CN113766530A

CN113766530A - UPF selection method and equipment

Info

Publication number: CN113766530A
Application number: CN202010489616.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘棠青; 王丹
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2020-06-02
Filing date: 2020-06-02
Publication date: 2021-12-07
Also published as: WO2021244499A1

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a UPF selection method and equipment, which comprises the following steps: acquiring first information; obtaining a UPF selection priority according to the first information, wherein the UPF selection priority is the priority for selecting one UPF from a plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal; and sending the UPF selection priority to a Session Management Function (SMF). In an embodiment of the present invention, the SMF may select a UPF based on an analysis of the NWDAF, such that the SMF may select an optimal UPF as a user plane function of the terminal.

Description

UPF selection method and equipment

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a UPF selection method and equipment.

Background

In a fifth generation mobile communication technology (5th generation, 5G) system, a User Plane Function (UPF) sinks to a position close to an access network, so as to shorten the time delay of certain specific services and improve the service experience of users. The UPF convergence deployment may be limited to a certain small area. Users with smaller range movement move in the area, the network can meet the user experience, while some users with larger continuous movement range are inevitable to cross the range of the sinking UPF area, which relates to the problem of UPF reselection.

For example, a user traveling on a highway is using a low latency car networking service, and the UPF sinks associated with the car networking service are deployed at the edge of the access network, while the user is a relatively long distance from city a to city B, in which case multiple sinking UPFs are typically deployed along the highway. In order to satisfy the continuity of the internet of vehicles service of the user, a Session Management Function (SMF) needs to know a service identification list supported by the UPF when selecting the UPF. The UPF selected by parameters such as Data Network Name (DNN) determined by the current protocol cannot be well adapted to the scene, because the DNN has no direct association with specific services, some sinking UPFs only serve some specific services, the DNN cannot represent all the services, UPFs which do not support the Internet of vehicles can be selected by the DNN parameters in the moving process of the UE, and the Internet of vehicles scene needs to be accurate for UPF selection.

The 5G system is calibrated to be that a low-delay service UPF can sink to be deployed close to the edge of an access network, and the selection function of the UPF is executed by the SMF.

However, there is currently no clear technical solution for how SMF selects UPF based on analysis of NWDAF.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for selecting a UPF, which solve a problem of how to select a UPF based on an NWDAF analysis by an SMF.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a user plane function UPF, where the method is applied to an NWDAF, and includes:

acquiring first information;

obtaining a UPF selection priority according to the first information, wherein the UPF selection priority is the priority for selecting one UPF from a plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal;

and sending the UPF selection priority to a Session Management Function (SMF).

Optionally, the first information includes: the distance of the UPF from the terminal, and the remaining node computing power of the UPF, and/or the number of specific applications, which are third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of the UPF.

Optionally, the obtaining a UPF selection priority according to the first information includes:

according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max) + C/C' to obtain UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

D_maxrepresenting the distance between the terminal and the UPF which is farthest from the terminal in the SMF range for providing service for the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

c' represents the total node computation power of the edge data center where the UPF is located.

according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’×C_sObtaining a UPF selection priority score S:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

c' represents the total node computing capacity of the edge data center where the UPF is located;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center.

according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

N_numthe total number of the third-party applications which indicate that the access times of the terminal in a preset time period exceed a preset threshold value;

n is represented by N_numAnd the number of the third-party applications with the servers in the preset range of the UPF is selected from the third-party applications.

according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’×C_s+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

N_numindicating the endThe total number of the third party applications of which the access times of the terminal in a preset time period exceed a preset threshold value;

according to the formula S ═ C/C' + N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

according to the formula S ═ C/C' × C_s+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

Optionally, the remaining node computing capacity of the UPF is obtained from operation maintenance management.

Optionally, the information related to the third party application is obtained from a network storage function or operation maintenance management.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

acquiring the updated first information;

and updating the UPF selection priority according to the updated first information.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for selecting a UPF, where the method is applied to an SMF, and includes:

receiving a UPF selection priority from the NWDAF;

and selecting one UPF from the plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal according to the UPF selection priority.

Optionally, the UPF selection priority is obtained by the NWDAF according to a distance between the UPF and the terminal, a remaining node calculation capacity of the UPF, and/or a number of specific applications, where the specific applications refer to third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of the UPF.

Optionally, the UPF selection priority is obtained by the NWDAF according to:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

n is represented by N_numThe number of third-party applications with servers in a predetermined range of the UPF is one of the third-party applications;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

D_maxto representThe distance between the terminal and the UPF which is farthest from the terminal in the SMF range for providing service for the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

n is represented by N_numIn a third party application, there is a third server in the predetermined range of UPFThe number of party applications.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an NWDFAF, including: a first transceiver and a first processor;

the first transceiver receives and transmits data under control of the first processor;

the first processor reads a program in a memory to perform the following operations: acquiring first information; obtaining a UPF selection priority according to the first information, wherein the UPF selection priority is the priority for selecting one UPF from a plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal; and sending the UPF selection priority to the SMF.

In a fourth aspect, the present invention also provides an SMF, comprising: a second transceiver and a second processor;

the second transceiver receives and transmits data under the control of the second processor;

the second processor reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: receiving a UPF selection priority from the NWDFAF; and selecting one UPF from the plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal according to the UPF selection priority.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention also provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method comprising UPF selection as described above.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the SMF may select a UPF based on an analysis of the NWDAF, such that the SMF may select an optimal UPF as a user plane function of the terminal.

Drawings

Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating the preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Also, like reference numerals are used to refer to like parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is one of the flow diagrams of a method of UPF selection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a second flowchart of a method for UPF selection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a third flowchart of a method for UPF selection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of selecting priority update by using an NWDAF triggered by a newly added location server according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of an NWDAF requesting UPF surplus node computing power for a selection priority update from an OAM according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an NWDAF embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a second schematic diagram of an NWDAF of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is one of the schematic diagrams of an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a second schematic diagram of an SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the following technical terms are introduced below:

network storage Function (NRF): is responsible for registering and managing network functions.

Application Function (AF): as a network function for interfacing with a 5G core network;

network Exposure Function (NEF): opening the network information to the network function of the application;

network Data analysis Function (NWDAF): the network function is responsible for network intellectualization and network data analysis;

access and Mobility Management Function (AMF): a network function in charge of access and mobility of a terminal (User Equipment, UE), and the like;

radio Access Network (RAN).

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, in the description and claims of this application, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the use of "and/or" in the specification and claims means that at least one of the connected objects, such as a and/or B, means that three cases, a alone, B alone, and both a and B, exist.

In the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "e.g.," an embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

The technology described herein is not limited to a 5th-generation (5G) system and a later-evolution communication system, and is not limited to an LTE/LTE evolution (LTE-a) system, and may also be used for various wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.

The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably. CDMA systems may implement Radio technologies such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), and so on. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) and other CDMA variants. TDMA systems may implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM). The OFDMA system can implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), evolved-UTRA (E-UTRA)), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX)), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, and the like. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and higher LTE (e.g., LTE-A) are new UMTS releases that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "third Generation Partnership Project" (3 GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "third generation partnership project 2" (3GPP 2). The techniques described herein may be used for both the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies, as well as for other systems and radio technologies.

Referring to fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a UPF, where an execution subject of the method may be an NWDAF, and the method includes: step 101, step 102 and step 103.

Step 101: acquiring first information;

step 102: obtaining a UPF selection priority according to the first information, wherein the UPF selection priority is the priority for selecting one UPF from a plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal;

step 103: and sending the UPF selection priority to the SMF.

In embodiments of the present invention, the NWDAF provides UPF selection priority to the SMF so that the SMF can select the best UPF as the user plane function of the terminal.

In some embodiments, the first information comprises: the distance between the UPF and the terminal, the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF, and/or the number of specific applications with access times exceeding a preset threshold value in a preset time, wherein the specific applications refer to third-party applications with servers in a preset range of the UPF.

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

c' represents the total node computation power of the edge data center where the UPF is located. For example, the NWDAF may acquire information related to the UE, such as location information of the UE, from the SMF, and the NWDAF may also request to acquire location information of all UPFs within an SMF management range from an NRF/Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM), and based on the information, may acquire a distance between a UPF and a terminal and a distance between the terminal and a UPF farthest from the terminal.

The remaining node computation capability of the UPF may indicate a situation of software or hardware remaining resources such as a CPU and a memory of the UPF, for example, the NWDAF may obtain the remaining node computation capabilities of all the UPFs in the SMF service area from the OAM request.

The edge data center may be deployed in an access room, an aggregation room, a telecommunication room of an operator, and a third-party professional edge data center provider own room, and the NWDAF may obtain a total node computation capability of the edge data center from an NRF, an OAM, or another network element.

In the above embodiment, the consistency and fairness of the UPF selection priority scores calculated in different scenes in the above calculation manner can be ensured by calculating the UPF selection priority scores based on the relative values, and further, the following formula (1-D/D) is adopted in the above formula_max) And calculating the distance score, thereby ensuring that the distance score of the UPF which is farther away from the terminal is lower, and improving the accuracy of the calculated UPF selection priority score.

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center.

For example, the scale value of the large edge data center may be set to 1, the scale value of the medium edge data center may be set to 0.7, and the scale value of the small edge data center may be set to 0.3. It should be noted that the scale value is not particularly limited in the examples of the present invention.

It can be understood that the size of a certain edge data center may be a large size, a medium size, or a small size, which is specified by an operator according to the number of servers in the edge data, for example, the size of an edge data center with 10 ten thousand servers is divided into a large size, the size of an edge data center with 1 ten thousand servers is divided into a medium size, and the size of an edge data center with 1000 servers is divided into a small size.

In the above embodiment, the consistency and fairness of the UPF selection priority scores calculated in different scenes in the above calculation manner can be ensured by calculating the UPF selection priority scores based on the relative values, and further, the following formula (1-D/D) is adopted in the above formula_max) Calculating the distance score, thereby ensuring that the distance score of the UPF which is farther away from the terminal is lower, and improving the accuracy of the UPF selection priority score; further, the scale value of the edge data center is also considered in the above formula, whichUnder the condition that the proportion of the computing resources of the rest nodes is the same, the UPF in the large edge data center has a higher priority score than that in the medium or small edge data center, so that a user can preferentially select the UPF in the large edge data center, and the service requirement of the user is further met.

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

It will be understood that N_numThe predetermined time period may be one or more months, or one or more weeks, and the predetermined time period and the preset threshold are not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

The third-party application may be a video APP, such as an arcade APP, and the like, but is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

in the above embodiment, the consistency and fairness of the UPF selection priority scores calculated in different scenes in the above calculation manner can be ensured by calculating the UPF selection priority scores based on the relative values, and further, the following formula (1-D/D) is adopted in the above formula_max) Calculating the distance score, thereby ensuring that the distance score of the UPF which is farther away from the terminal is lower, and improving the accuracy of the UPF selection priority score; further, the scale values of the edge data centers are also considered in the above formula, so that the scale values are counted at the remaining nodesUnder the condition of the same calculation resource proportion, the UPF in the large edge data center has a higher priority score than that in the medium or small edge data center, so that a user can preferentially select the UPF in the large edge data center to further meet the service requirement of the user; further, the number of servers of third-party applications frequently accessed by users and deployed around the UPF is also considered in the above formula, and the larger the number of servers is, the higher the UPF priority score is, so that the user can select the UPF meeting the user requirements based on the UPF priority score, thereby improving the user experience.

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

In some embodiments, step 102 is implemented by:

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

In the above embodiment, the UPF selection priority score is calculated based on the relative value, so that the consistency and fairness of the UPF selection priority scores calculated in different scenes by the above calculation method can be ensured, and further, the scale value of the edge data center is also considered in the above formula, so that the UPF score in the large edge data center is higher than the UPF priority score in the medium or small edge data center under the condition that the proportion of the remaining node calculation resources is the same, so that the user can preferentially select the UPF in the large edge data center, and further, the service requirement of the user can be met; further, the number of servers of third-party applications frequently accessed by users and deployed around the UPF is also considered in the above formula, and the larger the number of servers is, the higher the UPF priority score is, so that the user can select the UPF meeting the user requirements based on the UPF priority score, thereby improving the user experience.

The SMF generally selects a UPF corresponding to the highest UPF selection priority as the user plane function of the terminal.

In some embodiments, the remaining node computing power of the UPF is obtained from Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM).

In some embodiments, the information related to the third party application is obtained from NRF or OAM.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises: acquiring the updated first information; and updating the UPF selection priority according to the updated first information.

For example, the NWDAF obtains information related to the updated third party application from the NRF or OAM, and for example, the NWDAF obtains the remaining node computation power of the updated UPF from the OAM.

By the embodiment of the invention, the diversity of UPF selection can be enriched to be suitable for different scenes. As 5G and Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) technologies and deployments mature, Edge data centers are heavily built and the ability of UPF services to provide services depends on the Computing power of the Edge data centers. For example, the optimal UPF may be selected based on distance, remaining node computation power of the UPF, and the availability of servers of third party applications that are frequently accessed by UEs owned nearby.

Referring to fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for selecting a UPF, where an execution subject of the method is an SMF, and the method includes: step 201 and step 202.

Step 201: receiving a UPF selection priority from the NWDAF;

step 202: and selecting one UPF from the plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal according to the UPF selection priority.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the UPF selection priority is obtained by the NWDAF according to a distance between the UPF and the terminal, a remaining node calculation capability of the UPF, and/or a number of specific applications, where the specific applications refer to third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of the UPF.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the UPF selection priority is obtained by the NWDAF according to the following manner:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

Referring to fig. 3, the specific steps are as follows:

step 1: the SMF requests the NWDAF for the edge UPF score of the UE, which carries UE related information, such as UE location information.

Step 2: and the NWDAF requests the NRF/OAM to acquire the position information of all UPFs in the SMF management range and the position information of the third-party application deployment server.

And step 3: NRF/OAM responds to the request and returns the relevant information.

And 4, step 4: the NWDAF requests the OAM for the remaining node computation power of all UPFs within the SMF management scope.

And 5: and the OAM responds to the request and returns related information.

Step 6: the NWDAF performs a composite score based on the UE scoring each UPF, the most commonly visited N (configurable) applications.

For example, the scoring formula is: s ═ 1-D/D_max)*W1+C/C’*C_s*W2+N/N_num*W3

Wherein D represents the distance of the UPF from the UE, D_maxIndicating the distance between the UE and the UPF farthest from the UE within the SMF range.

C represents the remaining node computing power of the UPF, and C' represents the total computing power of the edge data center in which the UPF is located.

Cs represents a scale value of the edge data center, for example, 1 for large, 0.7 for medium, and 0.3 for small.

N_numRepresents the total number of three-party applications most frequently accessed by the UE, and N is represented by_numThe number of third party applications that own a server in the vicinity of the UPF.

W1, W2, and W3 are weights for distance, UPF remaining node calculation capacity, and a third-party application server that a UE owned nearby needs to access, and optionally, the value intervals are all 0 to 1, and the default value W1 ═ W2 ═ W3 ═ 1/3.

And 7: the NWDAF returns the edge UPF score for the UE to the SMF.

And 8: the SMF selects the UPF with the highest score as the user plane function (UL CL) of the UE.

Referring to fig. 4, the embodiment of the present invention provides a process for updating selection priorities by applying an NWDAF triggered by a newly added location server, which includes the following specific steps:

step 1: when the application initially registers, the position of the server providing the service is reported to the NEF/when the application newly adds the server position, the server position is reported to the NEF.

Step 2: the NEF sends a reception response to the AF.

And step 3: the NEF synchronizes the information to the NRF/OAM.

And 4, step 4: the NRF/OAM sends a receive response.

And 5: NRF/OAM judges that the server position is newly added, and sends the server position to NWDAF;

step 6: the NWDAF sends and receives a response;

and 7: the NWDAF updates the stored scoring results based on the update data.

Referring to fig. 5, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a process of requesting UPF computing capability from OAM by the NWDAF to perform priority update, where the specific steps are as follows:

step 1: the NWDAF periodically requests the OAM for remaining computation power information of UPFs within the respective SMF management ranges.

Step 2: the OAM synchronizes the information to the NWDAF.

And step 3: the NWDAF updates the stored scoring results based on the update data.

Referring to fig. 6, an embodiment of the present invention provides an NWDAF600, including:

an obtaining module 601, configured to obtain first information;

a processing module 602, configured to obtain a UPF selection priority according to the first information, where the UPF selection priority is a priority for selecting one UPF from multiple UPFs as a user plane function of the terminal;

a sending module 603, configured to send the UPF selection priority to the SMF.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first information includes: the distance of the UPF from the terminal, and the remaining node computing power of the UPF, and/or the number of specific applications, which are third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of the UPF.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max) + C/C' to obtain UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’×C_sObtaining a UPF selection priority score S:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’×C_s+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

D_maxindicating the distance between the terminal and the SMF range for providing service for the terminalDistance between the farthest UPFs of the terminals;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ C/C' + N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the processing module 602 is further configured to: according to the formula S ═ C/C' × C_s+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

n is represented by N_numThe number of third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of UPFAmount of the compound (A).

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF is obtained from operation maintenance management.

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the information related to the third-party application is obtained from a network storage function or operation maintenance management.

In this embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the obtaining module 601 is further configured to obtain the updated first information;

the processing module 602 is further configured to update the UPF selection priority according to the updated first information.

The NWDAF provided by the embodiment of the present invention may implement the method embodiment shown in fig. 1, which has similar implementation principles and technical effects, and this embodiment is not described herein again.

Referring to fig. 7, an embodiment of the present invention provides an NWDAF700, including: a first transceiver 701 and a first processor 702;

the first transceiver 701 receives and transmits data under the control of the first processor 702;

the first processor 702 reads a program in memory to perform the following operations: acquiring first information; obtaining a UPF selection priority according to the first information, wherein the UPF selection priority is the priority for selecting one UPF from a plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal; and sending the UPF selection priority to the SMF.

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first processor 702 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max) + C/C' to obtain UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

D_maxrepresents the terminal and the stationThe distance between UPFs which are farthest from the terminal in the SMF range of the service provided by the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center.

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first processor 702 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first processor 702 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first processor 702 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+C/C’×C_s+N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first processor 702 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: according to the formula S ═ C/C' + N/N_numObtaining a UPF selection priority score S;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

In the embodiment of the present invention, optionally, the first processor 702 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: acquiring the updated first information; and updating the UPF selection priority according to the updated first information.

Referring to fig. 8, an embodiment of the present invention provides an SMF, where the SMF800 includes:

a receiving module 801 for receiving a UPF selection priority from an NWDAF;

a selecting module 802, configured to select one UPF from multiple UPFs as a user plane function of the terminal according to the UPF selection priority.

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

according to the formula S ═ 1-D/D_max)+N/N_numTo obtain a UPF selection priority scoreS：

D represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

The SMF provided in the embodiment of the present invention may implement the method embodiment shown in fig. 2, which has similar implementation principles and technical effects, and this embodiment is not described herein again.

Referring to fig. 9, an embodiment of the present invention provides an SMF, where the SMF900 includes: a second transceiver 901 and a second processor 902;

the second transceiver 901 receives and transmits data under the control of the second processor 902;

the second processor 902 reads a program in the memory to perform the following operations: receiving a UPF selection priority from the NWDAF; and selecting one UPF from the plurality of UPFs as the user plane function of the terminal according to the UPF selection priority.

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_srepresenting the edge data centerA scale value of (d);

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied in hardware or may be embodied in software instructions executed by a processor. The software instructions may consist of corresponding software modules that may be stored in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a removable hard disk, a compact disk, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may be carried in a core network interface device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a core network interface device.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in one or more of the examples described above, the functions described in this invention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.

The above-mentioned embodiments, objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention are further described in detail, it should be understood that the above-mentioned embodiments are only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and the like made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention.

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

1. A method for selecting a user plane function UPF for use in a network data analysis function NWDAF, comprising:

acquiring first information;

and sending the UPF selection priority to a Session Management Function (SMF).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises: the distance of the UPF from the terminal, and the remaining node computing power of the UPF, and/or the number of specific applications, which are third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of the UPF.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

D_marepresenting the distance between the terminal and the UPF which is farthest from the terminal in the SMF range for providing service for the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

6. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

7. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

8. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

according to the formula S ═ C/C' + N/N_numTo obtain a UPF selection priority score S；

C represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

9. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining a UPF selection priority based on the first information comprises:

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

10. The method of claim 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 or 9 wherein the remaining node computing capacity of the UPF is obtained from operations maintenance management.

11. The method according to any of claims 5 to 9, wherein the information related to the third party application is obtained from a network storage function or an operation maintenance management.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

acquiring the updated first information;

13. A method for selecting UPF, which is applied to SMF, is characterized by comprising the following steps:

receiving a UPF selection priority from the NWDAF;

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the UPF selection priority is derived by the NWDAF based on a distance of the UPF from the terminal and a remaining node computation power of the UPF, and/or a number of specific applications, the specific applications being third party applications having servers within a predetermined range of the UPF.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the UPF selection priority is derived by the NWDAF according to:

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

d represents the distance between the UPF and the terminal;

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

c represents the computing capacity of the remaining nodes of the UPF;

C_sa scale value representing the edge data center;

16. An NWDFAF, comprising: a first transceiver and a first processor;

17. An SMF, comprising: a second transceiver and a second processor;

18. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, carries out the steps of a method comprising UPF selection according to any of claims 1 to 15.