CN113498086B

CN113498086B - Method for adjusting access network slice, communication equipment, network equipment and system

Info

Publication number: CN113498086B
Application number: CN202010268548.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李卓明
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-04-07
Filing date: 2020-04-07
Publication date: 2023-06-30
Anticipated expiration: 2040-04-07
Also published as: CN113498086A

Abstract

The application provides a method for adjusting access network slices, communication equipment, network equipment and a system. When the terminal sends service data, when the URSP has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule, the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice; wherein the first rule is associated with a service, a first network slice, and the network slice associated with the wild rule is not the first network slice; the terminal is currently registered to a network through a first access network device and a first AMF connection, at least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support a first network slice, or at least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the terminal sends a first message to the first access network device, the first message comprising an identification of the first network slice or the second network slice. The scheme can enable the service data to be transmitted on the matched network slice, and improves the stability of the communication system.

Description

Method for adjusting access network slice, communication equipment, network equipment and system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method for adjusting access network slices, a communication device, a network device, and a system.

Background

Network slice (network slice) is a logical network with specific network characteristics, which is divided among communication networks of operators, and is a key technology for meeting the requirements of the fifth generation (5th generation,5G) mobile communication technology proposed by the third generation partnership project (3rd generation partnership project,3GPP) on network differentiation. A physical network may be abstractly divided into a plurality of network slices, each constituting an end-to-end logical network, logically isolated from each other.

The terminal may access the network slice through an access network device, an access and mobility management network element (access and mobility management function, AMF). In a practical scenario, a terminal may access one or more network slices, but is limited by the access network device, slice support capability of the AMF, and the terminal may not be able to access all network slices at the same time.

Various Application programs (APP) can be run on the terminal, the service data of different APP has different requirements on network performance, and different network slices are required to be used for transmission. In this case, how to adjust the network slice accessed by the terminal so that the network slice is matched with the service data becomes a problem to be solved in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method for adjusting access network slices, communication equipment, network equipment and a system, which are used for adjusting the network slices accessed by a terminal, so that service data can be transmitted on the matched network slices, and the stability of the communication system is improved.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method of adjusting access network slices, the method comprising:

when a terminal sends service data, when a user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except a general rule and a first rule, the terminal acquires identification information of a first network slice; wherein the first rule is associated with the traffic, the first network slice, and the network slice associated with the wild card rule is not the first network slice; the terminal is currently registered to a network through first access network equipment and first AMF, at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, or at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the second network slice is a network slice with a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visit network of the terminal; and then, the terminal sends a first message to the first access network device, wherein the first message comprises the identification information of the first network slice or the identification information of the second network slice. Therefore, through the first message, the terminal can send the identification information of the first network slice or the second network slice to the network side so as to request to be accessed into the network slice matched with the service, so that the service can be transmitted on the matched network slice, and the stability of the communication system is improved.

In one possible design, the first message carries identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal, where the identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal includes identification information of the first network slice or identification information of the second network slice. In an exemplary embodiment, the first message may carry a request NSSAI, which carries either the S-NSSAI of the first network slice or the S-NSSAI of the second network slice.

In another possible design, the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice. In other words, the area where the terminal is currently located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, but at least one of the first AN or the first AMF that is currently registered does not support the first network slice, and thus, at least one of the AN or the AMF may be adjusted by re-registering, so that the re-registered AN or AMF supports the first network slice or the second network slice, and the terminal may access these network slices.

In another possible design, the target AMF located under the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, and the target access network device located under the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice. In other words, if the area where the current location of the terminal is located is the home network, both the target AN and the target AMF in the area support access to the first network slice.

Or in another possible design, the target AMF located under the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the second network slice, and the target access network device located under the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the second network slice. In other words, if the area where the current location of the terminal is located is the visited network, both the target AN and the target AMF in the area support access to the second network slice.

In another possible design, when the first AMF is not the target AMF, the RRC layer of the first message does not carry the temporary identifier allocated by the first AMF for the terminal. Thus, when the first AN receives the first message, since the RRC layer of the first message does not carry the temporary identifier, for example, the Temp-ID, the first AN reselects the AMF for the terminal, and further, the first AN may select a target AMF supporting the first network slice or the second network slice for the terminal, so as to implement adjustment of the network slice accessed by the terminal, and also enable the service to be transmitted on the matched network slice.

In another possible design, the terminal receives a radio parameter from the first access network device when the first access network device is not the target access network device, and the terminal sends a second message to the target access network device based on the radio parameter. Therefore, the terminal can reselect the cell and the frequency point based on the received wireless parameters and re-register to the network, and the registration can be realized by supporting the target AN and the target AMF of the first network slice or the second network slice during the registration, so that the service can be transmitted on the matched network slice.

In another possible design, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to an alternative network slice; wherein the alternative network slice is a network slice that the terminal can access by re-registering.

In another possible design, the terminal obtains candidate rules matched with the service in the user routing policy rules according to a priority order, wherein the candidate rules are other rules except the wild rule in the user routing policy rules; then, the terminal traverses the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule, and if the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule or the network slice with a mapping relation with the candidate rule does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which the terminal is allowed to access by the network, and does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is rejected at the current network or is rejected at the current registration area, the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule is added to the alternative information; thereby, the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice from the alternative information. In this way, the terminal may obtain the identification information of the first network slice.

In another possible design, when the terminal receives first indication information and the first indication information indicates that the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to a network slice that the network allows the terminal to access.

In another possible design, when the terminal receives the second indication information, and the rejection indicated by the second indication information is due to: and when at least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support the first network slice and the area where the current position of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, the first network slice belongs to a network slice to which the network refuses the terminal to access.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a method of adjusting access network slicing, which is applied to a network device (denoted as a first network device in the embodiment for ease of distinction). Specifically, the network device may receive an authorized radio access preference index (i.e. an authorized RFSP) or a subscribed radio access preference index (i.e. a subscribed RFSP) of the terminal, so that a target radio access preference index (i.e. a target RFSP) may be determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the authorized radio access preference index or the subscribed radio access preference index, and the network device sends the target radio access preference index. In this way, the network device may determine the target RFSP for the terminal, and further, the first CN may determine the radio parameter of the terminal reselecting the cell or the frequency point according to the target RFSP, and the terminal may also re-register to the network according to the radio parameter, so that the service may be transmitted on the matched network slice.

In one possible design, the network slice to which the terminal can access includes:

one or more of the network slices to which the network allows the terminal to access; or,

network slices that can be used by the terminal, except for network slices that are rejected at the current network or are rejected at the current registration area; or,

the terminal can access one or more network slices through a target access network device or a target AMF at the current location, wherein the target access network device is not the access network device to which the terminal is currently accessing, and wherein the target AMF is not the AMF to which the terminal is currently registered.

In another possible design, when the network device is an AMF currently registered by the terminal, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the contracted radio access preference index; wherein the subscription radio access preference index is derived from subscription data of the terminal; and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the access network equipment which is accessed by the terminal currently by the AMF which is registered by the terminal currently.

In another possible design, when the network device is an AMF currently registered by the terminal, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the authorized radio access preference index; wherein the grant radio access preference index is from a policy control network element PCF; and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the access network equipment which is accessed by the terminal currently by the AMF which is registered by the terminal currently.

In another possible design, when the network device is a policy control network element PCF, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the contracted radio access preference index; wherein the subscription radio access preference index is derived from subscription data of the terminal; and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the AMF currently registered by the terminal by the PCF.

In another possible design, the network device may determine, among the network slices that the terminal can access, a plurality of network slices that the terminal can access simultaneously, so as to determine the target wireless access preference index according to the plurality of network slices that the terminal can access simultaneously, and the authorized wireless access preference index or the subscribed wireless access preference index. Specifically, the network device may select one target radio access preference index from one to multiple radio access preference indexes corresponding to each network slice in the subscription radio access preference index or the authorized radio access preference index, so that the target radio access preference index can correspond to as many network slices as possible to which the terminal can access, so that the terminal can access as many network slices as possible when re-registering. Or specifically, according to the priority of the network slice in the NSSAI request, the network device may determine the network slice with the highest priority among the network slices that the terminal can access, and determine the corresponding wireless access priority index from the subscription wireless access priority index or the authorized wireless access priority index as the target wireless access priority index, so that the terminal can access the network slice with higher priority when re-registering.

In another possible design, the network device may determine the target radio access preference index according to a network slice that the terminal can access, a network slice access capability of an access network device, and the authorized radio access preference index or the subscribed radio access preference index. As described above, the support capability of different ANs for network slices is different, and thus, the authorized RFSP or the subscribed RFSP can be adjusted based on the network slice support capability of each AN to obtain the target RFSP.

In another possible design, the network slice to which the terminal can access is determined according to the requested network slice identification group; the request network slice identification group is a first message from the terminal, wherein the first message is used for requesting to access a first network slice or a second network slice, the first network slice is a network slice which is not supported by at least one of first access network equipment or a first AMF (advanced mobile switching center) which is currently accessed by the terminal, and the first network slice is not a network slice associated with a unified allocation rule; the second network slice is a network slice having a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visited network of the terminal.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising: the device comprises a processing module and a receiving and transmitting module. The processing module is used for acquiring the identification information of the first network slice when the user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule when the terminal transmits the data of the service; wherein the first rule is associated with the traffic, the first network slice, and the network slice associated with the wild card rule is not the first network slice; the terminal is currently registered to a network through first access network equipment and first AMF, at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, or at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the second network slice is a network slice with a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visit network of the terminal; and the transceiver module is used for sending a first message to the first access network equipment, wherein the first message comprises the identification information of the first network slice or the identification information of the second network slice.

Wherein the communication device of the third aspect may be embodied as a terminal. Therefore, through the first message, the terminal can send the identification information of the first network slice or the second network slice to the network side so as to request to be accessed into the network slice matched with the service, so that the service can be transmitted on the matched network slice, and the stability of the communication system is improved.

In another possible design, the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice. In other words, the area where the terminal is currently located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, but at least one of the first AN or the first AMF that is currently registered does not support the first network slice, and thus, at least one of the AN or the AMF may be adjusted by re-registering, so that the re-registered AN or AMF supports the first network slice or the second network slice, and the terminal may also access the network slices.

In another possible design, when the first access network device is not the target access network device, the transceiver module is further configured to: receiving radio parameters from the first access network device; and sending a second message to the target access network device based on the wireless parameters. Therefore, the terminal can reselect the cell and the frequency point based on the received wireless parameters and re-register to the network, and the registration can be realized by supporting the target AN and the target AMF of the first network slice or the second network slice during the registration, so that the service can be transmitted on the matched network slice.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a network device, comprising: the device comprises a receiving and transmitting module and a processing module. The receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving an authorized wireless access priority selection index or a signed wireless access priority selection index of the terminal; the processing module is used for determining a target wireless access priority selection index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal and the authorized wireless access priority selection index or the contracted wireless access priority selection index; the transceiver module is further configured to send the target radio access preference index.

the terminal is able to access one or more network slices through a target access network device or a target AMF at a current location, wherein the target access network device is not the access network device to which the terminal is currently accessing, wherein the target AMF is not the AMF to which the terminal is currently registered.

In another possible design, the processing module is specifically configured to: and determining a plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time from the network slices which can be accessed by the terminal, so as to determine the target wireless access preference index according to the plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time and the authorized wireless access preference index or the contracted wireless access preference index. Specifically, the priority of the network slices that the terminal can access at the same time in the RFSP may be higher, so that the terminal can access as many network slices as possible when re-registering.

In another possible design, the processing module is specifically configured to: and determining the target wireless access priority index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal, the network slice access capability of the access network equipment and the authorized wireless access priority index or the contracted wireless access priority index. As described above, the support capability of different ANs for network slices is different, and thus, the authorized RFSP or the subscribed RFSP can be adjusted based on the network slice support capability of each AN to obtain the target RFSP.

In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising: at least one processor and memory;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory causes the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of the embodiments of the first or second aspects.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having a computer program stored therein, which when run on a computer causes the computer to perform the method according to any one of the embodiments of the first or second aspects.

In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program for performing the method according to any one of the embodiments of the first or second aspects, when the computer program is executed by a computer.

In one possible design, the program in the seventh aspect may be stored in whole or in part on a storage medium packaged with the processor, or in part or in whole on a memory not packaged with the processor.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a communication system, including:

a terminal configured to perform a method according to any one of the embodiments of the first aspect;

a network device for performing the method according to any one of the embodiments of the first aspect;

and the access network equipment is used for realizing information interaction between the terminal and the network equipment.

In summary, the embodiments of the present application provide a method, a communication device, and a system for adjusting an access network slice, which can implement adjustment of a network slice accessed by a terminal based on service data of the terminal, so that the service data can be transmitted on a matched network slice, thereby improving stability of a communication system.

Drawings

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

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

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a routing policy urs of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of information interaction of a terminal selecting a network slice in the prior art;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of adjusting access network slices according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a method for maintaining alternative information according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic information interaction diagram of another adjustment access network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a flowchart of a method for determining a target radio access preference index RFSP by a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic information interaction diagram of another adjustment access network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic information interaction diagram of another adjustment access network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic information interaction diagram of another adjustment access network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic information interaction diagram of another adjustment access network slice according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic physical structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

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

fig. 16 is a schematic architecture diagram of another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the implementation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "/" means or is meant unless otherwise indicated, for example, a/B may represent a or B; "and/or" herein is merely an association relationship describing an association object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "plurality" means two or more than two.

First, a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application are applied will be described.

The embodiment of the application is applied to a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of network slices. Illustratively, reference may be made to the schematic diagram of the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1, as shown in fig. 1, where the wireless network communication system 100 is logically and abstractly divided into a plurality of network slices, and fig. 1 shows 3 network slices, respectively: network slice 1 to network slice 3. It should be appreciated that a network slice is a logically partitioned case where there may be a region overlap between multiple network slices, for example, there is a region overlap between 3 network slices in fig. 1.

For any one of the network slices in fig. 1, an end-to-end logical network is constructed, with the logic between the different network slices isolated from each other. Each network slice can provide one or more network services for the terminal, and the network services provided between different network slices are not mutually interfered and influenced. Typically, the network characteristics and performance requirements of different network slices are not the same.

Currently, the types of network slices are as follows: ebb (Enhanced Mobile Broadband ), URLLC (Ultra-Low and Low-Latency Communication Ultra Low latency Ultra high reliability communications), and MIoT (Massive Internet of Things mass internet of things). It should be appreciated that as technology advances, the present solution may also be applicable to other types of network slices that may occur as technology advances.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 shows a schematic architecture of a communication system. Schematically, fig. 2 shows only one network slice 1. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the communication system includes: a terminal (or called a terminal device), AN Access Network (AN) device, AN access management network element, a session management network element, a user plane network element, a policy control network element, a network slice selection network element, a network repository function network element, a network data analysis network element, a unified data management network element, a unified data storage network element, and a Data Network (DN) network element connected to AN operator network.

Among these network elements, the network slice selection network element, the network warehouse function network element, the network data analysis network element, the unified data management network element, the unified data storage network element, the access management network element are shared among a plurality of network slices. Session management network elements and user plane network elements typically belong to a particular network slice. While policy control network elements may be shared among multiple network slices or may belong to a particular network slice. Access network devices are typically shared among multiple network slices.

In the communication system 100 shown in fig. 2, the dashed lines are used to identify user plane connections between network elements (or devices) and the solid lines are used to identify control plane connections between network elements (or devices).

The network elements of fig. 2 will now be described in detail.

And (3) a terminal: the communication device may also be called User Equipment (UE), mobile station, remote station, etc., which is a communication device with wireless transceiver function, where the terminal may be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, hand-held, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as ships, etc.); but may also be deployed in the air (e.g., on aircraft, balloon, satellite, etc.). In this embodiment of the present application, the terminal may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote medical (remote medical), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), or the like, which is not exhaustive. The embodiment of the application does not limit the specific technology, equipment form and name adopted by the terminal.

An access network device: the wireless side access method is used for wireless side access of the terminal and provides access service for the terminal to access the wireless network. Possible deployment forms of the access network device include: separate scenarios for Centralized Units (CUs) and Distributed Units (DUs), single site scenarios.

In the separated scenario, the CU supports protocols such as radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC), packet data convergence protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (service data adaptation protocol, SDAP), etc.; the DUs support mainly radio link control layer (radio link control, RLC), medium access control layer (media access control, MAC) and physical layer protocols.

In a single site scenario, a single site may include one or more of a radio base station (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB), a radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), a Node B (NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station, a baseband unit (BBU).

In the communication system 100 shown in fig. 2, 2 access network devices are specifically shown: gNB-A and gNB-B. In an actual communication scenario, there may be one or more gnbs (typically multiple) within the entire service area of one network slice. Each gNB has a coverage area within which there may be one or more cells, each having a unique global Cell identity GCI (Global Cell Identifier).

Access management network element: the method is mainly used for the attachment, mobility management and tracking area update flow of terminals in a mobile network, an access management network element terminates a non-access stratum (non access stratum, NAS) message, completes registration management, connection management and reachability management, distributes tracking area list (TA list) and mobility management and the like, and transparently routes session management (session management, SM) messages to session management network elements.

In the 5th generation (5th generation,5G) communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (access and mobility management function, AMF) network element. For convenience of description, the access management network element is directly referred to as AMF.

Session management network element: the method is mainly used for session management in the mobile network, such as session establishment, modification and release. Specific functions are for example assigning an internet protocol (internet protocol, IP) address to the terminal, selecting a user plane network element providing a message forwarding function, etc. In a 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a session management function (session management function, SMF). For convenience of description, the session management network element is directly referred to as SMF.

User plane network element: may also be referred to as protocol data units (protocol data unit, PDUs), session anchors (PDU session anchor, PSA), are mainly responsible for handling user messages, such as forwarding, charging, lawful interception, etc. In a 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a user plane function (user plane function, UPF). For convenience of description, the user plane network element is directly referred to as UPF.

Policy control network element: including subscriber subscription data management functions, policy control functions, charging policy control functions, quality of service (quality of service, qoS) control, etc. In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a policy control function (policy control function, PCF). For convenience of description, PCF is directly used to refer to policy control network element.

It should be noted that in an actual communication network, PCFs may also be divided into multiple entities, either hierarchically or functionally. For example, in one communication system, it may include: a global PCF and a plurality of intra-slice PCFs, each for implementing policy control functions within the network slice to which it belongs. Also for example, in terms of functional partitioning, the PCF may also be comprised of a session management PCF (Session Management PCF, SM-PCF) and an access management PCF (Access Management PCF, AM-PCF), where the PCF comprises 2 entities.

Network slice selection network element: the method is mainly used for selecting the proper network slice for the service of the terminal. In a 5G communication system, the network slice selection network element may be a network slice selection function (network slice selection function, NSSF) network element. For convenience of description, NSSF is directly referred to as network slice selection network element.

Data network element: for providing data transmission services for the terminal. In particular, the DN may be a network element of a public data network (public data network, PDN) network, such as the internet (internet), or the like, or a network element of a local access data network (LADN, local Access Data Network), such as a network of mobile edge computing (MEC, mobile Edge Computing) nodes, or the like.

Network data analysis network element: can be used to collect data from various Network Functions (NFs), such as policy control network elements, session management network elements, user plane network elements, access management network elements, application function network elements (through network capability open function network elements), and analyze and predict. In a 5G communication system, the network data analysis network element may be a network data analysis function (network data analytics function, NWDAF). For convenience of description, the NWDAF is directly referred to as a network data analysis network element.

Unified data management network element: for managing subscription information of the terminal. In a 5G communication system, the unified data management network element may be unified data management (unified data management, UDM). For convenience of description, the UDM is directly referred to as a unified data management network element.

Unified data storage network element: the system is used for storing structured data information, including subscription information, policy information and network data or service data defined by a standard format. In a 5G communication system, the unified data storage network element may be a unified data store (unified data repository, UDR). For convenience of description, the UDR is directly referred to as a unified data storage network element.

In an actual network scenario, the UDM and the UDR may be implemented by the same network entity, i.e. both may be the same network entity.

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

In the communication system provided in the embodiments of the present application, on one hand, one network slice may provide services for one or more Tracking Areas (TAs); on the other hand, one TA may support one or more network slices. The TA may be identified with a tracking area identification (Tracking Area Identifier, TAI) or tracking area number (Tracking Area Code, TAC).

In the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2, a terminal may sign-up with one or more network slices. In this manner, the terminal may access one or more network slices that are subscribed to.

It should be noted that a terminal may not be able to access all network slices of a wireless network when accessing the network slices. Which network slices the terminal can access, which network slices are supported by the AN, AMF.

On the one hand, in the wireless network, the characteristic difference of each frequency band is large, and the performance requirements of each network slice are different, so different types of network slices are often deployed on different frequency points. For example, each network slice enables access through a different AN. In other words, the network slices supported by different ANs may be different.

AN can provide wireless access services for a terminal to access all or part of the network slices of the current communication system. For example, gNB1 may be used to provide wireless access services for a terminal to access network slice 1, gNB2 may be used to provide wireless access services for a terminal to access network slice 1 and network slice 2, and gNB3 may be used to provide wireless access services for a terminal to access network slice 3.

On the other hand, different AMFs may also support different network slices.

In an exemplary scenario, different AMFs may be caused to support different network slices because of customer isolation requirements, or because some Core network (AMF) devices (e.g., AMFs) are self-contained for the slice tenant enterprise. For example, an AMF of an operator providing a network service supports network slice 1 and network slice 2, and an a enterprise has a core network device (AMF) itself, which supports only network slice 2, whereby a terminal can access only network slice 2 through the AMF itself of the a enterprise.

In another exemplary scenario, there may also be situations where terminals are restricted from commonly accessing certain network slices. For example, when an enterprise subscribes to network slice 1 and an operator is provided with a common network slice 2, it may be restricted that a terminal cannot access both network slice 1 and network slice 2. For another example, for high security isolation requirements, when a terminal accesses a particular network slice, the terminal is not allowed to access any other network slice at the same time.

In existing communication standards, a terminal accesses a wireless network by accessing AN and AN AMF. The network slices supported by the respective ANs and AMFs may be different, and the network slices accessible by the terminal through the different ANs and AMFs may be different.

In summary, the supporting situation of the AN and the AMF on the network slices is limited, and in AN actual communication scenario, the terminal may not be able to access all the network slices in the wireless network at the same time. The term "simultaneous access" means that the terminals can access at the same time. For example, a terminal has the capability of accessing all network slices in a wireless network, but at any one moment, the terminal cannot access all network slices at the same time, but only can access part of the network slices. Currently, a terminal can access 8 network slices at the same time at most.

In an exemplary scenario, there are three network slices served at one TA, respectively: network slice 1 to network slice 3, and radio access service is provided to the terminal by the radio base station gNB (next generation Node B). The gNB1 covers the entire TA by using medium and low frequency points or frequency bands, and provides wireless access service for accessing the network slice 1 and the network slice 2 for the terminal, while the gNB2-1, the gNB 2-2 and the gNB 2-3 respectively cover partial areas of the TA by using high frequency points or frequency bands, and provide wireless access service for accessing the network slice 2 and the network slice 3 for the terminal. Thus, a terminal can access a wireless network through one gNB, and cannot access network slices 1 to 3 at the same time through any one gNB.

In another exemplary scenario, three network slices are contained in one TA, respectively: network slice 1-3, wherein AMF1 supports network slice 1 and network slice 2, AMF2 supports network slice 3. In this scenario, a terminal can access network slice 1 and/or network slice 2 through AMF1, or network slice 3 through AMF2, but cannot access all network slices at the same time.

It should be appreciated that a terminal may access one or more network slices supported by AN and AN AMF device through which the AN and the AMF device are currently registered.

Illustratively, three network slices are included that serve at one TA, respectively: network slice 1-3, wherein AMF1 supports network slice 1 and network slice 2, AMF2 supports network slice 3; while gNB1 provides wireless access services for the terminal to access network slice 1 and network slice 2, while gNB2 provides wireless access services for the terminal to access network slice 2 and network slice 3. In this case, the terminal may access network slice 1 and/or network slice 2 through AMF1 and gNB 1; or, accessing the network slice 2 through AMF1 and gNB 2; alternatively, network slice 3 is accessed through AMF2 and gNB 2.

Specifically, the AN and the AMF may be communicatively connected, and based thereon exchange information of the respective supported network slices. In particular, identification information of the respectively supported network slices or groups of network slices may be exchanged.

In particular, 3GPP defines that the terminal and the network device use network slice selection assistance information (Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, NSSAI) to select a network slice. Thus, a set of network slices may be identified using NSSAI, where the set of network slices may include one or more network slices, and a single network slice may be identified by single network slice selection assistance information (Single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information, S-NSSAI), where one S-NSSAI may be used to identify one network slice.

In AN exemplary embodiment, the AN may send one or more S-nsais supported by the AN to the AMF based on the communication connection between the AN and the AMF, which also sends one or more S-nsais supported by the AMF to the AN.

In the prior art, based on the foregoing interaction procedure, the AMF or NSSF (in the case that the AMF requests from the NSSF) may determine, based on the network slice supported by the AMF and the network slice supported by the AN, the network slice identifier that the terminal can access at the current location, that is, the network slice identifier that the maintenance network is allowed to access, where the network slice identifier that the network is allowed to access may be referred to as: allowed NSSAI. In other words, the Allowed NSSAI is a set of one or more network slice identities that can be used by one AN currently registered with the AMF at the current location of the terminal.

In addition, the network side device may also maintain a network slice identifier that denies access to the terminal, which may be referred to as: the Rejected NSSAI may include one or more S-NSSAI. The S-nsai in the reject nsai may be an identification of network slices that are not supported by the current network (PLMN) or area (e.g., TA). Currently, the reject nsai is generally determined based on a registration request of a terminal, and when the terminal requests access to a certain network slice, if the current network or the current area does not support the network slice, the identity of the network slice is added to the reject nsai.

Based on this, if the S-nsai of one network slice is neither AN Allowed nsai nor a Rejected nsai, the terminal may access that network slice by accessing other ANs or other AMFs under the area.

In the using process of the terminal, wireless transmission requirements of various types of service data are related, and the service data have different performance requirements on the wireless network, and generally, different service data need to be transmitted by using different network slices.

In an exemplary scenario, a terminal may access to a network slice 1 and a network slice 2, where the network slice 1 is deployed at a high frequency point or a frequency band of a wireless network, has a smaller coverage area and larger power consumption, but supports the service transmission requirements of high access rate and low delay; the network slice 2 is deployed in a medium-low frequency point or a frequency band, has large range coverage and small power consumption, but can support low network access rate. In this scenario, the terminal may run multiple Applications (APP), where the service data of APP1 has high requirements for high access rate and low latency, and at this time, the network slice 1 may be used to transmit the service data of APP 1; the service data of the APP2 has no special requirements on access rate and time delay, and the network slice 2 can be used for transmitting the service data of the APP 2.

Based on this, when the terminal transmits the service data, it is necessary to determine a routing policy of the service data based on a user equipment routing policy (User Equipment Route Selection Policy, urs) issued by the network side.

Wherein the urs may include a plurality of urs rules (urs) each including: a matching traffic descriptor (Traffic Descriptor) is required, and a routing descriptor (Route Selection Descriptor) matching the urs rule. One or more service descriptors and one or more selection descriptors can be included in one urs rule.

The traffic descriptor in the urs rule may be used to indicate a specific traffic type or to indicate the APP to which the traffic belongs.

The service descriptor may also be, for example, an identification of the service type. In a practical scenario, the identification information of the service type may be any manner, such as one or more of numbers, symbols, and characters, which is not particularly limited in this application. For example, when the traffic descriptor in the urs rule is 1, it indicates that the urs rule is applicable to video traffic; when the traffic descriptor is 2, the urs rule is indicated to be applicable to audio traffic.

The service descriptor may also be an application identification (Application identifier, APP ID), for example. For example, when the service descriptor in the urs rule is APP1, it indicates that the urs rule is applicable to the service data of APP 1; when the service descriptor is APP2, the urs rule is indicated to be applicable to the service data of APP 2.

As previously described, 3GPP defines that the terminal and the network side device can select a network slice through NSSAI. Thus, in this scenario, the urs rules may be considered as network slice selection policy rules (Network Slice Selection Policy, NSSP rule).

Specifically, in one urs rule, the routing descriptor may include: identification of one or more network slices (S-NSSAI); alternatively, an identification of one or more network slice groups (NSSAI). In an actual scenario, the URSP rules typically carry one or more S-NSSAI. For convenience of description, an example of carrying an S-nsai in a urs rule is taken as an example, and the situation of the network slice group is similar to this, which will not be described in detail later.

Illustratively, one urs rule may carry: an APP ID and one or more S-NSSAI matching the APP ID. At this point, the APP ID is the traffic descriptor of the URSP rule and one or more S-NSSAIs are the routing descriptors of the URSP rule. At this time, the urs rule is used to represent: when an application program using the APP ID requests to establish a session, the terminal may carry one of these S-nsais in a message for requesting to establish a session, or S-nsais having a mapping relationship therewith in the current visited network. Thus, when the network side device receives the message, the service data can be transferred through the network slice indicated by the S-NSSAI carried in the message.

For example, please refer to the schematic diagram of a urs shown in fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, the urs include 3 urs (or NSSP rules) in total, which are respectively: network slice selection policy rule1 (alternatively referred to as URSP rule1 or NSSP rule 1), network slice selection policy rule 2, and wild-type rules. The service descriptor of the network slice selection policy rule1 is an application A (APP A), and the identification (routing descriptor) of the network slice matched with the service descriptor is S-NSSAI #1; the service descriptor of the network slice selection policy rule 2 is application B (APP B), and the identification of the network slice matched with the service descriptor is S-NSSAI#2; the routing descriptor of the wild-type rule is S-NSSAI #3.

Take the example of the urs shown in fig. 3 as an illustration. In the scenario shown in fig. 3, when the terminal initiates a session through an application program with APP ID "APP1", a message is sent to the network side to request to establish the session, where the message carries S-nsai#1, so that the network side may select a network slice identified by "S-nsai#1" to transmit service data of the session. Similarly, when the terminal initiates a session through an application program with APP ID "APP2", a message is sent to the network side to request to establish the session, where the message carries S-nsai#2, so that the network side may select a network slice identified by "S-nsai#2" to transmit service data of the session. When the terminal is in the visiting network, when the terminal initiates a session through an application program with APP ID of 'APP 2', a message is sent to a network side to request to establish the session, the message carries S-NSSAI#B with mapping relation with S-NSSAI#2 in the current visiting network, so that the network side can select a network slice with 'S-NSSAI#B' as an identification to transmit service data of the session.

In the urs, the urs rules are ordered by priority. When the terminal selects the routing strategy, the terminal can sequentially judge whether the terminal is matched with the current service data according to the sequence from high priority to low priority of each URSP rule.

The fact that the URSP rule is matched with the service means that a service descriptor of the URSP rule is matched with the service of the current service data, and the terminal can access the network slice indicated by the routing descriptor of the URSP.

In one aspect, in a urs rule, a service descriptor may be used as a judgment condition, where if a service indicated by the service descriptor of the urs rule includes a service of current service data, or if a service indicated by the service descriptor is the same as a service of current service data, the service descriptor of the urs rule is matched with the service. Otherwise, if the service indicated by the service descriptor of the urs rule does not include the service of the current service data, the service descriptor of the urs rule is not matched with the service. In this case, it is determined that the urs rules do not match the current service data without a subsequent determination.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to determine whether the network slice indicated by the urs rule is a network slice that the terminal can access. At this time, it may be determined whether the S-nsai in the urs rule belongs to AN Allowed nsai, where the Allowed nsai is that the terminal may access the network slice group through the currently registered AN and AMF. Thus, if the S-nsai in the urs rule belongs to the Allowed nsai, the urs rule is matched with the current service data, and the routing processing can be performed according to the routing descriptor in the urs rule.

When the terminal is in the visiting network, the terminal needs to judge whether the S-NSSAI with the mapping relation with the S-NSSAI in the URSP rule in the current visiting network belongs to the Allowed NSSAI. If the S-nsai in the urs rule has a mapping relation to the S-nsai belonging to the Allowed nsai, the urs rule is matched with the current service data, and the routing processing can be performed according to the routing descriptor in the urs rule, that is, the service data of the session is transmitted through the network slice having a mapping relation to the S-nsai in the urs rule.

Otherwise, if the current service data does not match the service descriptor (i.e., the service descriptor of the urs rule does not match the service of the current service data), or if the S-nsai in the urs rule does not belong to an Allowed nsai, or if the S-nsai in the current visited network that has a mapping relationship with the S-nsai in the urs rule does not belong to an Allowed nsai (i.e., the network slice indicated by the routing descriptor of the urs rule cannot be accessed and cannot match the current service data), then the urs rule is not applicable to the current service data (the urs rule does not match the current service data), and then determining whether the next urs rule is applicable to the current service data according to the descending order of priorities of the urs rules in the urs.

When determining the routing strategy of the terminal through the URSP, each URSP rule is processed according to the mode until one URSP rule applicable to the current service data is obtained, or until all the URSP rules are polled, the URSP rules are not applicable to the current service data.

In order to avoid a situation that All the urs rules do not apply to the current service data, a wild card rule is also typically included in urs, or may be called a full Match (Match All) rule or a default rule. The traffic descriptor may be null while the routing descriptor is not null if the traffic is at its lowest priority in the urs.

The wildcard rule is a bottom-guard rule. Specifically, if there is no applicable urs rule before the wildcard rule, no matter what type of current service data is, what service is, and from what APP, the routing can be performed by the wildcard rule. The general rule is very important to ensure normal communication of the terminal, and the situation that normal communication cannot be performed due to no applicable rule is avoided.

Still taking fig. 3 as an example, in the urs shown in fig. 3, the priority of the network slice selection policy rule 1 and the network slice selection policy rule 2 is higher than that of the wild-type rule. In the prior art, when the terminal needs to transmit the service data of the APP C, neither the network slice selection policy rule 1 nor the network slice selection policy rule 2 in the urs is applicable (the service descriptor may not match, and/or the network slice indicated by the routing descriptor cannot be accessed), and then the routing needs to be implemented by the wild-card rule. That is, when the terminal sends a message to the network side to establish the session of APP C, the message carries S-nsai#3 in the general rule.

For ease of understanding, the process of selecting a network slice by a terminal in the prior art will now be described with reference to the message interaction diagram shown in fig. 4. As shown in fig. 4, the terminal may establish a session with a network slice by:

step 1, a terminal sends a session establishment request message to AN AMF through AN AN, wherein the session establishment request message carries S-NSSAI in URSP rules.

Step 2, the AMF requests an SMF instance to the NRF based on the S-NSSAI carried in the session establishment request message.

Wherein the address of the NRF may be provided to the AMF by the NSSF in the terminal registration procedure. It will be appreciated that for a network slice, the terminal registration procedure is earlier than the procedure for establishing a session for communication, and the registration procedure is not described in detail herein in the embodiments of the present application.

Step 3, the amf receives the address of the SMF from the NRF.

It can be understood that the address of the SMF fed back by the NRF to the AMF matches the S-nsai carried in the session establishment request message. In other words, the NRF may select one SMF among the network slices indicated by the S-nsai and transmit the address of the SMF to the AMF.

And 4, the AMF forwards the session establishment request message to the SMF based on the received address of the SMF.

Step 5, after receiving the session establishment request message, the smf selects the UPF and controls the UPF to establish a Packet Data Unit (PDU) session.

Step 6, the SMF sends a session establishment response message to the terminal through the AMF and the AN, and the SMF sends a notification session related message to the AN through the AMF.

The notification session-related message carries the S-nsai carried in the session establishment request message, and information such as a tunnel address and a quality of service (quality of service, qoS) parameter of the session user plane.

It should be noted that, in the existing implementation shown in fig. 4, the method of determining S-NSSAI using App ID matching urs is a possible implementation.

In addition, the urs and determination of S-nsai may be matched by one or more of { destination IP address, upper layer protocol, destination port } triplets, data network name (Data Network Name, DNN), type of Service (TOS) or Flow ID of IP header, medium access control (Media Access Control, MAC) address, or ethernet tag. The discussion is not expanded in this application.

In the existing terminal access network slice implementation shown in fig. 4, traffic data may be caused to be transmitted on the wrong network slice.

For example, in connection with the example of fig. 3, when the terminal is to initiate transmission of service data of the a application, the terminal is sequentially matched with each rule according to the priority of the urs p rule, and first, it is determined whether NSSP rule1 is matched with the service data. At this time, the service data of APP a is consistent with the service descriptor of NSSP rule1, but S-nsai#1 is not in the current Allowed nsai, and the terminal cannot access the network slice indicated by S-nsai#1, so NSSP rule1 does not match with the current service data. And then judging NSSP rule2, wherein the NSSP rule2 is not matched with the current service data because the service descriptors are not matched. Thus, there is no matchable rule except the wild rule, and the terminal sends a session establishment request message to the network side by using the S-NSSAI#3 in the wild rule.

In other words, based on the urs rule, when the terminal performs the session establishment procedure shown in fig. 4, the terminal carries S-nsai#3 in the session establishment request sent to the SMF by the AN. After the process of fig. 4, the terminal may transmit the service data of APP a through S-nsai#3, which may cause transmission failure, low transmission efficiency, poor service quality, no guarantee of reliability, or low security, which may cause a series of problems of transmission failure on the wrong network slice.

Aiming at the problem that the service data is not matched with the network slice, the application provides a technical scheme for adjusting the access network slice.

For example, reference may be made to fig. 5, and fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of adjusting access network slices according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the method may include the steps of:

s502, when the terminal sends the service data, and when the user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule, the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice.

S504, the terminal sends a first message to the first access network device, wherein the first message comprises identification information of a first network slice or identification information of a second network slice.

It should be noted that, the present solution is not particularly limited to the process of registering the terminal to the network, and the solution of adjusting access network slices is also performed after the terminal has successfully registered to the network. On the premise that the terminal is successfully registered in the network, the terminal can register in the network through an access network device and an AMF, and subsequently, for convenience of explanation, the access network device currently registered by the terminal is recorded as: and the first access network equipment records the AMF currently registered by the terminal as a first AMF.

At least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, or at least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the second network slice is a network slice with a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visit network of the terminal.

At least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support a scenario in which the first network slice may correspond to a current location of the terminal as a home network. The second network slice is a scene in which the network slice with the mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visiting network of the terminal can correspond to the current position of the terminal as the visiting network.

Among these, the home network, also known as the home public land mobile network (home public land mobile network, HPLMN), is the home network where the network operator serves the terminal.

The visited network, also called visited public land mobile network (visit public land mobile network, VPLMN), is the network that is accessed when the terminal "visits" in another area after leaving the home.

This is because each operator allocates custom S-nsais for its own service area. Wherein a value of a custom S-nsai identifies a network slice only within an operator' S network. If the value of the S-NSSAI subscribed by the terminal in the home network is the self-defined S-NSSAI, the terminal can not access the network slice in the home network any more if roaming occurs, but can only access the network slice mapped by the home network in the visiting network.

For example, if the home network of the terminal is a ground, the network to which the terminal accesses at the ground a is the home network; when the terminal roams to the B site, the network of the B site is needed to provide service for the terminal, and at the moment, the network of the B site accessed by the terminal is a visiting network.

In general, the HPLMN and VPLMN may sign a roaming agreement that specifies that network slice mapping information is configured on the network device (typically NSSF) of the VPLMN.

The network slice mapping information includes: mapping relationship of network slices in the home network and network slices in the visited network. For example, if there is a mapping relationship between the network slice 1 at the a site and the network slice 2 at the B site, if the network slice 1 is available to transmit service data for APP1 according to the urs, then when the terminal roams to the B site and needs to transmit service data of APP1, the network slice 2 at the B site can be accessed to transmit service data of APP1 based on the mapping relationship.

It can be understood that if the terminal is currently in the visited network, the terminal needs to access the visited network through the AN and the AMF of the current visited network, in other words, the first AN and the first AMF are network element devices in the current visited network, at this time, at least one of the first AN or the first AMF does not support a second network slice in the current visited network, and the second network slice is a network slice in the current visited network having a mapping relationship with the first network slice.

It will be appreciated that if the terminal is currently in the home network, the first message carries identification information (S-nsai) of the first network slice. If the terminal is currently in the visited network, the first message carries identification information of the second network slice.

It should also be noted that in the various urs rules of the urs, only the identity of each network slice in the home network is typically recorded. When the terminal is in the visiting network, when the routing is realized based on the URSP, the network slice identification of the visiting network corresponding to the URSP is determined according to the network slice mapping relation between the visiting network and the home network on the basis of the URSP rule, and the routing is realized based on the network slice identification of the visiting network.

The case of visiting the network will be described later with reference to specific embodiments. In the following, for ease of understanding, the present solution is described by taking the case where the terminal is in the home network as an example.

Specifically, when the terminal needs to send the data of the service, whether each urs rule is matched with the service can be sequentially determined according to the order of the priority of each urs rule from high to low based on each urs rule in urs (i.e. user routing policy). That is, it is determined whether the service indicated by the service descriptor of each urs rule includes the service or is the same as the service, and at least one network slice corresponding to the S-nsai exists in the urs rule, which is a network slice that the terminal can access to the first AMF through the first access network device at the current location (that is, at least one network slice corresponding to the S-nsai exists in the urs rule, which is a network slice supported by the first access network device and the first AMF). It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application are not particularly limited or modified for the urs.

For convenience of explanation, among the urs rules, the urs rules associated with the traffic that the terminal needs to send at this step, the first network slice, are simply referred to as: a first rule. In other words, in the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the traffic descriptor of the first rule matches the traffic that the terminal needs to send and is associated with the first network slice.

The above-described URSP shown in fig. 3 will be described as an example. In the scenario shown in fig. 3, if the terminal is to initiate service data transmission of the a application, at this time, the service descriptor of NSSP rule1 can be matched with the service of APP a, but one or more of the first AN or the first AMF currently registered by the terminal does not support the S-nssai#1, at this time, NSSP rule1 is the first rule in the urs. In this case, in the prior art, the session request is initiated by using the S-nsai#3 in the wild rule, which may further cause transmission of the service data of the APP a on the wrong network slice, which may cause a series of problems such as transmission failure, low transmission efficiency, poor service quality, no guarantee of reliability, or low security.

In contrast, according to the method provided in fig. 5, if there is no rule matching the traffic except the first rule (NSSP rule 1) and the wild rule in the urs, the terminal may acquire S-nsai#1 (as identification information of the first network slice), and then send a registration request (as a first message) to the first AN, and carry S-nsai#1 in the registration request. In this way, the terminal may request to register to the network slice indicated by S-nsai#1 from the network side, and further, after the registration is successful, the data of the service to be sent may be transmitted on the matched network slice. The method and the device avoid a series of problems of transmission failure, lower transmission efficiency, poor service quality, no guarantee of reliability or lower safety and the like caused by mismatching of the network slice and the service, and are beneficial to improving the safety and stability of a communication system.

It may be appreciated that the first rule is a uss rule that satisfies a service and a first network slice, in an actual scenario, the first rule may be a plurality of first network slices associated with a plurality of first rules may be the same, may not be the same, or may not be the same.

For example. The first AN, to which the terminal is currently registered, does not support network slice 1, and the first AMF does not support network slice 1 and network slice 2. When the terminal sends service data of APP1, NSSP rule1 carries the identification of APP1 and the identification information of network slice 1, while NSSP rule2 carries the identification of APP1 and APP2 and the identification information of network slice 2 exist in URSP. NSSP rule1 is then associated with APP1 traffic, network slice 1, where NSSP rule1 is the first rule. While NSSP rule2 is also associated with APP 1's traffic, network slice 2, NSSP rule2 is also the first rule at this time. The first network slice associated with the two first rules is different.

Further, in a urs p, the network slice associated with the wild rule is not the first network slice. It will be appreciated that when the wild-card rule is associated with a first network slice, the network slice cannot be accessed through the currently registered first AN, first AMF, which is highly likely to result in a communication failure.

In particular implementations, the first message may be used to request registration with the network to either the first network slice or the second network slice. In this case, the first message may also be referred to as: a registration request.

In a specific embodiment of fig. 5, the first message may carry identification information of a network slice requested by the terminal, where the identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal includes identification information of the first network slice or identification information of the second network slice.

The network slice requested by the terminal may be one or more network slices, or a network slice group. A Request nsai (or simply a Request nsai) may be utilized as a set of identities of network slices requested by the terminal. In this case, one or more S-NSSAI may be carried in the Request NSSAI. Furthermore, the Request NSSAI carries the S-NSSAI of the first network slice or the S-NSSAI of the second network slice.

The case of the Request NSSAI carried in the first message will now be described.

In one possible embodiment, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to an alternative network slice; wherein the alternative network slice is a network slice that the terminal can access by re-registering. For example, an alternative network slice refers to a network slice supported in the area where the terminal is currently located. Unlike the allowed network slice described above, at least one of the AN or AMF to which the terminal is currently accessing does not support the alternative network slice, however, there is at least one target AN supporting the network slice and at least one AMF supporting the network slice in the area where the terminal is currently located.

In other words, the Request NSSAI includes identification information of the alternative network slice, and the alternative network slice may include, but is not limited to: a first network slice or a second network slice.

Wherein the alternative network slices may include, but are not limited to, network slices indicated by the alternative information. Through the urs matching process, the first network slice is the network slice indicated by the candidate information. In an exemplary embodiment, the alternative network slice may further include: among the plurality of configured network slices of the terminal, a network slice that does not belong to a network slice that is rejected at the current network or rejected at the current registration area.

For example, the alternative network slices include a network slice 1 and a network slice 2, where the network slice 1 is one network slice indicated by the alternative information, and the network slice 2 is one or more network slices of the plurality of locally configured network slices that do not belong to the network slice where the current network is rejected or is rejected in the current registration area, or the network slice 2 is one or more network slices that can be accessed by the network notification terminal simultaneously with the network slice 1, or the network slice 2 is one or more network slices in one network slice group where the network notification terminal can be accessed simultaneously with the network slice 1.

The alternative information may be maintained by the terminal. In particular, the alternative information may include identification information (S-NSSAI) of one or more network slices.

In a specific embodiment, the terminal may add the part of the S-nsai (or its mapping S-nsai in the current visited network) included in the urs rule to the alternative information based on the relation between the network slice identity and the first AN, the first AMF in the urs rule.

In another embodiment, the candidate information may be preconfigured by the network side device when the terminal registers to the network, in which case the terminal only needs to obtain the preconfigured candidate information. In such an embodiment, the manner of pre-configuration of the alternative information is not particularly limited. For example, the alternative information may include: identification information of an alternate network slice of the one or more network slices, and/or identification information of an alternate network slice (or group of network slices) of the one or more network slice groups. For another example, the alternative information may be terminal-specific identification information for assigning the terminal one or more alternative network slices (or groups of network slices). For another example, the alternative information may be identification information of all network slices throughout the network.

In another embodiment, the terminal may maintain the alternative information as follows:

firstly, the terminal obtains candidate rules matched with the service in the user routing policy rules according to the priority order, wherein the candidate rules are other rules except the wild rule in the user routing policy rules.

Then, the terminal traverses the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule, and if the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule or the network slice with a mapping relation with the candidate rule does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which the terminal is allowed to access, and does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is rejected in the current network or the current registration area, the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule is added to the alternative information.

In this way, the terminal may obtain the identification information of the first network slice from the alternative information. Specifically, all the candidate information may be used as the identification information of the first network slice and carried in the first message.

Alternatively, in another implementation, the identification of the network slice supported in the area where the current location of the terminal is located may also be included in the allowed nsai. Such allowed NSSAI needs to carry indication information to distinguish from the above-mentioned conventionally allowed access network slices.

Alternatively, in yet another implementation, the identification of the network slice supported in the area where the current location of the terminal is located may also be included in the rejected nsai. Such a rejected NSSAI needs to carry indication information to distinguish it from the above-mentioned conventionally rejected access network slice.

By way of example, fig. 6 illustrates a maintenance manner of the alternative information, and as shown in fig. 6, the terminal may maintain the alternative information as follows:

s602, the terminal queries each URSP rule one by one according to the order of priority from high to low;

s604, judging whether the service descriptor of the URSP rule is matched with the service; if so, executing S606; if not, then S602 is performed to query the next URSP rule.

That is, it is determined whether the service indicated by the service descriptor of the urs rule includes a service of data to be transmitted, or whether the service indicated by the service descriptor of the urs rule is identical to a service of data to be transmitted.

S606, each S-NSSAI of the URSP rules is queried piece by piece.

S608, judging whether at least one S-NSSAI belongs to the Allowed NSSAI; if yes, establishing a session by using the URSP rule and transmitting service data; if not, S610 is performed.

In this embodiment, the network slice indicated by each S-nsai in the Allowed nsai belongs to the network slice that the network allows the terminal to access, and specifically may be part or all of the network slice that the network allows the terminal to access.

S610, judging whether all S-NSSAI of the URSP rule belong to the reject NSSAI; if yes, executing S602, and inquiring the next URSP rule; if not, S612 is performed.

Similarly, in this embodiment, the network slices indicated by each S-NSSAI in the reject NSSAI are some or all of the aforementioned "network slices that do not belong to a network reject at the current network or reject in the current registration area".

The multiple S-nsais in the reject reason (or called the reason for rejecting access in the current network or region) may be different among the reject nsais. In an actual scenario, a rejection reason and a rejection condition thereof may be preset in the communication system, so that when a network slice meets at least one rejection condition thereof, identification information of the network slice may be added to the reject nsai. In addition, the reject cause of the network slice is also maintained in the reject nsai, for example, the identification information of the network slice may be stored in correspondence with the identification information of the reject cause, so that maintenance of the reject nsai may be implemented.

S612, judging whether the current URSP rule is a wild rule or not; if yes, executing S616; if not, S614 is performed.

S614, adding S-NSSAI which belongs to neither the Allowed NSSAI nor the Rejected NSSAI in the current URSP rule into the alternative information.

Thereafter, execution may continue with S602, querying the next urs rule.

S616, a session is established using the locally configured S-nsai request.

Wherein the locally configured S-nsai is an identity of a network slice configured for the terminal by the public land mobile network (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN) during registration of the terminal.

In one PLMN network of the operator, the whole PLMN network does not necessarily support the same network slice group, so that PLMN network elements of the operator may allocate different network slices or network slice groups for different areas, or even different access network devices, respectively. The S-nsai allocated by the PLMN to the terminal may be referred to as a locally configured S-nsai, which is different from the S-nsai allocated by the core network side to the terminal.

S618, judging whether the session is successfully established; if yes, transmitting service data through the established session; if not, S620 is performed.

Specifically, if the terminal does not receive the feedback message of the session establishment message within the preset duration, or if the feedback message of the session establishment message received indicates that the session establishment fails, it indicates that the session is not successfully established, and S620 is executed.

S620, judging whether the alternative information is empty; if yes, executing S622; if not, S624 is performed.

S622, the traffic data is transmitted using the wild card rule.

In particular, a session may be established on a network slice identified by the S-nsai of the wild-type rule, or traffic data may also be sent using a session already existing on the network slice identified by the S-nsai of the wild-type rule.

In addition, in the actual scene, when the alternative information is empty, the process can also be directly ended.

Alternatively, when the candidate information is empty, the first network slice identifier may be acquired in other manners (for example, a manner of acquiring identification information of several first network slices provided later in the present application), and S624 is further performed.

S624, the first message is sent to the first AN.

At this time, the first message carries the S-nsai in the alternative information, and the alternative information includes the S-nsai of the first network slice.

In other words, the procedure shown in fig. 5 is performed, and the terminal re-initiates registration with the network to request access to the network slice matched with the service.

It should be noted that in the flow shown in fig. 5 or fig. 6, before the terminal sends the first message to the first AN, the terminal may be required to confirm disconnection of the already established connection of the current network slice.

Based on the manner shown in fig. 6, the terminal may add the alternative information to each S-nsai corresponding to each urs rule based on urs, where the S-nsai does not belong to either Allowed nsai or Rejected nsai and does not belong to the wild-type rule.

Fig. 6 is a diagram applicable to a home network. The situation is similar when the terminal is in a visited network.

When the terminal is currently in the visited network, the terminal may determine and determine the alternative information according to the flow shown in fig. 6. In this scenario, after the terminal queries the urs rule, it queries the S-nsai (simply referred to as mapping S-nsai) of the mapping relationship between the S-nsais included in the urs rule in the visited network, so that the determination and maintenance of the alternative information can be implemented by mapping the S-nsai.

Illustratively, in step S606 in fig. 6, the terminal may query each S-nsai of the urs rule one by one and obtain a mapping S-nsai of each S-nsai in the current visited network. Further, judgment of S608 to S612 is performed based on the map S-NSSAI.

In performing S614, the terminal may maintain alternative information based on each S-NSSAI (network slice identity of the home network) in the urs rules. At this point, the first network slice belongs to an alternative network slice. In this case, it should also be noted that, when the terminal performs the subsequent steps in fig. 6, it needs to map it again and then establish a session based on the mapping nsai.

Alternatively, the terminal may maintain alternative information based on mapping S-nsai (network slice identity of the current visited network) when performing S614. At this point, the second network slice belongs to an alternative network slice.

In any of the foregoing embodiments related to the alternative network slice, it should be noted that the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to the alternative network slice, but the network slice identifier carried in the first message may include, but is not limited to, alternative information.

In addition to the foregoing embodiments, other ways of obtaining the identification information of the first network slice or the second network slice are provided in the embodiments of the present application:

in a specific embodiment, when the terminal receives the first indication information and the first indication information indicates that the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to a network slice that the network allows the terminal to access, but the terminal is required to access through re-registration.

The first indication information may originate from a network side device, e.g. a first AMF.

In this embodiment, a first network slice is taken as an example. The area where the terminal is located supports the first network slice, but at least one of the first AN or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, but the network slice belongs to a network slice for which access is allowed, which the network side device determines when the terminal registers to the network. In this case, the first network slice is associated with the urs rules but cannot be used immediately for transmitting traffic data, at which point the terminal needs to re-register to access the first network slice.

It will be appreciated that this embodiment may be used in combination with the previous embodiments or may be used alone. If the network slices are combined, the identification information of the first network slice (or the second network slice) is acquired by using the respective modes, the union set is acquired, the identification information of the network slices is carried in a first message, and the first message is sent to the first AN.

In another embodiment, when the terminal receives the second indication information, and the rejection cause indicated by the second indication information is: and when at least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support the first network slice and the area where the current position of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, the first network slice belongs to a network slice to which the network refuses the terminal to access.

In this embodiment, the second indication information is specifically used to indicate a reason why the terminal is not currently able to access the first network slice. Whether the terminal can access the first network slice or not can be judged and maintained by the network side equipment, and the maintained reject NSSAI is sent to the terminal so that the terminal can determine the self routing strategy according to the reject NSSAI.

In this scenario, the reason for rejecting the terminal to access the network slice for the network side may be: the first AN or the first AMF does not support but the area supports. In this case, the terminal determines that the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to a network slice that the terminal can access by re-registering according to the second instruction information. The first message sent by the terminal to the first AN carries the identification information of the first network slice.

The solution provided by this embodiment may be used alone or in combination with the previous embodiments as a complement to the previous embodiments.

For example, if the reject cause indicated by the second indication information is as before, the terminal may acquire the identification information of the first network slice in a manner shown in fig. 6, and the scheme may acquire the identification information of the first network slice separately, and then, the union set is taken from the acquired results of the two, and the union set is taken as the identification information of the first network slice together. Alternatively, when the identification information of the first network slice is acquired in the manner shown in fig. 6, it may be determined whether all S-nsais of the urs rule belong to the reject cause indicated by the second indication information when S610 is performed. The remaining steps may be implemented as shown in fig. 6.

In any of the foregoing embodiments, the area in which the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice.

If the terminal is currently located in the home network, the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, but one or more of the first AN and the first AMF, which the terminal is currently registered, does not support the first network slice. In this case, in the area where the current location of the terminal is located, the presence target AN supports the first network slice, and the presence target AMF supports the first network slice.

Similarly, if the terminal is currently in the visited network, the area in which the current location of the terminal is located supports the second network slice, but one or more of the first AN and the first AMF, to which the terminal is currently registered, does not support the second network slice. In this case, in the area where the current location of the terminal is located, the presence target AN supports the second network slice, and the presence target AMF supports the second network slice.

First, the case of the home network will be described.

In one possible scenario, the first AMF is not the target AMF. At this time, the first AMF does not support the first network slice, and the target AMF supports the first network slice.

In this scenario, in the first message sent by the terminal to the first AN, the temporary identifier (Temp-ID) allocated by the first AMF to the terminal is not carried in the radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) layer of the first message.

Specifically, when a terminal registers with a network through a first AMF, the first AMF may allocate a temporary identifier to the terminal for marking the identity of the terminal. In this way, when the terminal subsequently needs to send a message or data through the first AMF, the Temp-ID may be carried in the message, and the first AN may not reassign the AMF to the terminal when receiving the message carrying the Temp-ID (including but not limited to the first message). Otherwise, if the message received by the first AN does not carry the Temp-ID, the first AN may reselect the AMF in the current network area.

For example, in one possible embodiment, when the terminal registers to the network, the currently registered first AMF may carry identification information of a network slice (or a network slice group) supported by the first AMF itself and/or carry identification information of a network slice (or a network slice group) not supported by the first AMF itself in any message (forwarded by the first CN) fed back to the terminal, for example, a registration success message. In this way, when the scheme is executed, the terminal may determine whether the first AMF supports the first network slice based on the network slice (or the network slice group) from the first AMF supported or not, and further, when it is determined that the first AMF does not support the first network slice, carry the Temp-ID in the first message.

In addition, if the terminal cannot determine whether the first AMF supports the first network slice, the terminal may not carry the Temp-ID in the first message.

In this way, if the first AMF is not the target AMF, the first message sent by the terminal to the first AN does not carry the Temp-ID, so that the first AN may select, based on the Request nsai carried in the first message or the S-nsai of the first network slice, AN AMF supporting the first network slice in the current network area as the target AMF, forward the first message to the target AMF, and access the first network slice. The specific access procedure may refer to fig. 4 and is not repeated.

In another possible scenario, the first AN is not the target AN. At this time, the first AN does not support the first network slice, and the target AN supports the first network slice.

In this scenario, after the terminal sends the first message to the first AN, the first AN may forward the first message to the first AMF. And the first AMF may interact with other devices on the network side and send a target radio access preference index (RAT/Frequency Selection Priority, RFSP) of the terminal to the first AN. This process is detailed later.

The RFSP is a radio access preference index, and the network side device may not need to store specific radio parameters corresponding to the RFSP, and these radio parameters and the mapping relationship between the radio parameters and the RFSP may be stored in each AN. Thus, the first AN, upon receiving the RFSP, may determine specific radio parameters based on the RFSP and transmit the radio parameters to the terminal.

Accordingly, the terminal may receive the radio parameters from the first AN and send a second message to the target AN supporting the first network slice based on the radio parameters.

In an embodiment, a second message may be used to request that a session be established, the second message may be referred to as: a session establishment request. The process after the terminal sends the session establishment request will not be described again, and reference may be made to the flow shown in fig. 4.

Similarly, if the terminal is currently in the visited network, the following situations may also exist:

in one possible scenario, the first AMF is not the target AMF. At this point, the first AMF does not support the second network slice, while the target AMF supports the second network slice.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, if the first AMF is not the target AMF, the first message sent by the terminal to the first AN does not carry the Temp-ID, so that the first AN may select, in the current network area, AN AMF supporting the second network slice as the target AMF, forward the first message to the target AMF, and then access the second network slice based on the Request nsai carried in the first message or the S-nsai of the second network slice. The specific access procedure may refer to fig. 4 and is not repeated.

In another possible scenario, the first AN is not the target AN. At this time, the first AN does not support the second network slice, and the target AN supports the second network slice.

In this scenario, after the terminal sends the first message to the first AN, the first AN may forward the first message to the first AMF. And the first AMF may interact with other devices on the network side and send the target RFSP of the terminal to the first AN. Accordingly, the terminal may receive the radio parameters from the first AN and send a second message to the target AN supporting the second network slice based on the radio parameters. In an embodiment, a second message may be used to request that a session be established, the second message may be referred to as: a session establishment request. The process after the terminal sends the session establishment request will not be described again, and reference may be made to the flow shown in fig. 4.

In any of the foregoing scenarios, after the terminal sends the first message to the first AN, the information interaction process between each device and the network element in the communication system may refer to fig. 7. As shown in fig. 7, there may be the following steps:

s702, when the terminal sends the data of the service, and when the user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule, the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice.

This step may be obtained in any of the ways described above and is not repeated.

And S704, the terminal sends a first message to the first AN, wherein the first message carries identification information of the first network slice or the second network slice.

It should be noted that, if the terminal currently has a session, the terminal may interrupt the current session, or the terminal may output a prompt message, so that a user decides whether to interrupt the current session according to the prompt message.

S706, the first AN forwards the first message to the target AMF.

At this time, the first AN is not the target AN, in this embodiment, the target AMF may be the first AMF, or may not be the AMF, at this time, based on whether the received first message carries a Temp-ID, two scenarios may exist:

in one scenario, if the first message carries the Tem-ID, the first AN may forward the first message directly to the first AMF (which may be considered as the target AMF) without reselecting the AMF.

In another scenario, if the first message does not carry the Temp-ID, the first AN determines a target AMF in other AMFs (excluding the first AMF) supporting the first network slice or the second network slice, and forwards the first message to the target AMF.

For ease of description, the description is referred to below directly as "target AMF".

S708, the target AMF acquires a target radio access preference index (RAT/Frequency Selection Priority, RFSP).

In the specific implementation, the target AMF is obtained through interaction with other network side equipment. And will be described in detail later.

S710, the target AMF transmits the target RFSP to the first AN.

Specifically, the target AMF may send a registration accept message to the terminal, where the registration accept message carries the target RFSP. In addition, the registration accept message may also carry: the identification group of network slices that the terminal can access at the current location includes network slices that the terminal can access at the current location through the first AN and/or the second AN.

S712, the first AN acquires wireless parameters corresponding to the target RFSP based on the received target RFSP.

S714, the first AN transmits the radio parameters to the terminal.

The radio parameters may also be carried in a message, which may also be named a registration accept message, but unlike S710, which is sent by the first AN to the terminal, carrying the radio parameters.

The wireless parameters are the cell residence and inter-frequency inter-system switching wireless parameters of the terminal, and the terminal can reselect cells and frequency points and re-access the network according to the wireless parameters.

Optionally, after the step is performed, the first AN may disconnect the wireless connection of the terminal, so that the UE enters a wireless connection idle state.

S716, the terminal reselects the cell and the frequency point based on the received wireless parameters.

In particular, this step may be performed when the terminal is in an idle state. After reselection, the terminal reenters the wireless connection state, and then a subsequent re-registration process can be executed.

S718, the terminal sends a second message to the second AN.

In this embodiment, a second message may be used to request that a session be established, the second message may be referred to as: a session establishment request.

When the step is executed, the terminal can reply to the data sending call of the suspended service, re-match the URSP, and realize the subsequent routing processing based on the matched URSP rule associated with the service and the first network slice. The process after the terminal sends the session establishment request will not be described again, and reference may be made to fig. 4.

Based on the message interactions shown in fig. 7, the terminal can reselect cells and frequency points based on the received radio parameters and re-access the network. In the session flow after S718, the terminal sends a second message to the second AN to request registration to the network through the second AN, where the second AN further needs to forward the second message to a target AMF on the network side, where the target AMF may be the same as or different from the second AMF.

The implementation manner in which the first AMF (or the target AMF) interacts with the network side device to acquire the target RFSP in S710 will now be described.

The method for determining the target RFSP will now be described with the first network device as the execution subject. The first network device may be the target AMF, or may be another network device, which will be described in detail later.

The target AMF is one AMF that receives the first message forwarded by the first AN, and in AN actual scenario, may be any one AMF in the communication system.

Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary method for determining a target RFSP by a network device, which is executed by a first network device, and includes the following steps:

s802, receiving an authorized wireless access priority selection index or a signed wireless access priority selection index of a terminal.

For convenience of explanation, the authorized RFSP or the transmitting end of the subscribed RFSP of the terminal is described as: a second network device. Here, the second network device is different based on the data received by the first network device, which will be described later.

S804, determining a target wireless access priority selection index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal and the authorized wireless access priority selection index or the contracted wireless access priority selection index.

Based on different possibilities of the first network device, when this step is implemented, the target RFSP is generally determined by using a network slice and an authorized RFSP to which the terminal can access; or, the target RFSP is determined by using the network slice and the subscribed RFSP which can be accessed by the terminal, and the following development details are performed.

S806, the target radio access preference index is transmitted.

The receiving end of the target RFSP is also different based on different possible situations of the first network device.

It can be appreciated that if the first network device can be the target AMF, the target AMF sends the target RFSP to the first AN. In addition, the first network device is not the target AMF, e.g., the first network device may be a PCF, the first network device may send the target RFSP to the target AMF, and the target AMF may need to forward the target RFSP to the first AN. The present solution is described in connection with specific embodiments.

How the target AMF acquires the target RFSP will now be described in detail with reference to specific embodiments.

In a specific embodiment of fig. 8, the first network device may be a target AMF currently registered by the terminal.

In this embodiment, the target RFSP is sent by the target AMF currently registered by the terminal to the first access network device currently accessed by the terminal. That is, in S806, the first AMF transmits the target RFSP to the first AN.

While there are two implementations of the target AMF to determine the target RFSP:

in one implementation, the target AMF may determine the target RFSP according to a network slice and a subscription RFSP that the terminal can access. The subscription RFSP may be subscription data from a terminal.

The subscription data of the terminal may include, but is not limited to: at least one of the terminal signing RFSP and the terminal signing network slice identification information. The subscription data of the terminal is stored by the UDM or UDR at the network side when the terminal opens the network slice service, in other words, the second network device may be the UDM or UDR, and at this time, the target AMF receives the subscription data of the terminal from the UDM or UDR. The identifier of each network slice of the terminal subscription may correspond to one or more subscription RFSPs, and the identifiers of different network slices of the terminal subscription may also correspond to the same subscription RFSP.

At this time, reference may be made to the message interaction diagram shown in fig. 9. As shown in fig. 9, the message interaction flow executed by the target AMF side includes:

s902, the target AMF receives a first message from the terminal, where the first message carries a Request nsai.

As shown in fig. 9, the first message is forwarded to the target AMF through the first AN.

In this embodiment, the first message carries a Request nsai, and the Request nsai may carry the S-nsai of the first network slice.

S904, the target AMF receives the subscription data from the terminal of the UDM, the subscription data carrying the subscription RFSP.

In particular, the target AMF may also send a subscription data acquisition request message (abbreviated as a fifth message) of the terminal to the UDM before S904. In this way, the target AMF may receive feedback from the UDM.

S906A, the target AMF determines a target RFSP according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal and the subscription data of the terminal.

In this embodiment, the target AMF obtains, according to the network slice indicated by each S-nsai in the nsai requested by the terminal, the network slice that the terminal can access at the current location after judging itself or interacting with the NSSF. The network slices that the terminal can access include network slices that allow the terminal to access through the first AN and/or other ANs. The target AMF determines the target RFSP according to the network slices that the terminal can access. And will be described in detail later.

The reference numerals of S906A and S906B are merely used to distinguish different embodiments, and are not practical.

S908, the target AMF sends the target RFSP to the first AN.

In another implementation, the target AMF determines the target RFSP according to the network slice and the authorized RFSP to which the terminal can access. Wherein the authorized RFSP may come from the PCF.

The PCF may determine the authorized RFSP based on the network slice to which the terminal can access and the subscribed RFSPs. In other words, the target AMF may receive an authorized RFSP from the PCF (as the second network device).

For the PCF, the PCF may obtain subscription data for the terminal from the UDM or the target AMF. That is, the PCF may send a fifth message to the UDM and receive subscription data from the terminal of the UDM. Or after receiving the subscription data of the terminal, the target AMF sends a third message to the PCF to request an associated access and mobility management Policy (AM Policy), and carries the subscription data of the terminal therein, including the subscription nsai and the subscription RFSP of the terminal.

For example, reference may be made to the message interaction diagram shown in fig. 10. Fig. 10 is the same as steps S902 to S904 and S908 in fig. 9. Before performing S906, the method further comprises the steps of:

s9052, the target AMF sends a third message to the PCF, the third message requesting the PCF to associate with an access and mobility management policy.

Specifically, the third message may carry: the identity of the terminal or the identity of the user group in which the terminal is located, the subscriber nsai of the terminal, the identity information of the network slice (e.g., the Allowed nsai of the terminal) to which the network allows the terminal to access, and optionally the subscriber RFSP, etc.

The network slice that the network allows the terminal to access may be determined by the target AMF based on the request NSSI carried in the first message. In other words, the network slice that the network allows the terminal to access may be all or part of the network slice indicated by the Request NSSAI. The target AMF itself judges or obtains the identification information of the network slice which is allowed to be accessed by the terminal through the network after interacting with NSSF, namely the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal at the current position. The network slices that the terminal can access include network slices that allow the terminal to access through the first AN and/or other ANs.

And S9054, the PCF determines the authorized RFSP according to the network slice and the subscribed RFSP which can be accessed by the terminal currently.

At this time, the network slice that the terminal can access may be determined based on the identification information of the network slice carried in the third message.

At this time, if the terminal is currently in the home network, the third message may carry a terminal subscription RFSP obtained by the target AMF from the UDM, and the PCF determines, from the terminal subscription RFSPs, one or more RFSPs corresponding to the network slice that the terminal can currently access as authorized RFSPs; if the terminal is in the visiting network, the PCF of the visiting network can obtain the corresponding relation between each network slice of the visiting network and the RFSP (i.e. the contracted RFSP of the visiting network) from the UDR of the visiting network, and according to the corresponding relation, one or more RFSPs corresponding to the network slices which can be accessed by the terminal currently are determined as authorized RFSPs.

S9056, the PCF sends a policy response message to the target AMF, the policy response message carrying the authorization RFSP.

S906B, the target AMF determines a target RFSP according to the network slice and the authorized RFSP which can be accessed by the terminal currently.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 10, the manner of determining the authorized RFSP in S9054 and the manner of determining the target RFSP in S906B may be different from each other in terms of network slices that the terminal can access. For example, the network slices that the terminal can access in S9054 include network slices that allow the terminal to access through the first AN and/or other ANs, while the network slices that the terminal can access in S906B can include only network slices that allow the terminal to access through the target AN.

Optionally, in another embodiment of fig. 9 or fig. 10, after the target AMF acquires the subscription data of the terminal, and before S906A or S9052 is performed, the target AMF may also select a network slice accessible to the terminal.

Specifically, the target AMF may send a fourth message to the NSSF to request that the NSSF select a network slice for the terminal; in this case, the target AMF also receives a feedback message from the NSSF, where the feedback message carries a network slice that the terminal can access.

Or, the target AMF selects a network slice for the terminal by itself, that is, the target AMF determines the network slice that the terminal can access by itself.

In a specific implementation, one or more network slices to which the terminal can access at the current location may be determined based on the Request nsai carried in the first message and the subscription S-nsai of the terminal, and identification information of the network slices may be maintained in groups and recorded as: allowed NSSAI, i.e., the network slice that the terminal used by the following S9052, S906A, S906B can access.

The step is an optional step, and if the message interaction flow does not exist, the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal can be determined in other modes. And will be described in detail later.

In another specific embodiment of fig. 8, the first network device is a PCF and the second network device is a UDM or UDR. In this case, the PCF may determine, according to the network slice that the terminal can access and the subscription RFSP, where the subscription RFSP may originate from subscription data, the subscription data may originate from UDM or UDR, and the target RFSP is sent by the PCF to the target AMF currently registered by the terminal. That is, in S806, the PCF sends the target RFSP to the target AMF. The target RFSP is then forwarded by the target AMF to the first AN.

After receiving the target RFSP, the target AMF may further have the following processing manner:

in one possible design, the target AMF may adjust the RFSP from the PCF and send the adjusted RFSP to the first AN. At this time, the RFSP from the PCF may be regarded as an authorized RFSP, and the RFSP adjusted by the target AMF may be regarded as a target RFSP.

The specific implementation of this design is the same as that of fig. 10, and will not be described here again.

It will be appreciated that in an actual implementation scenario, the data interaction between the PCF and the AMF may be unnamed or named by other names, and the foregoing names (e.g., authorized RFSP, target RFSP, etc.) are merely for ease of understanding the distinction, and there is no particular limitation on the scope of protection of the present application.

In another possible design, the target AMF may forward the target RFSP directly to the first AN. And will not be described in detail.

In any embodiment where the first network device obtains the target RFSP, for example, any embodiment of fig. 8 to 10, the network slice that the terminal can access may include, but is not limited to, the following cases:

in a possible embodiment, a network slice accessible by a terminal includes: one or more of the network slices to which the network allows the terminal to access.

The network slices to which the network allows the terminal to access may be specifically network slices indicated by the network slice identifiers in the Allowed NSSAI. Reference is made herein to the foregoing descriptions of fig. 9 and fig. 10, where the Allowed nsai may be determined by the target AMF or NSSF based on the Request nsai in the first message and subscription data of the terminal, and the network slice included therein is one or more network slices that the terminal may access at the current location.

Or,

in another possible implementation example, the network slice that the terminal can access includes: the terminal can use network slices except network slices rejected at the current network or in the current registration area.

That is, the terminal can use other network slices than the rejected network slice in the current area. For example, in the configuration nsai of the terminal, the identification of the network slice in the reject nsai is removed, and the remaining network slices identify the indicated network slice.

Or,

in another possible implementation example, the network slice that the terminal can access includes: the terminal is able to access one or more network slices through a target access network device or a target AMF at a current location, wherein the target access network device is not the access network device to which the terminal is currently accessing, wherein the target AMF is not the AMF to which the terminal is currently registered.

That is, the terminal can access the network slice by adjusting the first AN or the target AMF currently registered. I.e. the first network slice or the second network slice as described above.

Specifically, the network slice that the terminal can access is determined according to a Request network slice identification group (Request NSSAI). As described above, the request network slice identifier group is a first message from the terminal, where the first message is used to request to access a first network slice or a second network slice, where the first network slice is a network slice that is not supported by at least one of a first access network device or a target AMF that the terminal currently accesses, and the first network slice is not a network slice associated with a generic rule; the second network slice is a network slice having a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visited network of the terminal. Reference may be made to the description of the foregoing embodiments, and no further description is given here.

Based on different conditions of network slices that the terminal can access, when the first network device (target AMF or PCF) specifically determines the target RFSP, the following processing methods may also be adopted:

in a possible embodiment, among the network slices that can be accessed by the terminal, a plurality of network slices that can be accessed by the terminal at the same time are determined, and then the target wireless access preference index is determined according to the plurality of network slices that can be accessed by the terminal at the same time and the authorized wireless access preference index or the subscribed wireless access preference index.

The plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time refer to a plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time through one AN and one AMF.

For example, if the network slices to which the terminal can access are network slices 1 to 3, the AN1 supports network slices 1 to 3, the AMF1 supports network slice 1 and network slice 2, and the AMF2 supports network slice 2 and network slice 3.

At this time, the terminal can access the network slice 1 and the network slice 2 simultaneously through the AN1 and the AMF 1. At this time, the network slice 1 and the network slice 2 are two network slices that can be accessed by the terminal at the same time.

In addition, the terminal can access the network slice 2 and the network slice 3 through the AN1 and the AMF 2. At this time, the network slice 2 and the network slice 3 are two network slices that the terminal can access at the same time.

However, the network slice 1 and the network slice 3 cannot be simultaneously accessed through the same AN and the same AMF, and are not network slices that can be simultaneously accessed by the terminal.

In such an embodiment, based on the network slice that the terminal can access simultaneously, the first network device may adjust the radio access priority in the subscribed RFSP or the authorized RFSP, to obtain the adjusted target RFSP. For example, the first network device may determine, according to the priority of the network slices in the NSSAI request, a network slice with the highest priority among the network slices that the terminal can access, and determine, as the target RFSP, the RFSP corresponding to the subscription RFSP or the authorized RFSP. For another example, the first network device may select one target RFSP from one to a plurality of RFSPs corresponding to each network slice in the subscription RFSP or the authorized RFSP, so that the target RFSP can correspond to as many network slices as possible to which the terminal can access.

Therefore, when the terminal realizes wireless access based on the target RFSP, a plurality of network slices which can be accessed simultaneously can be preferentially selected, so that the terminal can conveniently use services provided by the network slices after accessing the wireless network.

In another possible embodiment, the first network device may further determine the target radio access preference index according to a network slice that the terminal can access, a network slice access capability of the access network device, and the authorized radio access preference index or the subscribed radio access preference index.

At this time, network slices supported by the respective ANs and the respective AMFs need to be considered. And adjusts the licensed RFSP or the subscribed RFSP based thereon. Specifically, the first network device may obtain, according to the sequence of the S-nsai in the Allowed nsai in the Request nsai, the network slice corresponding to the S-nsai with the forefront order as the network slice that the terminal most wants to access, and then adjust the authorized RFSP or the subscribed RFSP according to the network slice supporting capability of each AN, and modify the authorized RFSP or the subscribed RFSP to be the target RFSP on the target AN that can access the network slice by the terminal.

In addition, when the terminal is currently in the visited network, the foregoing processing needs to be performed after mapping the first network slice to the second network slice in the current visited network when performing the foregoing steps.

For example, reference may be made to fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a schematic message interaction diagram illustrating adjustment of access network slices when a terminal is in a home network. Fig. 12 shows a message interaction diagram for adjusting access network slices when a terminal is in a visited network.

Specifically, when the terminal is in the home network, as shown in fig. 11, the method includes the steps of:

s1102, when the terminal sends the data of the service, and when the user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule, the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice.

The specific implementation of this process may be referred to fig. 5 and its implementation, and will not be described in detail.

S1104, the terminal first AN sends a first message.

The first message includes a request NSSAI, where the request NSSAI carries identification information of the first network slice. And, the RRC layer of the first message does not carry the Temp-ID. At this time, the first message may be specifically a registration request.

In addition, before this, if the terminal currently has a session, the terminal may interrupt the current session, or the terminal may output a prompt message so that the user decides whether to interrupt the current session according to the prompt message.

S1106, the first AN forwards the first message to the second AMF.

The terminal is currently registered to the network through the first AN and the first AMF, and the second AMF selects a determined target AMF for the first AN based on the received first message. Wherein the second AMF supports the first network slice.

The processing of the first AMF is not involved here, and thus the first AMF is not shown in fig. 11.

S1108, the second AMF interacts with the UDM to obtain subscription data of the terminal.

As before, the second AMF may send a fifth message to the UDM, where the fifth message carries the identifier of the terminal, and receive a feedback message from the UDM, so as to obtain subscription data of the terminal.

The subscription data includes: subscription S-NSSAI of UE and subscription RFSP.

When the step is executed, the identity of the terminal can be confirmed through the authentication service function, and after the identity confirmation is passed, the UDM can feed back subscription data to the second AMF.

S1110, the second AMF interacts with the NSSF to obtain identification information of the network slice that the terminal can access.

As before, the second AMF may send the fourth message to the NSSF and receive the feedback message from the NSSF, so as to obtain the identification information of the network slice that the terminal can access.

In addition, this step may be performed by the second AMF itself. Specifically, the second AMF may determine one or more network slices, i.e. Allowed nsais, that the UE may access at the current location according to the S-nsai subscribed to by the UE and the current Requested nsai of the UE.

S1112, the second AMF sends a third message to the PCF to request associated access and mobility management policies.

The third message carries the identity of the terminal or the identity of the user group in which the terminal is located, the subscription data of the terminal or the subscription RFSP, the Allowed NSSAI determined in the previous step, and the like.

And S1114, the PCF determines the authorized RFSP according to the subscribed RFSP and the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal.

Specifically, the PCF obtains relevant access and mobility management policies from the UDR based on the identity of the UE or the identity of its user group. The UE subscribes to multiple network slices, so the UE subscribed RFSPs that the second AMF passes to the PCF may have multiple index values. And the PCF selects a wireless access priority selection index matched with the network slice which is currently Allowed to be accessed from the contracted RFSP according to the Allowed NSSAI of the UE, and the wireless access priority selection index is used as the authorized RFSP of the UE.

S1116, the PCF sends a policy response message to the second AMF, the policy response message carrying the authorization RFSP.

S1118, the second AMF determines a target RFSP according to the network slice and the authorized RFSP which can be accessed by the terminal currently.

This step is an optional step, and in addition to this implementation, the second AMF may directly execute the next step with the authorized RFSP as the target RFSP.

In this step, the second AMF may adjust the authorized RFSP according to the network slice support capability of the Allowed NSSAI, gNB of the UE. Specifically, the second AMF may determine, according to the order of S-nsais in the Allowed nsais in the Request nsais, the network slice that the UE most wants to access, and then adjust, according to the network slice supporting capability of each gNB, the authorized RFSP to be modified to a target RFSP that the UE can camp on the target AN (in this embodiment, the second AN) supporting the first network slice.

S1120, the second AMF transmits a registration accept message 1 to the first AN.

The registration acceptance message 1 carries an Allowed NSSAI and a target RFSP.

S1122, the first AN acquires the residence of the cell where the terminal is located and the switching wireless parameters of the different-frequency and different-system according to the target RFSP.

In S1124, the first AN sends a registration accept message 2 to the terminal, and the registration accept message 2 carries these radio parameters.

After this step is performed, the first AN may disconnect the wireless connection of the terminal, so that the UE enters a wireless connection idle state.

S1126, the terminal reselects the cell and the frequency point based on the received wireless parameters.

And S1128, the terminal sends a second message to the second AN.

Based on the process shown in fig. 11, the terminal can successfully access to the first network slice through the second AN and the second AMF, where the first network slice matches with the traffic that the terminal needs to transmit, in other words, the terminal can transmit the traffic data on the correct network slice.

On the other hand, when the terminal is in a visited network, as shown in fig. 12, the method comprises the steps of:

s1202, when the terminal sends the data of the service, and when the user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule, the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice.

S1204, the terminal first AN sends a first message.

The first message includes a request NSSAI, wherein the request NSSAI carries identification information of a second network slice, and the second network slice is a network slice in which the first network slice has a mapping relationship in the current visited network.

And, the RRC layer of the first message does not carry the Temp-ID. At this time, the first message may be specifically a registration request.

In addition, if the terminal currently has a session, the terminal may interrupt the current session, or the terminal may output a prompt message, so that a user decides whether to interrupt the current session according to the prompt message.

S1206, the first AN forwards the first message to the second AMF.

The terminal is currently registered to the network through the first AN and the first AMF, and the second AMF selects a determined target AMF for the first AN based on the received first message. Wherein the second AMF supports a second network slice. Fig. 12 does not show the first AMF since the processing of the first AMF is not involved.

S1208, the second AMF interacts with the NSSF to obtain identification information of the network slice that the terminal can access.

In addition, this step may be performed by the second AMF itself. Specifically, the second AMF may determine one or more network slices, i.e. Allowed nsais, that the UE may access in the current location according to the S-nsai subscribed to by the UE, the current Requested nsai of the UE, and the mapping relationship of the S-nsai specified by the roaming agreement between the VPLMN and the HPLMN.

Wherein the Allowed NSSAI contains an identification of one or more network slices of the current visited network.

S1210, the second AMF sends a third message to the PCF to request an associated access and mobility management policy.

The third message carries the identity of the terminal or the identity of the user group where the terminal is located, the Allowed NSSAI determined in the previous step, and the like.

S1212, PCF interacts with UDM to obtain subscription data of terminal.

The PCF obtains the corresponding relation between each network slice of the visiting network and the RFSP (i.e. the contracted RFSP of the visiting network) from the UDR of the visiting network, and determines one or more RFSPs corresponding to the network slices which can be accessed by the terminal currently as authorized RFSPs according to the information.

In particular, the PCF may send a sixth message to the UDM, where the sixth message carries the identifier of the terminal, and receives a feedback message from the UDM, so as to obtain subscription data of the terminal.

The subscription data includes: subscription S-NSSAI of UE. Note that the subscription S-NSSAI included in the subscription data is identification information of a network slice in the home network.

When the step is executed, the identity of the terminal can be confirmed through the authentication service function, and after the identity confirmation is passed, the UDM can feed back subscription data to the PCF.

S1214, the PCF determines the authorized RFSP based on the terminal according to the subscribed RFSP and the network slice which the terminal can access.

Specifically, the PCF obtains relevant access and mobility management policies from the UDR based on the identity of the UE or the identity of its user group. The PCF selects a wireless access priority selection index matched with the network slice which is Allowed to be accessed currently from the subscribed RFSP (i.e. the subscribed RFSP of the visiting network) according to the Allowed NSSAI of the UE and the mapping relation between the network slice identification of the home network and the network slice identification of the current visiting network in the Allowed NSSAI, and the wireless access priority selection index is used as the authorized RFSP (i.e. the authorized RFSP of the visiting network) of the UE.

S1216, the PCF sends a policy response message to the second AMF, the policy response message carrying the authorized RFSP.

S1218, the second AMF determines a target RFSP according to the network slice and the target RFSP which can be accessed by the terminal currently.

In this step, the second AMF may adjust the authorized RFSP according to the network slice support capability of the Allowed NSSAI, gNB of the UE. Specifically, the second AMF may determine, according to the order of S-nsais in the Allowed nsais (visited network) in the Request nsais, the network slice that the UE most wants to access, and then adjust the authorized RFSP according to the network slice supporting capability of each gNB, so as to modify the authorized RFSP to be a target RFSP that the UE can camp on a target AN (in this embodiment, the second AN is assumed to be supported by this second network slice).

S1220, the second AMF sends a registration accept message 1 to the first AN, where the registration accept message 1 carries AN Allowed NSSAI and a target RFSP.

S1222, the first AN acquires the residence of the cell where the terminal is located and the switching wireless parameters of the different frequency and different system according to the target RFSP.

S1224, the first AN sends a registration accept message 2 to the terminal, where the registration accept message 2 carries these radio parameters.

S1226, the terminal reselects the cell and the frequency point based on the received wireless parameters.

S1228, the terminal sends a second message to the second AN.

When the step is executed, the terminal can reply to the data sending call of the suspended service, re-match the URSP, and realize the subsequent routing processing based on the matched URSP rule associated with the service and the second network slice. The process after the terminal sends the session establishment request will not be described again, and reference may be made to fig. 4.

Based on the process shown in fig. 12, the terminal can successfully access the second network slice, which matches the traffic that the terminal needs to transmit, in other words, the terminal can transmit traffic data on the correct network slice.

It can be appreciated that fig. 11 and fig. 12 are only one specific implementation manner of the embodiments of the disclosure, and in a practical scenario, the present scheme may be implemented according to any one of the foregoing embodiments or the mapping scheme (network slice mapping) of any one of the foregoing embodiments, no matter what network the terminal is in.

It is to be understood that some or all of the steps or operations in the above embodiments are merely examples, and embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. Furthermore, the various steps may be performed in a different order presented in the above embodiments, and it is possible that not all of the operations in the above embodiments are performed.

It is to be understood that in the above embodiments, the operations or steps implemented by the terminal may be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the terminal, the operations or steps implemented by a core network node (e.g., an AMF, a PCF, etc.), the operations or steps implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the core network node, the operations or steps implemented by the access network device may be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) available to the access network device.

Fig. 13 shows a physical structure of a communication device. The communication device may be used to implement the method of the terminal-side corresponding portion or the method of the first network device corresponding portion described in the above method embodiments, specifically referring to the description in the above method embodiments.

The communications device 1300 may include one or more processors 1310, which may also be referred to as a processing unit, that may implement certain control functions. The processor 1310 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor, etc.

In an alternative design, the processor 1310 may also store instructions 73, which may be executed by the processor, to cause the communications device 1300 to perform the method corresponding to the terminal or the network device or the core network node described in the above method embodiment.

In yet another possible design, the communication device 1300 may include circuitry that may implement the functions of transmitting or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments.

Optionally, the communications device 1300 may include one or more memories 1320, on which instructions or intermediate data are stored, which instructions may be executed on the processor 1310 to cause the communications device 1300 to perform the methods described in the method embodiments above. Optionally, other relevant data may also be stored in the memory. Instructions and/or data may also optionally be stored in processor 1310. The processor 1310 and the memory 1320 may be provided separately or may be integrated.

Optionally, the communications device 1300 may also include a transceiver 1330. The transceiver 1330 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, or the like, for implementing a transceiver function of the communication device.

If the communication device is a terminal, for implementing AN operation corresponding to the embodiment shown in fig. 5 in which the terminal sends the first message to the first AN, for example, the transceiver 1330 in the terminal may send the first message to the first AN. The transceiver may further perform other corresponding communication functions. The processor is configured to perform a corresponding determination or control operation, and optionally, may store corresponding instructions in the memory. For a specific manner of processing of the individual components, reference may be made to the relevant description of the previous embodiments.

If the communication device is AN AMF and is used to implement AN operation corresponding to the target AMF transmitting the target RFSP to the first AN in step S710 in fig. 7, for example, the target RFSP may be transmitted to the first AN by the transceiver 1330 in the AMF. The transceiver may further perform other corresponding communication functions. The processor is configured to perform a corresponding determination or control operation, and optionally, may store corresponding instructions in the memory. For a specific manner of processing of the individual components, reference may be made to the relevant description of the previous embodiments.

If the communication device is a PCF and is configured to implement an operation corresponding to the PCF sending the policy response message to the target AMF in step S9056 in the embodiment shown in fig. 9, for example, the transceiver 1330 in the PCF may send the policy response message to the target AMF. Alternatively, the transceiver may be configured to perform other related communication operations, and the processor may be configured to perform other corresponding determination or control operations, such as determining information of the at least one cell. Alternatively, the corresponding instructions may also be stored in memory. For a specific manner of processing of the individual components, reference may be made to the relevant description of the previous embodiments.

The processors and transceivers described herein may be implemented on integrated circuits (integrated circuit, ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits RFICs, mixed signal ICs, application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), printed circuit boards (printed circuit board, PCB), electronic devices, and the like. The processor and transceiver may also be fabricated using various 1C process technologies such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (complementary metal oxide semiconductor, CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (Bipolar Junction Transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

Alternatively, the communication device may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the device may be:

(1) A stand-alone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or a system-on-a-chip or subsystem;

(2) A set of one or more ICs, optionally including storage means for storing data and/or instructions;

(3) An ASIC, such as a modem (MSM);

(4) Modules that may be embedded within other devices;

(5) Receivers, terminals, cellular telephones, wireless devices, handsets, mobile units, network devices, etc.;

(6) Others, and so on.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 14, the communication apparatus 1400 includes: a processing module 1420 and a transceiver module 1440;

the processing module 1420 is configured to obtain, when the terminal sends data of a service, identification information of a first network slice when there is no rule matching the service except a wild rule and a first rule in a user routing policy; wherein the first rule is associated with the traffic, the first network slice, and the network slice associated with the wild card rule is not the first network slice; the terminal is currently registered to a network through first access network equipment and first AMF, at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, or at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the second network slice is a network slice with a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visit network of the terminal;

The transceiver module 1440 is configured to send a first message to the first access network device, where the first message includes identification information of the first network slice, or identification information of a second network slice.

In a possible embodiment in fig. 14, the first message carries identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal, where the identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal includes identification information of the first network slice or identification information of the second network slice.

Further, the area where the current position of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 14, the target AMF located under the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, and the target access network device located under the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice; or,

and the target AMF located in the area where the current position of the terminal is located supports the second network slice, and the target access network equipment located in the area where the current position of the terminal is located supports the second network slice.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 14, when the first AMF is not the target AMF, the RRC layer of the first message does not carry the temporary identifier allocated by the first AMF for the terminal.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 14, when the first access network device is not the target access network device, the transceiver module 1440 is further configured to: receiving radio parameters from the first access network device; and sending a second message to the target access network equipment based on the wireless parameters.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 14, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to an alternative network slice; wherein the alternative network slice is a network slice that the terminal can access by re-registering.

Further, the processing module 1420 is specifically configured to: in the user routing policy rules, according to the priority order, candidate rules matched with the service are obtained, wherein the candidate rules are other rules except the wild rule in the user routing policy rules; traversing the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule, and adding the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule to the alternative information if the network slice associated with the candidate rule or the network slice with a mapping relation does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is allowed to be accessed by the terminal by the network and does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is rejected in the current network or is rejected in the current registration area; and acquiring the identification information of the first network slice from the alternative information.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 14, when the terminal receives first indication information and the first indication information indicates that the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to a network slice to which the network allows the terminal to access;

or,

when the terminal receives second indication information, and the rejection reason indicated by the second indication information is as follows: and when at least one of the first access network device or the first AMF does not support the first network slice and the area where the current position of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, the first network slice belongs to a network slice to which the network refuses the terminal to access.

The communication device of the embodiment shown in fig. 14 may be used to implement the technical solution of the above-mentioned method embodiment, and the implementation principle and technical effects may be further referred to in the related description of the method embodiment, and alternatively, the communication device may be a terminal, or may be a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the terminal.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 15, the network device 1500 includes: a transceiver module 1520 and a processing module 1540;

The transceiver module 1520 is configured to receive an authorized radio access preference index or a subscribed radio access preference index of the terminal; and a processing module 1540, configured to determine a target radio access preference index according to the network slice that the terminal can access, and the authorized radio access preference index or the subscribed radio access preference index.

The transceiver module is further configured to send the target radio access preference index.

In one possible embodiment in fig. 15, the network slice that the terminal can access includes:

In another possible embodiment in fig. 15, when the network device 1500 is an AMF that the terminal is currently registered with, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the subscription radio access preference index; wherein the subscription radio access preference index is derived from subscription data of the terminal; and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the access network equipment which is accessed by the terminal currently by the AMF which is registered by the terminal currently.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 15, when the network device 1500 is an AMF that the terminal is currently registered with, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the authorized radio access preference index; wherein the grant radio access preference index is from a policy control network element PCF; and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the access network equipment which is accessed by the terminal currently by the AMF which is registered by the terminal currently.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 15, when the network device 1500 is a policy control network element PCF, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice that the terminal can access and the subscription radio access preference index; wherein the subscription radio access preference index is derived from subscription data of the terminal; and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the AMF currently registered by the terminal by the PCF.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 15, the processing module 1540 is specifically configured to: determining a plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time in the network slices which can be accessed by the terminal; and determining the target wireless access priority index according to a plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time and the authorized wireless access priority index or the contracted wireless access priority index.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 15, the processing module 1540 is specifically configured to: and determining the target wireless access priority index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal, the network slice access capability of the access network equipment and the authorized wireless access priority index or the contracted wireless access priority index.

In another possible embodiment in fig. 15, the network slice that the terminal can access is determined according to the requested network slice identification group; the request network slice identification group is a first message from the terminal, wherein the first message is used for requesting to access a first network slice or a second network slice, the first network slice is a network slice which is not supported by at least one of first access network equipment or a first AMF (advanced mobile switching center) which is currently accessed by the terminal, and the first network slice is not a network slice associated with a unified allocation rule; the second network slice is a network slice having a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visited network of the terminal.

The network device of the embodiment shown in fig. 15 may be used to implement the technical solution of the foregoing method embodiment, and the implementation principle and technical effects may be further referred to in the related description of the method embodiment, and alternatively, the communication device may be an AMF or a PCF, or may be a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the AMF or a component of the PCF.

It should be understood that the above division of the modules of the communication device shown in fig. 14 and the network device shown in fig. 15 is merely a division of logic functions, and may be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity or may be physically separated. And these modules may all be implemented in software in the form of calls by the processing element; or can be realized in hardware; it is also possible that part of the modules are implemented in the form of software called by the processing element and part of the modules are implemented in the form of hardware. For example, the processing module may be a processing element that is set up separately, may be implemented in a chip of a communication device, such as a terminal, or may be stored in a memory of the communication device in a program form, and the functions of the above modules are called and executed by a processing element of the communication device. The implementation of the other modules is similar. In addition, all or part of the modules can be integrated together or can be independently implemented. The processing element described herein may be an integrated circuit having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step of the above method or each module above may be implemented by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in a processor element or an instruction in a software form.

For example, the modules above may be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the methods above, such as: one or more specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), or one or more microprocessors (digital singnal processor, DSP), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (Field Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), or the like. For another example, when a module above is implemented in the form of a processing element scheduler, the processing element may be a general purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU) or other processor that may invoke the program. For another example, the modules may be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

Fig. 16 is an architecture diagram of another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 16, the communication system 100 includes:

a terminal 1610, configured to perform a method performed by a terminal side in any of the foregoing embodiments;

network device 1630 configured to perform the method performed by the first network device (including the AMF or PCF) in any one of the embodiments described above;

an access network device 1620 configured to implement information interaction between the terminal and the network device.

Fig. 16 is merely schematic, and details of the interaction process between devices in the communication system and other devices or network elements in the communication system are described above, which are not repeated.

The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method described in the above embodiments.

Furthermore, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the communication method described in the above embodiments.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part 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 the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the present application are produced in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid State Disk), etc.

Claims

1. A method of adjusting access network slices, comprising:

when a terminal sends service data, when a user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except a general rule and a first rule, the terminal acquires identification information of a first network slice; wherein the first rule is associated with the traffic, the first network slice, and the network slice associated with the wild card rule is not the first network slice; the terminal is currently registered to a network through first access network equipment and first AMF, at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, or at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the second network slice is a network slice with a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visit network of the terminal;

and the terminal sends a first message to the first access network device, wherein the first message comprises the identification information of the first network slice or the identification information of the second network slice.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message carries identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal, and wherein the identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal includes identification information of the first network slice or identification information of the second network slice.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the area in which the terminal is currently located supports the first network slice or the second network slice.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a target AMF located under an area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, and a target access network device located under an area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice; or,

5. The method of claim 4, wherein when the first AMF is not the target AMF, the RRC layer of the first message does not carry a temporary identity allocated by the first AMF for the terminal.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein when the first access network device is not the target access network device, the method further comprises:

the terminal receives wireless parameters from the first access network equipment;

And the terminal sends a second message to the target access network equipment based on the wireless parameters.

7. The method of any of claims 1-2, 5-6, wherein the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to an alternative network slice; wherein the alternative network slice is a network slice that the terminal can access by re-registering.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 5-6, wherein the terminal obtaining the identification information of the first network slice comprises:

the terminal obtains candidate rules matched with the service in the user routing policy rules according to the priority order, wherein the candidate rules are other rules except the wild rule in the user routing policy rules;

the terminal traverses the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule, and if the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule or the network slice with a mapping relation with the candidate rule does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which the terminal is allowed to access by the network, and does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is rejected in the current network or in the current registration area, the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule is added to the alternative information;

And the terminal acquires the identification information of the first network slice from the alternative information.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-2, 5-6, wherein when the terminal receives a first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to a network slice to which the network allows the terminal to access;

or,

10. A method for adjusting access network slices, performed at a network device, the method comprising:

receiving an authorized wireless access preference index or a contracted wireless access preference index of the terminal;

determining a target wireless access priority index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal and the authorized wireless access priority index or the contracted wireless access priority index;

Transmitting the target wireless access preference index;

the network slice that the terminal can access includes:

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the target radio access preference index is determined from a network slice accessible to the terminal and the subscribed radio access preference index when the network device is an AMF currently registered by the terminal;

wherein the subscription radio access preference index is derived from subscription data of the terminal;

and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the access network equipment which is accessed by the terminal currently by the AMF which is registered by the terminal currently.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the target radio access preference index is determined from a network slice accessible to the terminal and the grant radio access preference index when the network device is an AMF currently registered by the terminal;

wherein the grant radio access preference index is from a policy control network element PCF;

13. The method of claim 10, wherein when the network device is a policy control network element PCF, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice accessible by the terminal and the contracted radio access preference index;

and the target wireless access priority selection index is sent to the AMF currently registered by the terminal by the PCF.

14. The method according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the determining a target radio access preference index from a network slice accessible to the terminal and the grant radio access preference index or the subscription radio access preference index comprises:

Determining a plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time in the network slices which can be accessed by the terminal;

and determining the target wireless access priority index according to a plurality of network slices which can be accessed by the terminal at the same time and the authorized wireless access priority index or the contracted wireless access priority index.

15. The method according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the determining a target radio access preference index from a network slice accessible to the terminal and the grant radio access preference index or the subscription radio access preference index comprises:

and determining the target wireless access priority index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal, the network slice access capability of the access network equipment and the authorized wireless access priority index or the contracted wireless access priority index.

16. The method according to any of claims 10-13, wherein the network slice accessible by the terminal is determined from a set of requested network slice identifications;

the requesting network slice identification group is from a first message of the terminal, wherein the first message is used for requesting to access a first network slice or a second network slice,

The first network slice is a network slice which is not supported by at least one of first access network equipment or first AMF (advanced mobile switching center) accessed by the terminal currently, and is not associated with a rule of unified allocation;

the second network slice is a network slice having a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visited network of the terminal.

17. A communication device, comprising:

the processing module is used for acquiring the identification information of the first network slice when the user routing strategy has no rule matched with the service except the general rule and the first rule when the terminal transmits the data of the service; wherein the first rule is associated with the traffic, the first network slice, and the network slice associated with the wild card rule is not the first network slice; the terminal is currently registered to a network through first access network equipment and first AMF, at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support the first network slice, or at least one of the first access network equipment or the first AMF does not support a second network slice; the second network slice is a network slice with a mapping relation with the first network slice in the current visit network of the terminal;

And the transceiver module is used for sending a first message to the first access network equipment, wherein the first message comprises the identification information of the first network slice or the identification information of the second network slice.

18. The communication device of claim 17, wherein the first message carries identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal, and wherein the identification information of the network slice requested by the terminal includes identification information of the first network slice or identification information of the second network slice.

19. A communication device according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the area in which the terminal is present supports the first network slice or the second network slice.

20. The communication device according to claim 17 or 18, wherein a target AMF located under an area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice, and a target access network device located under an area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice; or,

21. The communication device of claim 20, wherein when the first AMF is not the target AMF, the RRC layer of the first message does not carry the temporary identity allocated by the first AMF for the terminal.

22. The communication device of claim 20, wherein when the first access network device is not the target access network device, the transceiver module is further configured to:

receiving radio parameters from the first access network device;

and sending a second message to the target access network equipment based on the wireless parameters.

23. The communication device of any of claims 17-18, 21-22, wherein the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to an alternative network slice; wherein the alternative network slice is a network slice that the terminal can access by re-registering.

24. The communication device according to any of the claims 17-18, 21-22, characterized in that the processing module is specifically configured to:

in the user routing policy rules, according to the priority order, candidate rules matched with the service are obtained, wherein the candidate rules are other rules except the wild rule in the user routing policy rules;

Traversing the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule, and adding the identification information of the network slice associated with the candidate rule to the alternative information if the network slice associated with the candidate rule or the network slice with a mapping relation does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is allowed to be accessed by the terminal by the network and does not belong to the identification information of the network slice which is rejected in the current network or is rejected in the current registration area;

and acquiring the identification information of the first network slice from the alternative information.

25. The communication device according to any of claims 17-18, 21-22, wherein when the terminal receives a first indication information, and the first indication information indicates that the area where the current location of the terminal is located supports the first network slice or the second network slice, the first network slice or the second network slice belongs to a network slice to which the network allows the terminal to access;

or,

26. A network device, comprising:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving the authorized wireless access priority selection index or the contracted wireless access priority selection index of the terminal;

the processing module is used for determining a target wireless access priority selection index according to the network slice which can be accessed by the terminal and the authorized wireless access priority selection index or the contracted wireless access priority selection index;

the transceiver module is further configured to send the target wireless access preference index;

the network slice that the terminal can access includes:

27. The network device of claim 26, wherein the target radio access preference index is determined based on a network slice accessible to the terminal and the subscribed radio access preference index when the network device is an AMF currently registered by the terminal;

28. The network device of claim 26, wherein the target radio access preference index is determined based on a network slice accessible to the terminal and the authorized radio access preference index when the network device is an AMF currently registered by the terminal;

29. The network device of claim 26, wherein when the network device is a policy control network element PCF, the target radio access preference index is determined according to a network slice accessible by the terminal and the contracted radio access preference index;

30. The network device according to any of the claims 26-29, wherein the processing module is specifically configured to:

31. The network device according to any of the claims 26-29, wherein the processing module is specifically configured to:

32. The network device of any one of claims 26-29, wherein the network slice accessible to the terminal is determined from a set of requested network slice identifications;

33. A communication device, comprising: at least one processor and memory;

the memory stores computer-executable instructions;

the at least one processor executing computer-executable instructions stored in the memory causes the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9 or 10-16.

34. A communication system, comprising:

a terminal for performing the method of any of claims 1-9;

a network device for performing the method of any of claims 10-16;