the identification information of the at least one candidate access location to the DNS server, and the DNS server returns an application server corresponding to the at least one candidate access location.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the second network device receives first priority information of the first identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the network device; the determining, by the second network device, the address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location includes: the second network device sends third information to a first DNS server, where the third information includes second identification information of at least one first access location, and the second identification information of the at least one first access location is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location; the second network device receives at least one server address of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and the second network device determines the address of the first server according to the first priority information and the at least one server address of the application corresponding to the second identification information of the at least one first access location.

In the embodiment of the application, the second network device may select at least one application server with better performance according to the priority information of the candidate access position, so that the user equipment may quickly access the application server, and network delay is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the third information further includes second priority information corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location, where the second priority information is determined according to the first priority information; the address of the at least one first server transmitted by the first DNS server is determined by the first DNS server based on the second priority information.

In the embodiment of the application, the centralized DNS server may perform preliminary screening on at least one candidate access location according to the priority information, and then the second network device performs screening on one or more application servers returned by the centralized DNS server according to the priority information, so that the user equipment may quickly access the application servers, thereby reducing network delay.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining, by the second network device, an address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location includes: the second network device determines a second DNS server corresponding to a second access position according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sends fourth information to the second DNS server; the fourth information is used for acquiring an address of the first server; the first identification information of said at least one first access location comprises first identification information of said second access location; the second network device receives the address of the first server sent by the second DNS server.

In this embodiment of the application, the second DNS server is a local DNS server, the DNS AF selects one access location from at least one candidate access location, sends identification information of the access location to a corresponding local DNS server, and determines a final address of the application server by the local DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the second network device receives priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the first network device; the second network device determines, according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, a second DNS server corresponding to a second access location, and sends fourth information to the second DNS server, where the second information includes: and the second network device determines the second DNS server corresponding to the second access location according to the priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, and sends the fourth information to the second DNS server.

In the embodiment of the application, the DNS AF selects the second access position according to the priority of the candidate access position, and selects the current optimal access position, so that the user equipment can be quickly accessed to the application server, and the network delay is reduced.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the second network equipment receives fourth information sent by the user equipment, wherein the fourth information is used for requesting the address of the server of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the second network device sends request information to the first network device, wherein the request information is used for requesting the first network device to select a user plane network element for accessing the application for the user device.

In a possible implementation manner, the request information further includes first identification information of a second access location, and the at least one first access location includes the second access location, where the second access location corresponds to an address of the first server.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the second network device sends the address of the first server to the user equipment.

In a possible implementation manner, the first identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one first data network access identification DNAI and/or first subnet information.

In a possible implementation manner, the at least one first DNAI is a DNAI corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment may employ to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the one or more first subnet information are subnet information corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment can employ to access the application.

In one possible implementation, the one or more first subnet information includes IPv6 subnet information or IPv4 subnet information.

In a possible implementation manner, the second identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one second DNAI and/or second subnet information, wherein the at least one second DNAI is determined according to the at least one first DNAI, and the at least one second subnet information is determined according to the at least one first DNAI or the first subnet information.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for discovering an application server, including: the method comprises the steps that first network equipment receives first information of second network equipment, wherein the first information comprises an application identifier; the first network device determines at least one first access location according to at least the first information, where the first access location is a candidate access location for a user device to access the application; the first network device sends the first identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device; and the second network device determines the address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device is a session management network element; the method further comprises the following steps: and the first network device receives request information sent by the second network device, where the request information is used to request the first network device to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the request information further includes identification information of a second access location, and the at least one access location includes the second access location.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network device sends first priority information of first identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device; the determining, by the second network device, the address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location includes: the second network device sends third information to a first DNS server, where the third information includes second identification information of at least one first access location, and the second identification information of the at least one first access location is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location; the second network device receives at least one server address of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and the second network device determines the address of the first server according to the first priority information and the at least one server address of the application corresponding to the second identification information of the at least one first access location.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first network device sends priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access position to the second network device; the second network device determines, according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, a second DNS server corresponding to a second access location, and sends fourth information to the second DNS server, where the second information includes: and the second network device determines the second DNS server corresponding to the second access location according to the priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, and sends the fourth information to the second DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the second network equipment receives fifth information sent by the user equipment, wherein the fifth information is used for requesting the address of the server of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the first identification information of the one or more access locations is one or more first data network access identification DNAI and/or first subnet information.

In a possible implementation manner, the at least one first subnet information is subnet information corresponding to a user plane network element that can be used by the user equipment to access the application.

The beneficial effects of the third aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the first aspect and the second aspect, which are not described herein in detail.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including: a receiving unit, configured to receive first information sent by a second network device, where the first information includes an identifier of an application; a determining unit, configured to determine at least one first access location according to at least the first information, where the first access location is a candidate access location for a user equipment to access the application; a sending unit, configured to send identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device, where the identification information of the at least one first access location is used for determining an address of the server of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device is a session management network element; the receiving unit is further configured to: and receiving request information sent by the second network device, where the request information is used to request the network device to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit is specifically configured to: and determining the at least one first access location according to at least one of data-oriented control information corresponding to the application, current location information of the user equipment, operator policy and load condition of a current network.

In a possible implementation manner, the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application is obtained by the network device from a unified data repository or a policy control network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device is a policy control network element; the determining unit is specifically configured to: sending second information to a session management network element, where the second information is used to request the user equipment to access an access location of the application; and receiving the identification information of the at least one access position sent by the session management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device provides, to the session management network element, data-oriented control information corresponding to the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to: and receiving request information of the second network device, where the request information is used to request the session management network element to select a user plane network element for the user equipment to access the application.

The beneficial effects of the fourth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the first aspect, and are not described herein in detail.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including: a sending unit, configured to send first information to a first network device, where the first information includes an identifier of an application; a receiving unit, configured to receive first identification information of at least one first access location sent by the first network device; the first access position is a candidate access position for accessing the application by the user equipment; a determining unit, configured to determine an address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit is specifically configured to: sending third information to a first Domain Name System (DNS) server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; receiving an address of at least one server of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and determining the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one server.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to: receiving first priority information of first identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the network device; the determining unit is specifically configured to: sending third information to a first DNS server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; receiving at least one server address of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and determining the address of the first server according to the first priority information and at least one server address of the application corresponding to the second identification information of the at least one first access position.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit is specifically configured to: determining a second DNS server corresponding to a second access position according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sending fourth information to the second DNS server; the fourth information is used for acquiring an address of the first server; the first identification information of said at least one first access location comprises first identification information of said second access location; the second network device receives the address of the first server sent by the second DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is specifically configured to: receiving priority information corresponding to first identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the first network equipment; the determining unit is specifically configured to: and determining the second DNS server corresponding to the second access location according to the priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, and sending the fourth information to the second DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit is further configured to: and receiving fifth information sent by the user equipment, wherein the fifth information is used for requesting the address of the server of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to: and sending request information to the first network device, where the request information is used to request the first network device to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to: and sending the address of the first server to the user equipment.

The beneficial effects of the fifth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the second aspect, which are not described herein in detail.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including: a first network device and a second network device; the first network device is a network device provided in any one of the fourth aspect and the fourth possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application, and the second network device is a network device provided in any one of the fifth aspect and the fifth possible implementation manner of the embodiment of the present application.

The beneficial effects of the sixth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the first aspect and the second aspect, which are not described herein in detail.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including: a processor configured to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect when the processor calls a computer program in a memory.

The beneficial effects of the seventh aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the first aspect, and are not described herein in detail.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a network device, including: a processor for performing the method as described above in relation to the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect when the processor calls a computer program in a memory.

The beneficial effects of the eighth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the second aspect, which are not described herein in detail.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, where the chip includes at least one processor, a memory, and an interface circuit, where the memory, the transceiver, and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and where the at least one memory stores instructions; the above instructions, when executed by the above processor, implement the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect.

The beneficial effects of the ninth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the first aspect, and are not described herein in detail.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, where the chip includes at least one processor, a memory, and an interface circuit, where the memory, the transceiver, and the at least one processor are interconnected by a line, and where the at least one memory stores instructions; the above instructions, when executed by the above processor, implement the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect.

The beneficial effects of the tenth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the second aspect, and are not described in detail herein.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer-readable storage medium is executed on a computer or a processor, the method provided by any one of the first aspect and the implementation manner of the first aspect of the present application is implemented.

The beneficial effects of the eleventh aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the first aspect, and are not described in detail herein.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer-readable storage medium is run on a computer or a processor, the method provided by any one of the implementation manners of the second aspect or the second aspect of the present application is implemented.

The beneficial effects of the twelfth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the second aspect, and are not described in detail herein.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, where when the computer program product runs on a network device, the method provided by the first aspect of the present application or any one implementation manner of the first aspect is implemented.

The advantageous effects of the thirteenth aspect can be referred to the advantageous effects of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which when running on a network device, implements the method provided in the second aspect of the present application or any implementation manner of the second aspect.

The beneficial effects of the fourteenth aspect can be seen in the beneficial effects of the second aspect, and are not described in detail herein.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below.

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

fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a discovery method of an application server according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another application server discovery method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of another application server discovery method according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, the present application will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms "first" and "second," and the like in the description, claims, and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by one skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

In this application, "at least one" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more, "at least two" means two or three and three or more, "and/or" for describing an association relationship of associated objects, which means that there may be three relationships, for example, "a and/or B" may mean: only A, only B and both A and B are present, wherein A and B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "at least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, may represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

Embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application will be described.

The discovery method of the application processor provided by the application processor can be applied to various communication systems, such as an internet of things (IoT) system, a narrowband band internet of things (NB-IoT) system, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation (5th-generation, 5G) communication system, a hybrid architecture of LTE and 5G, a 5G new wireless (new radio, NR) system, a new communication system appearing in future communication development, and the like.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the various parts involved in fig. 1 are as follows:

the terminal device 110 is also called a User Equipment (UE), a terminal, and the like. The terminal device is a device having a wireless transceiving function, and can communicate with one or more Core Networks (CN) via AN access network device in a (radio) access network (R) AN 120. Can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held, worn, or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface, such as a ship and the like; it may also be deployed in the air, such as on an airplane, balloon, or satellite, etc. The terminal device may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an Augmented Reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in home (smart home), and so on.

A (radio) access network (R) AN 120, configured to provide a network access function for authorized terminal devices in a specific area, and enable use of transmission tunnels with different qualities according to a level of the terminal device, a service requirement, and the like. For example, the (R) AN may manage radio resources, provide access services for the terminal device, and then complete forwarding of control information and/or data information between the terminal device and a Core Network (CN).

The access network device in the embodiment of the present application is a device that provides a wireless communication function for a terminal device, and may also be referred to as a network device. The access network device may include: next generation base station node (eNB) in 5G system, evolved node B (eNB) in Long Term Evolution (LTE), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), home base station (e.g., home evolved node B, or home node B, HNB), Base Band Unit (BBU), transmission point (TRP) (or transmission reception point), Transmission Point (TP), small base station device (pico), mobile switching center, or network device in future network. It is understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific type of the access network device. In systems with different radio access technologies, the names of devices that function as access network devices may differ.

A user plane function network (UPF) function 130, which is used for packet routing and forwarding, quality of service (QoS) processing of user plane data, and the like.

A Data Network (DN) network function 140 for providing a network for transmitting data.

An Access Management Function (AMF) network function 150 is mainly used for mobility management, access management, and the like, and may be used to implement other functions, such as functions of lawful interception, access authorization/authentication, and the like, in a Mobility Management Entity (MME) function except for session management. It is understood that hereinafter referred to as AMF network function is AMF. In the embodiment of the present application, the AMF network functions include a far-end AMF and a relay AMF, where the far-end AMF is: an AMF for serving a remote UE; the relay AMF is: an AMF for serving the relay UE.

A session management function network element (SMF) 160, which is mainly used for session management, address allocation and management of an Internet Protocol (IP) of a terminal device, selection of a terminal node that can manage a user plane function and a policy control and charging function interface, and downlink data notification. In this application, the session management function network element may also be referred to as a session management network element.

The policy control network function 170, such as a policy control function network element (PCF), is used to guide a unified policy framework of network behaviors, provide policy rule information for control plane functions (e.g., AMF, SMF network functions, etc.), and the like. In this application, the policy control function network element may also be referred to as a policy control network element.

An authentication server function (AUSF) 180, configured to authenticate a service, generate a key, implement bidirectional authentication on a terminal device, and support a unified authentication framework.

The Unified Data Management (UDM) network function 190 may be used to process a terminal device identifier, access authentication, registration, mobility management, and the like. It is understood that the UDM network function is hereinafter referred to as UDM.

An Application Function (AF) 1100, configured to perform application-influenced data routing, access a network open function, perform policy control by interacting with a policy framework, and the like.

A Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) may be used to determine a network slice instance, select an AMF network function, and so on.

Network storage network functions, such as those including a Network Registration Function (NRF), may be used to maintain real-time information of all network function services in the network.

It is understood that the network architecture shown in fig. 1 may also include a proximity services function (ProSe function), which may be used to perform management and control of ProSe traffic, among other things.

The mobility management network function in the embodiment of the present application may be the AMF network function 150 shown in fig. 1, or may be another network function having the AMF network function 150 in a future communication system. Alternatively, the mobility management network function in the present application may also be a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the like.

For convenience of description, the AMF network function 150 is abbreviated as AMF, and the terminal device 110 is referred to as UE, that is, in the embodiments of the present application, the AMF described later may be replaced by a mobility management network function or core network device, and the UE may be replaced by a terminal device.

A network architecture (for example, a 5G network architecture) shown in fig. 1 adopts a service-based architecture, a conventional network element function (or network function) is split into a plurality of network function service modules that are self-contained, self-managed, and reusable based on a Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology, and a customized network function reconfiguration can be realized by flexibly defining a service module set, and a service flow is formed externally through a uniform service call interface. The network architecture diagram shown in fig. 1 can be understood as a service-based 5G network architecture diagram in a non-roaming scenario. For roaming scenarios, the embodiments of the present application are also applicable.

It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. The network function or function may be a network element in a hardware device, a software function running on dedicated hardware, or a virtualization function instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform).

The application server discovery method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a discovery method of an application server according to an embodiment of the present application. The method may be applied to the network architecture shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

s201: the first network equipment receives first information sent by the second network equipment.

Specifically, the second network device is a DNS AF. The first network device is an SMF or PCF.

Specifically, before S201, the UE may send DNS Request information (DNS Request) to the DNS AF. The request message may carry a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for the application. The DNS AF may check whether the application has a Service Layer Agreement (SLA) based on the FQDN, i.e. there is a business agreement between the application and the operator. If so, the DNS AF sends a request of the preferred access position information of the application to the SMF. In the embodiment of the present application, the request may be referred to as first information. The first information may include an application identification (APP ID). The first information may further include an IP address of the UE, which may be an IPv4 address or an IPv6 address.

S202: the first network device determines at least one first access location based at least on the first information.

Specifically, the first access location is a candidate access location where the UE accesses the application, that is, the UE may access the DN through the UPF corresponding to the access location, and the application server corresponding to the application is deployed in the DN. When the number of the first access positions is multiple, the access position where the UE accesses the application is one of the multiple first access positions. In a specific implementation, the SMF selects the UPF as a PDU Session Anchor (PSA) for the PDU session established by the UE. In summary, the access location may be used to determine a UPF for the UE to access the application. It can be known that the first access location is a location of a user plane through which the UE accesses the application, not a location of the UE itself. The location of the user plane may be represented by subnet information and/or Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI).

Optionally, the first network device is an SMF. The SMF may determine the at least one first access location based on at least one of: and applying corresponding data guide control information, current position information of the UE, operator strategies, the current network load condition and the like.

The data steering control information corresponding to the application defines location information (data network access identifier (DNAI)) corresponding to the DN deploying the application server, and corresponding time (time validity condition) for accessing the application server, location information (time validity condition) of the UE, and the like. Therefore, if there is data-oriented control information corresponding to the application, the SMF may determine the applicable DNAI according to the current time and the current location of the UE. In addition, the SMF may determine the applicable DNAI based on the operator's policy (e.g., the operator itself has configured a data-oriented application for this application) and the current network load conditions.

Wherein the application-corresponding data-oriented control information may be provided by the UDR. Specifically, the method can directly interact with the UDR to acquire data-oriented control information corresponding to the application stored in the UDR. Or the SMF interacts with the PCF to acquire the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application acquired by the PCF from the UDR.

Optionally, the first network device is a PCF. The PCF may send a message to the SMF asking the UE to access an access location of the application, and the SMF may determine the at least one first access location based on at least one of: and applying corresponding data guide control information, current position information of the UE, operator strategies, the current network load condition and the like. And the SMF sends the identification information of the at least one first access position to the PCF. Wherein the data steering control information corresponding to the application may be provided by the PCF. Specifically, the SMF interacts with the PCF to obtain data-oriented control information corresponding to the application that the PCF obtained from the UDR.

S203: the first network device sends identification information of at least one first access location to the second network device.

Specifically, the identification information of the first access location may be subnet information and/or Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI). For the network of IPv4, the subnet information is the range of the post-NAT public network IP address corresponding to the candidate UPF. For an IPv6 network, the subnet information is the range of IPv6 addresses or prefixes corresponding to candidate UPFs.

Further, the first network device may further determine priority information corresponding to each of the at least one first access location, and send the priority information to the DNS AF. The priority information of each first access location may be determined according to various factors such as a routing path optimization degree, an operator policy, and a network load. For example, the shorter the routing path, the higher the priority corresponding to the first access location.

S204: the second network device determines the address of the server of the application according to the identification information of the at least one first access location.

Specifically, the DNS AF determines the address of the server of the application in two scenarios, and the determination manner is different in different scenarios. The following description can be seen in detail:

scene one: network using local DNS server

In this scenario, the DNS AF may select one access location from the at least one first access location according to the local configuration and the first access location corresponding to the identification information of each first access location, and further select the local DNS server corresponding to the access location. The DNS AF may send a DNS request (request) message to the local DNS server, where the message may carry the APP FQDN. The local DNS server may determine the address of the first application server and return the address of the first application server to the second network device DNS AF. The address of the first application server is the address of the application server which the UE finally accesses.

Specifically, the DNS AF selects one first access location according to local configuration, and determines a corresponding local DNS server. And the DNS AF sends DNS request information to a local DNS server, and if the local DNS server returns a successful response, the DNS AF determines that the server address carried in the response message is a first application server address, and the first access position is a second access position.

And if the local DNS server returns a failure response, the DNS AF selects a first access position again for inquiry. In the embodiment of the present application, the DNS request information may be referred to as fourth information. In this embodiment, the access location finally selected by the DNS AF may be referred to as a second access location. The local DNS server is referred to as a second DNS server.

It can be known that, if the identifier information of the first access location determined by the first network is DNAI, the DNS AF further needs to determine subnet information according to DNAI.

Further, the DNS AF may select one access location from the at least one first access location according to the local configuration and the priority information of the at least one first access location, and further select a local DNS server corresponding to the access location.

Specifically, the DNS AF determines a corresponding local DNS server according to the first access location with the highest priority, and sends DNS request information to the local DNS server, and if the local DNS server returns a successful response, the DNS AF determines that the server address carried in the response message is the first application server address, and this first access location is the second access location. And if the local DNS server returns a failure response, the DNS AF selects a first access position with a second high priority for query according to the priority information.

Scene two: network usage centralized DNS server

In this scenario, the DNS AF may send a DNS request (request) message to the centralized DNS server, where the message may carry identification information of the at least one first access location. Specifically, the information may be carried by an enhanced DNS client subnet (ECS) option, and if the identifier information of the access location is subnet information, each ECS option may include the subnet information returned in S203. If the identification information of the access position is DNAI, the DNSAF needs to determine subnet information according to DNAI. In the embodiment of the present application, the DNS request information may be referred to as third information. In the embodiment of the present application, the centralized DNS server may be referred to as a first DNS server.

Optionally, if the first network device may further determine priority information corresponding to the at least one first access location, and send the priority information to the DNS AF, the second information sent by the DNS AF to the centralized DNS server may also carry the priority information corresponding to the at least one first access location. In this embodiment, priority information that the first network sends to the DNS AF may be referred to as first priority information, and priority information that the DNS AF sends to the centralized DNS server may be referred to as second priority information.

After receiving the DNS request information, the centralized DNS server may select a part of candidate application servers according to the configuration and the second priority information, return addresses of the part of candidate application servers to the DNS AF, and determine an address of the first application server by the DNS AF according to the first priority information. And the DNS AF selects the address of the application server with the highest priority from the returned addresses of the candidate application servers as the address of the first application server, so that the first access position corresponding to the address of the server is the second access position.

Optionally, the centralized DNS server may also directly determine the address of the application server corresponding to the at least one first access location without making a preliminary selection.

After the DNS AF determines the address of the first application server, the DNS AF may send a data steering control execution (traffic control execution) request message to the first network device. When the first network device is a PCF, the PCF may further send the request message to the SMF. The request information may be used to select a user plane network element for the UE to access the application.

Optionally, when the candidate first access location is unique, the SMF may directly select a user plane network element for the UE to access the application according to the identification information of the candidate location determined by the SMF.

Optionally, when the candidate first access location is not unique, the request information may further carry identification information of a second access location, and the SMF selects a user plane network element for the UE to access the application according to the identification information of the second access location. Wherein the second access position is an access position that is finally selected from the plurality of candidate first access positions. And the SMF selects the finally selected identification information (DNAI or subnet information) of the second access position corresponding to the UPF as the PSA for the PDU session established by the UE according to the request information. If the subnet information is IPv6 subnet information, the SMF allocates a corresponding IPv6 address prefix for the UE.

In addition, the DNS AF may also send a DNS response (response) message to the UE, where the response message carries the address of the first application server. The UE may establish a connection with the first application server via the selected PSA to communicate with the first application server.

By implementing the embodiment of the application, because the SMF configures the topological structure of the whole network and determines the candidate access position by the SMF, the current condition of the network can be better considered, the configuration of the DNS AF is simplified, the condition that a server selected by the DNS is unavailable can be avoided, the success rate of accessing the application server by the UE is improved, and the network delay is reduced.

The UE is not limited to sending the DNS request to the DNS AF, and in a specific implementation, the embodiment of the present application also supports DNS over HTTPS, and the UE sends request information of DNS over HTTS to the DNS AF. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

The first network device involved in the embodiment of the present application may be an SMF or a PCF. In order to understand the discovery method of the application server provided in the embodiment of the present application in more detail, a detailed discovery method of the application server when the first network device is an SMF or a PCF is described below.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a discovery method of an application server according to an embodiment of the present application when a first network device is an SMF. As shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

s301: the UE establishes a PDU session.

Specifically, the UE establishes a PDU session, the network selects the PSA, and assigns an IP address to the UE.

Alternatively, the SMF may obtain data steering control information (traffic steering control data) corresponding to the application. The data-oriented control information may specifically include information for identifying data, a user plane access identifier indicating an access DN, and a data-oriented policy corresponding to a DN configured on the UPF. The information for identifying the data may be, for example, a triplet of application data, an APP ID, or the like. The user plane access identity representing the access DN may be DNAI. The data steering policy corresponding to the configuration on the UPF may be a data routing profile ID.

Optionally, the data-oriented control information may further include a spatial validity condition and a temporal validity condition. The space-efficient condition may be used to indicate a UE location to which data-oriented information (traffic information) is applied. The time validity condition may be used to indicate a time when traffic transmission information is applied, and is typically a time interval.

S302: the UE sends DNS request information to the DNS AF.

Specifically, after the UE establishes the PDU session, an application wants to establish a connection with a border application server, and the UE may send Request information (DNS Request) to the DNS AF, where the Request information may carry an FQDN of the application and is used to Request an address of the server of the application. In the embodiment of the present application, the request information may be referred to as fifth information.

S303: the DNS AF sends the first information to the SMF.

Specifically, the DNS AF may check whether the application has an SLA based on the FQDN. If so, the DNS AF sends a request of the preferred access position information of the application to the SMF. In the embodiment of the present application, the request may be referred to as first information. The first information may include an APP ID. The first information may further include an IP address of the UE, which may be an IPv4 address or an IPv6 address.

S304: the SMF obtains data-oriented control information corresponding to the application from the UDR.

Specifically, the SMF may determine the UE from its IP address. If the SMF does not acquire the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application in S301, the SMF may interact with the UDR to acquire the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application stored in the UDR. Or the SMF may interact with the PCF to obtain data-oriented control information corresponding to the application obtained by the PCF from the UDR.

S305: the SMF determines at least one first access location based at least on the first information.

Specifically, the SMF may determine the at least one first access location from at least one of: and applying corresponding data guide control information, current position information of the UE, operator strategies, the current network load condition and the like.

If there is data-oriented control information corresponding to the application, the SMF may determine an applicable DNAI according to information such as the current time and the current location of the UE. In addition, the SMF may determine the applicable DNAI based on the operator's policy (e.g., the operator itself has configured a data-oriented application for this application) and the current network load conditions.

The first access position is a candidate access position where the UE accesses the application, that is, the UE can access the DN through the UPF corresponding to the access position, and the application server corresponding to the application is deployed in the DN. When the number of the first access positions is multiple, the access position where the UE accesses the application is one of the multiple first access positions. In a specific implementation, the SMF selects the UPF as a PDU Session Anchor (PSA) for the PDU Session established by the UE. In summary, the access location may be used to determine a UPF for the UE to access the application.

Specifically, the identification information of the first access location may be a subnet address and/or a DNAI. For the network of IPv4, the subnet information is the range of the post-NAT public network IP address corresponding to the candidate UPF. For an IPv6 network, the subnet information is the range of IPv6 addresses or prefixes corresponding to candidate UPFs.

S306: the SMF sends identification information of the at least one first access location to the DNS AF.

Specifically, after the SMF sends the identification information of the at least one first access location to the DNS AF, the DNS AF may determine the address of the server to be applied according to the identification information of the at least one first access location. Wherein, the identification information of the first access location may be subnet information and/or DNAI.

Further, the SMF may also determine priority information corresponding to each of the at least one first access location, and send the priority information to the DNS AF. The priority information of each first access location may be determined according to various factors such as a routing path optimization degree, an operator policy, and a network load. For example, the shorter the routing path, the higher the priority corresponding to the first access location.

The DNS AF determines the address of the applied server and can be divided into two scenes, and the determination mode is different under different scenes. The following description can be seen in detail:

scene one: local DNS server is used for network (S307-S309)

S307: the DNS AF sends the fourth information to the local DNS server.

Specifically, the DNS AF may select one access location from the at least one first access location according to local configuration, and further select a local DNS server corresponding to the access location. The DNS AF may send a DNS request (request) message to the local DNS server, where the message may carry the APP FQDN. In the embodiment of the present application, the DNS request information may be referred to as fourth information. In this embodiment, the access location finally selected by the DNS AF may be referred to as a second access location. The local DNS server is referred to as a second DNS server.

It can be known that, if the identification information of the access location sent by the SMF in S306 is DNAI, the DNS AF further needs to determine subnet information according to the DNAI.

Specifically, the DNS AF selects one first access location according to local configuration, and determines a corresponding local DNS server. And the DNS AF sends DNS request information to a local DNS server, and if the local DNS server returns a successful response, the DNS AF determines that the server address carried in the response message is a first application server address, and the first access position is a second access position. And if the local DNS server returns a failure response, the DNS AF selects a first access position again for inquiry.

S308: the local DNS server determines the address of the first application server.

Specifically, the local DNS server determines an address of the first application server, which is an address of an application server that the UE finally accesses.

S309: the local DNS server sends the address of the first application server to the DNS AF.

Specifically, the local DNS server may return a response message to the DNS AF, where the response message may carry the address of the first application server.

Scene two: the network uses a centralized DNS server (S310-S313)

S310: the DNS AF sends the third information to the centralized DNS server.

Specifically, the DNS AF may send a DNS request (request) message to the centralized DNS server, where the message may carry identification information of the at least one first access location. Specifically, the information may be carried by ECS options, and if the identifier information of the access location is subnet information, each ECS option may include subnet information returned in S306. If the identification information of the access position is DNAI, the DNS AF needs to determine subnet information according to DNAI first. In the embodiment of the present application, the DNS request information may be referred to as third information. In the embodiment of the present application, the centralized DNS server may be referred to as a first DNS server.

Optionally, if the SMF may further determine priority information corresponding to the at least one first access location, and send the priority information to the DNS AF, the third information sent by the DNS AF to the centralized DNS server may also carry the priority information corresponding to the at least one first access location. In this embodiment of the present application, priority information sent by the SMF to the DNS AF may be referred to as first priority information, and priority information sent by the DNS AF to the centralized DNS server may be referred to as second priority information.

S311: the centralized DNS server initially selects at least one application server.

Alternatively, the centralized DNS server may select some of the candidate application servers based on the configuration and the second priority information.

And the DNS AF selects the address of the application server with the highest priority from the returned addresses of the candidate application servers as the address of the first application server, so that the first access position corresponding to the address of the server is the second access position.

S312: the centralized DNS server sends the address of the at least one application server to the DNS AF.

In particular, the centralized DNS server may send the determined address of the at least one candidate application server to the DNS AF for the DNS AF to further select an application server, which the UE finally accesses, from the candidate application servers.

Alternatively, the identification information of the access location sent by the SMF to the DNS AF may be different from the identification information of the access location sent by the DNS AF to the centralized DNS server or the local DNS server. In the embodiment of the present application, the identification information of the access location sent by the SMF to the DNS AF may be referred to as first identification information, and the identification information of the access location sent by the DNS AF to the centralized DNS server or the local DNS server may be referred to as second identification information. The DNS AF may map the first identification information to the second identification information.

Specifically, the first identification information may be the first DNAI and/or the first subnet information. The second identification information may be the second DNAI and/or the second subnet information. The second DNAI may be determined from the first DNAI, and the second subnet information may be determined from the first DNAI or the first subnet information. That is, when the first identification information is DNAI, the DNS AF may map the DNAI to subnet information.

S313: the DNS AF determines the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one application server.

Specifically, the DNS AF may be determined according to priority information of the first access location corresponding to the address of the candidate application server.

S314: the DNS AF sends the request information to the SMF.

Specifically, the DNS AF sends data-directed control execution (traffic control execution) request information to the SMF, which may be used to select a user plane network element for the UE to access the application.

Optionally, when the candidate first access location is not unique, the request information may further carry identification information of a second access location, and the SMF selects a user plane network element for the UE to access the application according to the identification information of the second access location. Wherein the second access position is an access position that is finally selected from the plurality of candidate first access positions.

S315: SMF is inserted into PSA.

Specifically, the SMF selects a UPF corresponding to the finally selected identification information (DNAI or subnet information) of the second access location for the PDU session established by the UE as the PSA according to the request information. If the subnet information is IPv6 subnet information, the SMF allocates a corresponding IPv6 address prefix for the UE.

S316: the DNS AF sends the address of the first application server to the UE.

Specifically, the DNS AF may send a DNS response (response) message to the UE, where the response message carries the address of the first application server. The UE may establish a connection with the first application server via the selected PSA to communicate with the first application server.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a method for discovering an application server according to an embodiment of the present application when a first network device is a PCF. As shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

s401: the UE establishes a PDU session.

Alternatively, the PCF may obtain data steering control information (traffic steering control data) corresponding to the application. The data-oriented control information may specifically include information for identifying data, a user plane access identifier indicating an access DN, and a data-oriented policy corresponding to a DN configured on the UPF. The information for identifying the data may be, for example, a triplet of application data, an APP ID, or the like. The user plane access identity representing the access DN may be DNAI. The data steering policy corresponding to the configuration on the UPF may be a data routing profile ID.

Optionally, the data-oriented control information may further include a spatial validity condition and a temporal validity condition. The space-efficient condition may be used to indicate a UE location to which data-oriented information (traffic information) is applied. The time validity condition may be used to indicate a time when the LAN traffic information is applied, and is typically a time interval.

S402: the UE sends DNS request information to the DNS AF.

Specifically, S402 is identical to S302, and is not described herein.

S403: the DNS AF sends the first information to the PCF.

Specifically, the DNS AF may check whether the application has a Service Layer Agreement (SLA) based on the FQDN. If the preferred access location information exists, the DNS AF sends an applied preferred access location information request to the PCF. In the embodiment of the present application, the request may be referred to as first information. The first information may include an APP ID. The first information may further include an IP address of the UE, which may be an IPv4 address or an IPv6 address.

S404: the PCF sends the second information to the SMF.

Specifically, if the PCF cannot determine the candidate access location information itself, the PCF may send the second information to the SMF. The second information may be used to request the UE to access an access location of the application, and the second information may carry a data steering control policy (data steering control policy), where the policy may include information such as APP ID and DNAI list.

In one possible embodiment, the PCF itself may determine candidate access location information. If the PCF fails to acquire the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application in S401, the PCF may interact with the UDR to acquire the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application stored in the UDR. The PCF may specify a data steering control policy according to the steering control information, where the policy may include information such as APP ID, DNAI list, and the like.

In the embodiment of the present application, description is given taking an example in which the PCF cannot determine candidate access location information.

S405: the SMF acquires data-oriented control information corresponding to the application from the PCF.

Specifically, if the SMF cannot acquire the data steering control information corresponding to the application, the SMF may interact with the PCF to acquire the data steering control information corresponding to the application. Further, the PCF may interact with the UDR to obtain data-oriented control information corresponding to the application stored in the UDR.

S406: the SMF determines at least one first access location based at least on the first information.

Specifically, S406 is identical to S305, and is not described herein.

S407: the SMF sends the identification information of at least one first access position to the PCF.

Specifically, the SMF may send a response message to the PCF, where the response message may carry the identification information of the at least one first access location. The identification information may be subnet information and/or DNAI. The subnet information may be IPv4 subnet information or IPv6 subnet information.

S408: the PCF sends identification information of the at least one first access location to the DNS AF.

Specifically, the PCF may send a response message to the DNS AF, where the response message may carry the identification information of the at least one first access location.

Similar to the previous embodiment, in the embodiment of the present application, the address of the server for determining the application by the DNS AF may also be divided into two scenarios, and the determination manners in different scenarios are different. The following description can be seen in detail:

scene one: local DNS server for network (S409-S411)

S409: the DNS AF sends the fourth information to the local DNS server.

Specifically, S409 is identical to S307, which is not described herein.

S410: the local DNS server determines the address of the first application server.

Specifically, S4010 is identical to S308, and is not described herein.

S411: the local DNS server sends the address of the first application server to the DNS AF.

Specifically, S411 is identical to S309, and is not described herein.

Scene two: the network uses a centralized DNS server (S412-S415)

S412: the DNS AF sends the third information to the centralized DNS server.

Specifically, S412 is identical to S310, and is not described herein.

S413: the centralized DNS server initially selects at least one application server.

Specifically, S413 is identical to S311, and is not described herein.

S414: the centralized DNS server sends the address of the at least one application server to the DNS AF.

Specifically, S414 is identical to S312, and is not described herein.

S415: the DNS AF determines the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one application server.

Specifically, S415 is identical to S313, and is not described herein.

S416: the DNS AF sends the request information to the PCF.

Specifically, the DNS AF sends data steering control execution (traffic steering control execution) request information to the PCF, where the request information may be used to select a user plane network element for the UE to access an application, and the request information may carry an APP ID. The request message may also carry identification information of the second access location, such as DNAI and/or subnet information, when the candidate first access location is not unique.

S417: the PCF sends the request message to the SMF.

Specifically, the PCF sends a data-directed control execution (traffic control execution) request message to the SMF, which may be used to select a user plane network element for the UE to access the application, and which may carry the APP ID.

Optionally, when the candidate first access location is not unique, the request information may further carry identification information of a second access location, and the PCF selects, according to the identification information of the second access location, a user plane network element for the UE to access the application. Wherein the second access position is an access position that is finally selected from the plurality of candidate first access positions.

S418: SMF is inserted into PSA.

Specifically, S418 is identical to S315, and is not described herein.

S419: the DNS AF sends the address of the first application server to the UE.

Specifically, S419 is identical to S316, and is not described herein.

The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described above in detail, and the network device provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below in detail.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device may be configured to perform the steps performed by the first network device in the discovery method of the application server provided in the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the network device 50 may include at least: a receiving unit 510, a determining unit 520, and a transmitting unit 530. Wherein:

a receiving unit 510, configured to receive first information sent by a second network device, where the first information includes an identifier of an application.

A determining unit 520, configured to determine at least one first access location according to at least the first information, where the first access location is a candidate access location for a user equipment to access the application.

A sending unit 530, configured to send, to the second network device, identification information of the at least one first access location, where the identification information of the at least one first access location is used for determining an address of the server of the application.

In one possible implementation, the network device 50 is a session management network element.

The receiving unit 510 is further configured to: receiving request information sent by the second network device, where the request information is used to request the network device 50 to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit 520 is specifically configured to: and determining the at least one first access location according to at least one of data-oriented control information corresponding to the application, current location information of the user equipment, operator policy and load condition of a current network.

In one possible implementation, the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application is obtained by the network device 50 from a unified data repository or a policy control network element.

In one possible implementation, the network device 50 is a policy control network element.

The determining unit 520 is specifically configured to: sending second information to a session management network element, where the second information is used to request the user equipment to access an access location of the application; and receiving the identification information of the at least one access position sent by the session management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the network device 50 provides the session management network element with data-oriented control information corresponding to the application.

In a possible implementation, the receiving unit 510 is further configured to: and receiving request information of the second network device, where the request information is used to request the session management network element to select a user plane network element for the user equipment to access the application.

It is understood that for the specific implementation of the network device shown in fig. 5, reference may be made to the steps performed by the first network device shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 4, which are not described in detail herein.

The embodiment of the application provides another network device. Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The network device may be configured to perform the steps performed by the second network device in the discovery method of the application server provided by the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the network device 60 may include at least: a transmitting unit 610, a receiving unit 620 and a determining unit 630. Wherein:

a sending unit 610, configured to send first information to a first network device, where the first information includes an identifier of an application.

A receiving unit 620, configured to receive first identification information of at least one first access location sent by the first network device; the first access position is a candidate access position for the user equipment to access the application.

A determining unit 630, configured to determine an address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit 630 is specifically configured to: sending third information to a first Domain Name System (DNS) server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; receiving an address of at least one server of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and determining the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one server.

In one possible implementation, the receiving unit 620 is further configured to: and receiving first priority information of the first identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the network equipment.

The determining unit 630 is specifically configured to: sending third information to a first DNS server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; receiving at least one server address of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and determining the address of the first server according to the first priority information and at least one server address of the application corresponding to the second identification information of the at least one first access position.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining unit 630 is specifically configured to: determining a second DNS server corresponding to a second access position according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sending fourth information to the second DNS server; the fourth information is used for acquiring an address of the first server; the first identification information of said at least one first access location comprises first identification information of said second access location; the second network device receives the address of the first server sent by the second DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the receiving unit 620 is specifically configured to: and receiving priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the first network equipment.

The determining unit 630 is specifically configured to: and determining the second DNS server corresponding to the second access location according to the priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, and sending the fourth information to the second DNS server.

In one possible implementation, the receiving unit 620 is further configured to: and receiving fifth information sent by the user equipment, wherein the fifth information is used for requesting the address of the server of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 610 is further configured to: and sending request information to the first network device, where the request information is used to request the first network device to select a user plane network element for the user device to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit 610 is further configured to: and sending the address of the first server to the user equipment.

It is understood that for the specific implementation of the network device shown in fig. 6, reference may be made to the steps performed by the second network device shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 4, which are not described in detail herein.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system may be used to perform the methods illustrated in fig. 2, 3 and 4. As shown in fig. 7, the communication system includes:

the first network device 710 is configured to receive first information of the second network device 720, where the first information includes an identifier of an application.

The first network device 710 is further configured to determine at least one first access location according to at least the first information, where the first access location is a candidate access location for the user equipment to access the application.

The first network device 710 is further configured to send the first identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device 720.

The second network device 720 is configured to determine an address of the first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location.

In one possible implementation, the first network device 710 is a session management network element.

The first network device 710 is further configured to receive request information sent by the second network device 720, where the request information is used to request the first network device 710 to select a user plane network element for the user equipment to access the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device 710 is specifically configured to: and determining the at least one first access location according to at least one of data-oriented control information corresponding to the application, current location information of the user equipment, operator policy and load condition of a current network.

In a possible implementation manner, the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application is obtained by the first network device 710 from the unified data repository or the policy control network element.

In one possible implementation, the first network device 710 is a policy control network element.

The first network device 710 is specifically configured to: sending second information to a session management network element, where the second request is used to request the user equipment to access an access location of the application; and receiving the identification information of the at least one access position sent by the session management network element.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device 710 provides the session management network element with data-oriented control information corresponding to the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device 720 is specifically configured to: sending third information to a first Domain Name System (DNS) server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; receiving an address of at least one server of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and determining the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one server.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device 710 is further configured to send the first priority information of the first identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device 720.

The second network device 720 is specifically configured to: sending third information to a first DNS server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position; receiving at least one server address of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access location sent by the first DNS server; and determining the address of the first server according to the first priority information and at least one server address of the application corresponding to the second identification information of the at least one first access position.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device 720 is specifically configured to: determining a second DNS server corresponding to a second access position according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sending fourth information to the second DNS server; the fourth information is used for acquiring an address of the first server; the first identification information of said at least one first access location comprises first identification information of said second access location; the second network device receives the address of the first server sent by the second DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the first network device 710 is further configured to send priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device 720.

The second network device 720 is specifically configured to: and determining the second DNS server corresponding to the second access location according to the priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, and sending the fourth information to the second DNS server.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device 720 is further configured to receive fifth information sent by the user equipment, where the fifth information is used to request an address of the server of the application.

In a possible implementation manner, the second network device 720 is further configured to send the address of the first server to the user equipment.

It is understood that the method shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 4 can be referred to for the specific implementation of each network device in the communication system shown in fig. 7, and will not be described in detail here.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application.

In one embodiment, the network device may be used as the first network device or the second network device. The specific implementation of the network device can refer to the methods shown in fig. 2, fig. 3 and fig. 4.

As an example, when the determining unit (520 or 630) in the network device shown in fig. 5 or fig. 6 is implemented by a processor, and the transmitting unit (530 or 610) and the receiving unit (510 or 620) are implemented by a transceiver, as shown in fig. 8, the network device 80 includes at least one processor 820 for implementing the functions of the first network device or the second network device in the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, and the network device 80 may further include a transceiver 810. The transceiver may be used to communicate with other devices over a transmission medium. The processor 820 may utilize the transceiver 810 to transmit and receive data (e.g., transmit and receive messages, etc.) and may be configured to implement the methods described in the method embodiments above.

Optionally, network device 80 may also include at least one memory 830 for storing program instructions and/or data. The memory 830 is coupled with the processor 820. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or a communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be an electrical, mechanical or other form for information interaction between the devices, units or modules. The processor 820 may operate in conjunction with the memory 830. Processor 820 may execute program instructions stored in memory 830.

The specific connection medium among the transceiver 810, the processor 820 and the memory 830 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In fig. 8, the memory 830, the processor 820 and the transceiver 810 are connected by a bus 840, the bus is represented by a thick line in fig. 8, and the connection manner among other components is only schematically illustrated and is not limited. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

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

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and/or fig. 3 and/or fig. 4.

There is also provided a computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the method of the embodiment shown in fig. 2 and/or fig. 3 and/or fig. 4.

According to the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application, the present application also provides a computer program, which can be used to execute the methods in the embodiments shown in fig. 2 and/or fig. 3 and/or fig. 4.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer 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 a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate by way of local and/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network such as the internet with other systems by way of the signal).

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps (step) described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. 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.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for discovering an application server, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that first network equipment receives first information of second network equipment, wherein the first information comprises an application identifier;

the first network equipment determines at least one first access position according to the first information at least, wherein the first access position is a candidate access position for accessing the application by user equipment;

the first network device sends the identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device, where the identification information of the at least one first access location is used for determining the address of the server of the application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device is a session management network element;

the method further comprises the following steps: and the first network receives request information sent by the second network equipment, wherein the request information is used for requesting the first network equipment to select a user plane network element for accessing the application for the user equipment.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the request information further includes identification information of a second access location, the at least one first access location including the second access location.

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein said first network device determining at least one first access location based at least on said first information, comprises: and the first network equipment determines the at least one first access position according to at least one of data oriented control information corresponding to the application, current position information of the user equipment, operator strategies and load conditions of the current network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application is obtained by the first network device from a unified data store or a policy control network element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device is a policy control network element; the first network device determining at least one first access location at least according to the first information, comprising:

the first network equipment sends second information to a session management network element, wherein the second information is used for requesting the user equipment to access the access position of the application;

and the first network equipment receives the identification information of the at least one access position sent by the session management network element.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the identification information of said at least one first access location is determined by said session management network element based on at least one of data-oriented control information corresponding to said application, current location information of said user equipment, operator policy, and load condition of current network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first network device provides data-oriented control information corresponding to the application to the session management network element.

9. The method of any one of claims 6-8, further comprising:

and the first network equipment receives request information of the second network equipment, wherein the request information is used for requesting the session management network element to select a user plane network element for accessing the application for the user equipment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the request information further includes identification information of a second access location, the at least one first access location including the second access location.

11. The method according to any of claims 1-10, wherein the identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one data network access identification, DNAI, and/or subnet information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one DNAI is a DNAI corresponding to a user plane network element that the user device can employ to access the application.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the at least one subnet information is a subnet information corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment can employ for accessing the application.

14. A method for discovering an application server, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a second network device sends first information to a first network device, wherein the first information comprises an application identifier;

the second network equipment receives first identification information of at least one first access position sent by the first network equipment; the first access position is a candidate access position for a user equipment to access the application;

the second network device determines an address of a first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second network device determining the address of the first server of the application based on the first identification information of the at least one first access location comprises:

the second network equipment sends third information to a first Domain Name System (DNS) server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position;

the second network device receives an address of at least one server of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the first DNS server;

the second network device determines the address of the first server from the addresses of the at least one server.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: the second network equipment receives first priority information of the first identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the network equipment;

the second network device determining an address of a first server of the application according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, including:

the second network equipment sends third information to the first DNS server, wherein the third information comprises second identification information of at least one first access position, and the second identification information of the at least one first access position is determined according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position;

the second network equipment receives at least one server address of the application corresponding to second identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the first DNS server;

and the second network equipment determines the address of the first server according to the first priority information and at least one server address of the application corresponding to the second identification information of the at least one first access position.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said third information further comprises second priority information corresponding to second identification information of said at least one first access location, wherein said second priority information is determined based on said first priority information; the address of the at least one first server sent by the first DNS server is determined by the first DNS server according to the second priority information.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the second network device determining the address of the first server of the application based on the first identification information of the at least one first access location comprises:

the second network equipment determines a second DNS server corresponding to the second access position according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sends fourth information to the second DNS server; the fourth information is used for acquiring the address of the first server; the first identification information of the at least one first access location comprises first identification information of the second access location; and the second network equipment receives the address of the first server sent by the second DNS server.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises: the second network equipment receives priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access position sent by the first network equipment;

the second network device determines, according to the first identification information of the at least one first access location, a second DNS server corresponding to a second access location, and sends fourth information to the second DNS server, where the fourth information includes:

and the second network equipment determines the second DNS server corresponding to the second access position according to the priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sends the fourth information to the second DNS server.

20. The method of any of claims 14-19, further comprising: and the second network equipment sends request information to the first network equipment, wherein the request information is used for requesting the first network equipment to select a user plane network element for accessing the application for the user equipment.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the request information further includes first identification information of a second access location, the at least one first access location including the second access location, the second access location corresponding to an address of the first server.

22. The method of any one of claims 14-21, further comprising: the second network device sends the address of the first server to the user device.

23. The method according to any of the claims 14-22, wherein the first identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one first data network access identification DNAI and/or first subnet information.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one first DNAI is a DNAI corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment may employ to access the application.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the second identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one second DNAI and/or second subnet information, wherein the at least one second DNAI is determined from the at least one first DNAI and the at least one second subnet information is determined from the at least one first DNAI or first subnet information.

26. A method for discovering an application server, comprising:

the first network device sends first identification information of the at least one first access location to the second network device;

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the first network device is a session management network element;

the method further comprises the following steps: and the first network equipment receives request information sent by the second network equipment, wherein the request information is used for requesting the first network equipment to select a user plane network element for accessing the application for the user equipment.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the request information further includes identification information of a second access location, the at least one access location including the second access location.

29. The method of claim 27 or 28, wherein said first network device determining at least one first access location based at least on said first information, comprises: and the first network equipment determines the at least one first access position according to at least one of data oriented control information corresponding to the application, current position information of the user equipment, operator strategies and load conditions of the current network.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the data-oriented control information corresponding to the application is obtained by the first network device from a unified data store or a policy control network element.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the first network device is a policy control network element; the first network device determining at least one first access location at least according to the first information, comprising:

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the identification information of said at least one first access location is determined by said session management network element based on at least one of data-oriented control information corresponding to said application, current location information of said user equipment, operator policy, and load condition of the current network.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first network device provides data-oriented control information corresponding to the application to the session management network element.

34. The method of any one of claims 31-33, further comprising: and the first network equipment receives request information of the second network equipment, wherein the request information is used for requesting the session management network element to select a user plane network element for accessing the application for the user equipment.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the request information further includes identification information of a second access location, the at least one first access location including the second access location.

36. The method of any of claims 26-35, wherein determining, by the second network device, the address of the first server of the application based on the first identification information of the at least one first access location comprises:

37. The method of any one of claims 26-35, further comprising: the first network equipment sends first priority information of first identification information of the at least one first access position to the second network equipment;

38. The method of claim 37, wherein said third information further comprises second priority information corresponding to second identification information of said at least one first access location, wherein said second priority information is determined according to said first priority information; the address of the at least one first server sent by the first DNS server is determined by the first DNS server according to the second priority information.

39. The method of any of claims 26-35, wherein determining, by the second network device, the address of the first server of the application based on the first identification information of the at least one first access location comprises:

the second network equipment determines a second DNS server corresponding to the second access position according to the first identification information of the at least one first access position, and sends fourth information to the second DNS server; the fourth information is used for acquiring the address of the first server; the first identification information of the at least one first access location comprises first identification information of the second access location;

and the second network equipment receives the address of the first server sent by the second DNS server.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the method further comprises: the first network equipment sends priority information corresponding to the first identification information of the at least one first access position to the second network equipment;

41. The method of any one of claims 26-40, further comprising: the second network device sends the address of the first server to the user device.

42. The method of any one of claims 26-41, wherein the first identification information of the one or more access locations is one or more first data network access identification DNAI and/or first subnet information.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the at least one first DNAI is a DNAI corresponding to a user plane network element that the user device can employ to access the application.

44. The method according to claim 42 or 43, wherein the at least one first subnet information is subnet information corresponding to a user plane network element that the user equipment can employ for accessing the application.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein the second identification information of the at least one first access location is at least one second DNAI determined from the at least one first DNAI and/or second subnet information based on the at least one first DNAI or first subnet information.

46. A network device configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-13.

47. A network device configured to perform the method of any one of claims 14-25.

48. A communication system comprising a first network device and a second network device; the first network device is the network device of claim 46, and the second network device is the network device of claim 47.

49. A chip comprising at least one processor, a memory, and interface circuitry, the memory, the transceiver, and the at least one processor interconnected by wires, the at least one memory having instructions stored therein; the method of any of claims 1-25 implemented when the instructions are executed by the processor.

50. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon program instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1-25 when the program instructions are run on a processor.

51. A computer program product, characterized in that the method of any of claims 1-25 is implemented when the computer program product is run on a network device.