CN113993147A

CN113993147A - Information processing method, network element, storage medium, and program product

Info

Publication number: CN113993147A
Application number: CN202111609504.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 沈畅
Original assignee: ZTE Corp
Current assignee: ZTE Corp
Priority date: 2021-12-27
Filing date: 2021-12-27
Publication date: 2022-01-28
Anticipated expiration: 2041-12-27
Also published as: WO2023124635A1; CN113993147B

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide an information processing method, a network element, a computer storage medium, and a computer program product, which can send a session update request carrying relevant information corresponding to a standby AMF to the SMF by the standby AMF in a scenario of AMF disaster recovery switching and when the standby AMF and the SMF do not interact with each other through an update session management context message, so that the SMF completes information update, thereby ensuring continuity of subsequent services.

Description

Information processing method, network element, storage medium, and program product

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to an information processing method, a network element, a storage medium, and a program product.

Background

In a system architecture of a current fifth Generation communication technology (5 th Generation, 5G), in order to prevent an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) network service interruption situation from occurring due to equipment failure, power outage, natural disaster, and the like, a related technology provides an AMF POOL disaster tolerance scheme, that is, multiple sets of AMFs are respectively deployed in multiple different regions to form an AMF POOL, so that when a current AMF device is unavailable, a standby AMF device is selected from the AMF POOL to take over a current service.

Currently, in the related art, since the AMF is the only mobile access point of the terminal, Session information between a terminal (User Equipment, UE) and a Session Management Function (SMF) is transparently transmitted by the AMF. In an AMF disaster tolerance scenario, a backup AMF needs to send backup AMF related information to an SMF, and since the AMF interacts with the SMF through an Update session management Context message Update SM Context, in the related art, the backup AMF is taken along with the backup AMF information in the Update SM Context message to notify the SMF of performing disaster tolerance switching.

Disclosure of Invention

The following is a summary of the subject matter described in detail herein. This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an information processing method, a network element, a computer storage medium, and a computer program product, which can satisfy a situation that information of a standby AMF and an SMF is successfully interacted when the interaction between the two is not performed by updating a session management context message in a disaster recovery handover scenario.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an information processing method, which is applied to a second access and mobility management function network element AMF, where the method includes: under the condition that a message transmission request sent by a session management function network element (SMF) is obtained and an update session management context message is not sent to the SMF according to the message transmission request, sending a session update request to the SMF, so that the SMF updates information in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session according to the session update request; wherein the message transmission request is for the second AMF to take over a session of the first AMF; updating the information in the PDU session includes updating information in the PDU session corresponding to the first AMF to information corresponding to the second AMF.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an information processing method, which is applied to a session management function network element SMF, where the method includes: sending a message transmission request to a second access and mobility management function network element AMF; receiving a session update request sent by the second AMF, wherein the session update request is sent by the second AMF without sending an update session management context message to the SMF according to the message transmission request; updating information in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session according to the session updating request; wherein the message transmission request is for the second AMF to take over a session of the first AMF; updating the information in the PDU session includes updating information in the PDU session corresponding to the first AMF to information corresponding to the second AMF.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network element, including: a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the information processing method according to the first aspect when executing the computer program, or implementing the information processing method according to the second aspect as described above.

In a fourth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer-executable instructions for executing the information processing method described above.

In a fifth aspect, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or a computer instruction, where the computer program or the computer instruction is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and a processor of a computer device reads the computer program or the computer instruction from the computer-readable storage medium, and executes the computer program or the computer instruction, so that the computer device executes the information processing method described above.

The embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps: when the second AMF acquires a message transmission request sent by a session management function network element (SMF) and does not send a session management context updating message to the SMF according to the message transmission request, the second AMF sends a session updating request to the SMF, so that the SMF updates information in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session according to the session updating request; wherein the message transmission request is for causing the second AMF to take over a session of the first AMF; updating the information in the protocol data unit session includes updating information in the PDU session corresponding to the first AMF to information corresponding to the second AMF.

According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, in the AMF disaster recovery switching scene, and when the standby AMF and the SMF do not interact through the session update management context message, the standby AMF sends the session update request carrying the relevant information corresponding to the standby AMF to the SMF, so that the SMF completes information update, and the continuity of subsequent services is ensured.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

Drawings

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a 5G system architecture according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system structure in a disaster recovery switching scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an information processing method for carrying backup AMF information along a path according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an information processing method in a case where the standby AMF does not send an update session management context message to the SMF according to the message transmission request according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an information processing method according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an information processing method according to another embodiment of the invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of session update request information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a network element handover field according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a determination of SMF information update according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a network element structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

It should be noted that, although a logical order is illustrated in the flowcharts, in some cases, the steps illustrated or described may be performed in an order different from that in the flowcharts. The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, and the drawings described above, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

Currently, in the related art, since the AMF is the only mobile access point of the terminal, Session information between a terminal (User Equipment, UE) and a Session Management Function network element (SMF) is transparently transmitted by the AMF, that is, when a Session is established, the AMF creates a Session Management context on the SMF by calling a service interface provided by the SMF, and implements communication between the SMF and the terminal by transparently transmitting service messages such as creation and update of the Session Management context and the like in the AMF. Therefore, when the SMF is triggered to modify or release the session by network elements such as the SMF itself or a Unified Data Management Function network element (UDM), a Policy Control Function network element (PCF), and the like, the SMF needs to find the AMF corresponding to the session for transparent transmission, and therefore, the SMF needs to have instant and accurate AMF information. In the AMF disaster recovery scenario, the AMF responsible for access and transparent transmission changes, and if the changed AMF information is not updated at the SMF, the service is unavailable or discontinuous. In the related art, the backup AMF information is sequentially brought in the Update session management Context Update SM Context message to notify the SMF of performing disaster recovery switching, but when the AMF and the SMF do not interact with each other through the Update session management Context message, the backup AMF cannot notify the SMF of performing disaster recovery switching through the Update session management Context message.

Based on this, the invention provides an information processing method, a network element, a computer readable storage medium and a computer program product.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a 5G system architecture suitable for an embodiment of the present application, and the following describes each part involved in the network architecture separately.

The user equipment 110: may include various handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capabilities, as well as various forms of terminals, Mobile Stations (MSs), terminals (terminals), User Equipment (UEs), soft terminals, etc. Such as water meters, electricity meters, sensors, etc.

(radio access network, (R) AN) 120: the method and the device are used for providing a network access function for authorized user equipment in a specific area, and can use transmission tunnels with different qualities according to the level of the user equipment, the service requirement and the like.

The (R) AN can manage radio resources and provide access services for the ue, thereby completing forwarding of control signals and ue data between the ue and the core network, and the (R) AN can also be understood as a base station in a conventional network.

The user plane network element 130: for packet routing and forwarding, quality of service (QoS) handling of user plane data, etc.

In the 5G communication system, the user plane network element may be a User Plane Function (UPF) network element. In a future communication system, the user plane network element may still be a UPF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

Data network element 140: for providing a network for transmitting data.

In the 5G communication system, the data network element may be a Data Network (DN) element. In future communication systems, the data network element may still be a DN element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

Access management network element 150: the method is mainly used for mobility management, access management and the like, and can be used for realizing other functions except session management in Mobility Management Entity (MME) functions, such as functions of lawful interception, access authorization/authentication and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the access management network element may be an access and mobility management function (AMF). In future communication systems, the access management network element may still be an AMF, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

Session management network element 160: the method is mainly used for session management, Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management of the user equipment, selection of a termination point capable of managing a user plane function, a policy control and charging function interface, downlink data notification and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the session management network element may be a Session Management Function (SMF) network element. In future communication systems, the session management network element may still be an SMF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

Policy control network element 170: the unified policy framework is used for guiding network behavior, providing policy rule information for control plane function network elements (such as AMF, SMF network elements and the like), and the like.

In a 5G communication system, the policy control network element may be a Policy Control Function (PCF) network element. In future communication systems, the policy control network element may still be a PCF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

Authentication server 180: the method is used for authentication service and key generation to realize bidirectional authentication of the user equipment, and supports a uniform authentication framework.

In a 5G communication system, the authentication server may be an authentication server function (AUSF) network element. In a future communication system, the authentication server function network element may still be an AUSF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

The data management network element 190: for handling user equipment identity, access authentication, registration, mobility management, etc.

In the 5G communication system, the data management network element may be a Unified Data Management (UDM) network element; in future communication systems, the unified data management may still be a UDM network element, or may also have other names, which is not limited in this application.

The application network element 1100: the method is used for carrying out data routing of application influence, accessing to a network open function network element, carrying out strategy control by interacting with a strategy framework and the like.

In the 5G communication system, the application network element may be an Application Function (AF) network element. In a future communication system, the application network element may still be an AF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

A network storage network element: for maintaining real-time information of all network function services in the network.

In the 5G communication system, the network storage network element may be a Network Registration Function (NRF) network element. In future communication systems, the network storage network element may still be an NRF network element, or may also have another name, which is not limited in this application.

It is to be understood that the above network elements or functions may be network elements in a hardware device, or may be software functions running on dedicated hardware, or virtualization functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud platform). For convenience of description, in the following description, an access management network element is an AMF, a data management network element is an UDM network element, a session management network element is an SMF network element, and a user plane network element is a UPF network element. Wherein, the terminal 110 accesses the network through the access network element 120, and communicates with the AMF network element 150 through a next generation network (Nextgeneration, N) N1 interface (N1 for short); the access network element 120 communicates with the AMF network element 150 through an N2 interface (N2 for short) and communicates with the UPF network element 130 through an N3 interface (N3 for short); the AMF network element 150 communicates with the SMF network element 160 through an N11 interface (N11 for short), with the UDM network element 190 through an N8 interface (N8 for short), and with the PCF network element 170 through an N15 interface (N15 for short); different AMF network elements 150 communicate with each other through an N14 interface (N14 for short); the SMF network element 160 communicates with the UPF network element 130 via an N4 interface (N4 for short), with the UDM network element 190 via an N10 interface (N10 for short), and with the PCF network element 170 via an N7 interface (N7 for short); different UPF network elements 130 communicate with each other through an N9 interface (N9 for short); the UPF network element 130 accesses the data network element 140 through an N6 interface (N6 for short).

It should be noted that the interface name between each network element in fig. 1 is only an example, and the interface name may be other names in a specific implementation, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In addition, it should be noted that control plane network elements such as the AMF network element, the SMF network element, the PCF network element, or the UDM network element in the 5G network shown in fig. 1 may also use a service interface for interaction. For example, the service interface provided by the AMF network element to the outside may be Namf; the service interface externally provided by the SMF network element can be Nsmf; the service interface externally provided by the PCF network element may be Npcf; the serving interface externally provided by the UDM network element may be Nudm and the like. For a related description, reference may be made to the 5G system architecture (5G system architecture) diagram in the 23501 standard, which is not repeated herein.

It should be noted that the access network element, the SMF network element, the AMF network element, the UPF network element, the UDM network element, or the PCF network element in fig. 1 are only names, and the names do not limit the device itself. In the 5G network and other future networks, network elements or entities corresponding to an access network element, an SMF network element, an AMF network element, a UPF network element, a UDM network element, or a PCF network element may also be other names, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application. For example, the UPF network element may also be replaced by a UPF or a UPF entity, etc., which are described herein in a unified manner and will not be described further below.

The system architecture described in the embodiment of the present invention is for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and does not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and it can be known by those skilled in the art that the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to similar technical problems with the evolution of network topology and the occurrence of new application scenarios.

Based on the above system architecture, various embodiments of the information processing method of the present invention are presented below.

As shown in fig. 2, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system structure in a disaster recovery switching scenario according to an embodiment of the present invention, and describes that a standby AMF network element in an AMF POOL replaces mobility management and access management of a current AMF network element due to an equipment failure, a power outage, a natural disaster, and the like.

As shown, the system includes AMF POOL, NRF network element 220, SMF network element 230, UPF network element 240, UDM network element 250, PCF network element 260.

In an optional embodiment, after the current AMF 1211 fails, the Network warehousing Function (NRF) 220 finds that the current AMF 1211 fails through heartbeat detection, so that the SMF 230 is notified that the current AMF 1211 fails, and then the SMF 230 selects another AMF from the AMF POOL to take over the PDU session according to the active/standby configuration information of the AMF during service, that is, the standby AMF 2212 continues the service flow of the current session. When the standby AMF 2212 takes over the current session successfully, the AMF network element must notify the SMF of some key information of the AMF 2212, such as changes of the AMF identifier, the GUAMI, the callback URI, etc., and update the change to the PDU session context of the SMF, so as to facilitate the normal execution of the subsequent service flow, and the above process is called as disaster recovery switching. Therefore, whether the standby AMF 2212 can notify the SMF of the key information of the standby AMF will solve whether the subsequent service can be executed normally.

To describe the specific steps of disaster recovery switching and the information processing method in the related art in more detail, an embodiment shown in fig. 3 is provided, as shown in fig. 3, NRF finds a failure of AMF1 through heartbeat detection, NRF initiates a heartbeat message to AMF1, and AMF1 is not responded to when time out; the NRF initiates a heartbeat message to the AMF1 until the heartbeat timeout reaches the maximum number, so the NRF considers that the AMF1 is down, and the disaster recovery switching process is started.

Step S301: the NRF network element which finds the fault informs the SMF network element that the current AMF1 is in fault and can not provide service.

Step S302: the PCF network element initiates a session update request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element also sends a session update response to the PCF network element according to the session update request of the PCF network element.

Step S303: the SMF discovers the AMF1 failure and makes a selection of a backup AMF.

In the current embodiment, the AMF2 is selected as the standby AMF for subsequent communications.

In the current service scenario, since the PCF triggers the SMF to perform session update and gets the response of the SMF, the SMF initiates the SM policy update procedure at an appropriate time to acquire a new policy in real time. Subsequently, when sending an N1N2 message transfer (N1N2 message transfer) request to the AMF2, the SMF carries session update information, so that the AMF2 responds to the session update request and sends a session update message request to the SMF in a subsequent service flow.

The above scenario is embodied by steps S304 to S309, and specifically includes the steps of:

step S304: the SMF sends an N1N2 message transfer request and, in response, AMF2 receives an N1N2 message transfer request from the SMF.

Step S305: the AMF2 sends an N1N2Transfer response and, in response, the SMF receives an N1N2 messaging response from the AMF 2.

Step S306: the AMF2 pulls the PDU session context.

In the current embodiment, the N1N2 message transmission request carries a PDU session identifier, and the AMF2 can obtain a PDU session context corresponding to the identifier from the database UDSF according to the PDU session identifier, thereby completing taking over of an AMF1 session.

Step S307: the AMF2 sends a session update request (N1N2 update response).

Step S308: the updating message carries the key information of the standby AMF along with the path and is updated to the SMF PDU session context.

Step S309: the SMF sends a session update response.

It should be noted that, in the current embodiment, since the AMF2 actively sends the session update request, the AMF information related to the AMF2 is sent to the SMF in a forward manner through the session update request; after receiving the session update request, the SMF parses the key information related to the AMF, and updates the new AMF information to the original SMF PDU session context, thereby completing the full process of disaster recovery switching.

In the embodiment corresponding to fig. 3, since the current flow notifies the SMF of the key information of the standby AMF to Update the Context in a subsequent signaling sequence when the Update SM Context signaling is subsequently interacted after the AMF has undergone disaster recovery switching, smooth interaction of the information is achieved, and it is ensured that subsequent services are continuous.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an information processing method in a case where the standby AMF does not send an update session management context message to the SMF according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4, the method comprises the following steps:

step S401: the NRF network element which finds the fault informs the SMF network element that the current AMF1 is in fault and can not provide service.

Step S402: the UPF network element initiates paging to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element also sends paging response according to the paging of the UPF network element.

Step S403: the SMF discovers the AMF1 failure and makes a selection of a backup AMF.

It should be noted that, in the current service scenario, because there is no network element triggering the SMF to perform session Update, there is no Update SM Context between the AMF and the SMF to perform information interaction subsequently, that is, after receiving the message transmission request sent by the SMF, the AMF does not correspondingly send a session Update request for updating the session management Context message according to the message transmission request.

The above scenario is embodied by steps S404 to S407, and specifically includes the steps of:

step S404: the SMF sends an N1N2 message transfer request and, in response, AMF2 receives an N1N2 message transfer request from the SMF.

Step S405: the AMF2 sends an N1N2Transfer response and, in response, the SMF receives an N1N2 messaging response from the AMF 2.

Step S406: the AMF2 pulls the PDU session context.

It should be noted that, in the current embodiment, the N1N2 message transmission request carries a PDU session identifier, and the AMF2 can obtain a PDU session context corresponding to the identifier from the database UDSF according to the PDU session identifier, thereby completing taking over of the AMF1 session.

Step S407: this scenario follows without session update messages, and the key information of AMF2 cannot be updated to the session context of SMF.

It should be noted that, in the current embodiment, since the SMF does not acquire the latest AMF-related information, there is no way to Update the session Context through the Update SM Context to maintain a correct session management signaling path, which results in discontinuity of subsequent services.

In order to solve the problems generated by the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present application proposes an information processing method shown in fig. 5, which includes the following steps:

step S501: the NRF network element which finds the fault informs the SMF network element that the current AMF1 is in fault and can not provide service.

Step S502: the PCF network element initiates a session update request to the SMF network element, and the SMF network element also sends a session update response to the PCF network element according to the session update request of the PCF network element.

Step S503: the SMF discovers the AMF1 failure and performs a backup AMF reselection.

It is worth noting that in the current service scenario, since the PCF triggers the SMF to perform session update and gets the response of the SMF, the SMF initiates the SM policy update procedure at an appropriate time to acquire a new policy in real time. Compared with the embodiment of fig. 3 in which the update message carries the AMF2 information along the path to implement information update, the session update request of the embodiment has the field of the network element handover information and the field of the target access management information, which can help the SMF to quickly determine whether to update according to the received AMF2 information.

The above scenario is embodied by steps S504 to S509, and specifically includes the steps of:

step S504: the SMF sends an N1N2 message transfer request and, in response, AMF2 receives an N1N2 message transfer request from the SMF.

Step S505: the AMF2 sends an N1N2Transfer response and, in response, the SMF receives an N1N2 messaging response from the AMF 2.

Step S506: the AMF2 pulls the PDU session context.

Step S507: the AMF2 sends a session update request.

In some embodiments, the session update request includes network element handover information and target access management information. The network element switching information is used for identifying that the AMF of the service terminal has been switched from the first AMF to the second AMF, and the target access management information includes second management information used for identifying the identity of the second AMF.

In some embodiments, the network element switching information is filled by a network element switching field, and the target access management information is filled by a target access management field, as shown in fig. 7, and a session update request carrying the network element switching field and the target access management field is sent to the SMF for updating the corresponding information in the SMF.

It should be noted that the network element handover field includes the following specific fields: variable name, data type, whether parameters are needed, and cardinality.

In the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, the network element switching field adopts the structure shown in fig. 8, and as shown in the figure, the network element switching field includes a variable name recoverytobeswitch, a data type boilean boolean, whether a parameter needs to be C, and a base number is 0.. 1. When the data value is True, that is, the data value indicates that the AMF is switched from the primary AMF1 to the standby AMF2 due to disaster recovery switching; when the data value is False, it means that the disaster recovery switching does not occur, and the switching between the primary and secondary AMFs does not occur.

It should be noted that the network element switching information can represent whether or not the AMF has undergone disaster recovery switching, and therefore, the data type is not limited to the boolean type, and any data type and corresponding data value that can transmit whether or not the AMF has undergone disaster recovery switching can form the session update request provided in the embodiment of the present application.

It should be noted that the network element switching information may be carried by extending the Update SM Context signaling, or may be carried by using an original vacant position in the Update SM Context signaling.

It should be noted that the target access management field may include AMF identification information, global mobility management network element identification information, and callback uniform resource identification information, which may identify an identity of the standby AMF, so as to ensure that the SMF may implement correct sending of subsequent service information by updating the information.

In the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, the target access management field includes an AMF ID field and a Globally Unique AMF Identifier (GUAMI) field.

It should be noted that there are multiple AMFs in the network, but the AMF group identifier and the AMF pointer that the network can support are not sufficient, and at this time, the AMF group identifier and the AMF pointer need to be multiplexed in different areas, so the target access management field may also include an area identifier where the AMF network element is located, a group identifier where the AMF network element is located, an AMF pointer identifier, and the like.

Step S508: and updating the key information field of the standby AMF to the SMF PDU session context according to the network element switching information.

In the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, after receiving the session update request sent by the AMF2, the SMF parses the content therein to obtain the network element switching information and the target access management information of the AMF2, and updates the session context managed by the SMF according to the above information.

Step S509: the SMF sends a session update response.

Different from the embodiment of fig. 3 in which the update message is used to carry the relevant information of the AMF2 along the path, the information processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application not only transfers the relevant information of the AMF2 through the redefined session update request, but also indicates whether the AMF is switched by defining a completely new network element switching field, helps the SMF to quickly identify the AMF disaster recovery switching scenario, facilitates the service processing of the SMF, ensures that the service can normally operate, and ensures the service quality.

Fig. 6 provides another exemplary application scenario during disaster recovery switching, as shown in the figure, which includes the following steps:

the NRF discovers the fault of the AMF1 through heartbeat detection, the NRF initiates a heartbeat message to the AMF1, and the AMF1 does not respond after time out; the NRF initiates a heartbeat message to the AMF1 until the heartbeat timeout reaches the maximum number, so the NRF considers that the AMF1 is down, and the disaster recovery switching process is started.

Step S601: the NRF notifies the SMF AMF1 of the failure.

Step S602: the PCF initiates a session release.

Step S603: the SMF sends a delete bearer request.

In this embodiment, since the PCF indicates the session release, the SMF sends a delete bearer request to the UPF.

Step S604: the UPF sends a delete bearer response.

In this embodiment, receiving a bearer deletion request sent by the SMF, the UPF sends a bearer deletion response to the SMF.

Step S605: and the SMF finds that the AMF1 is failed, and performs standby AMF reselection.

In this embodiment, AMF2 is selected as the standby AMF for subsequent communications.

Step S606: the SMF sends an N1N2Transfer request.

Step S607: the AMF sends an N1N2Transfer response.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the PCF triggers session release, so the SMF may notify the AMF to perform session release, but since the state of the terminal UE is CM-IDLE, that is, IDLE state, and the N1N2 message transmission request carries a "skip indicator" field, the subsequent AMF2 may not have an interactive procedure with the terminal UE or RAN, which may cause the Update SM Context not to be sent out in the related art.

Step S608: the AMF pulls the PDU session context.

In this embodiment, the N1N2 message transmission request carries a PDU session identifier, and the AMF2 can obtain a PDU session context corresponding to the identifier from the database UDSF according to the PDU session identifier, thereby completing taking over of an AMF1 session.

Step S609: the AMF sends a session update request.

It should be noted that, unlike the Update SM Context message that is not sent in the related art, in the information processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the AMF sends a session Update request, and carries, in the session Update request, network element switching information used for identifying that the AMF of the service terminal has been switched from the first AMF to the second AMF, and target access management information used for identifying the identity of the second AMF.

In the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, the target access management field includes an AMF ID field, a GUAMI field, and a callback uniform resource identifier URI.

Step S610: the SMF saves the critical information (callback URI) of the standby AMF to the PDU session context.

Step S611: the SMF sends a session update response.

Step S612: the SMF informs the AMF to release the session.

In this embodiment, the SMF uses the latest notification callback URI of the AMF2 to send a notification message to the AMF2 to release the session, thereby ensuring service continuity.

Fig. 9 can further illustrate the operation principle and the beneficial effect of the network element switching field, as shown in fig. 9, when the SMF receives the session update request sent by the AMF2, the SMF parses the network element switching field and its value.

In some embodiments, the data type of the network element switching field is boolean, and when detecting that the data value is 1, the network element is switched to True, that is, the current scenario is a disaster recovery switching scenario, and the AMF serving the terminal has been switched from AMF1 to AMF2, so that based on this scenario, the SMF needs to update the AMF information in the session context managed by the SMF to ensure the smooth proceeding of the subsequent service; when the data value carried in the network element switching field is detected to be 0, the disaster recovery switching does not occur, and the AMF network element does not change, so that the AMF information in the session context managed by the AMF network element does not need to be updated. The existence of the network element switching field can quickly distinguish the session Update request in the embodiment of the application from the Update SM Context in the related technology, so that the SMF can quickly identify whether the current situation is a disaster recovery switching situation, the service processing efficiency of the SMF in the AMF disaster recovery switching situation is improved, and the service continuity is ensured.

As will be known to those skilled in the art, the network element switching information can represent whether or not the AMF has undergone disaster recovery switching, and therefore, the data type is not limited to the boolean type, and any data type and corresponding data value that can transmit whether or not the AMF has undergone disaster recovery switching can form the session update request provided in the embodiment of the present application.

In addition, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a network element, where the network element includes a processor 1010, a memory 1020, a receiver 1030, and a transmitter 1040, where the receiver 1030 is capable of receiving information transmitted by other network elements, and the transmitter 1040 is capable of transmitting information to other network elements, and the memory 1020 stores a computer program capable of executing the information processing method.

In an embodiment, when the network element is an AMF network element, the above-described method steps S505 to S507 in fig. 5 and the method steps S607 to S609 in fig. 6 are performed.

In an embodiment, when the network element is an SMF network element, the above-described method steps S504, S508 to S509 in fig. 5, and the method steps S606, S610 to S612 in fig. 6 are performed.

Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions, which are executed by a processor or a controller, for example, by a processor in the foregoing network device embodiment, and can cause the processor to execute the information processing method in the foregoing embodiment, for example, execute the method steps S503 to S509 in fig. 5 and the method steps S605 to S612 in fig. 6 described above.

Furthermore, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or a computer instruction, the computer program or the computer instruction is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, a processor of a computer device reads the computer program or the computer instruction from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer program or the computer instruction, so that the computer device executes the information processing method as described above, for example, executes the method steps S503 to S509 in fig. 5 and the method steps S605 to S612 in fig. 6 described above.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or some of the steps, systems, and methods disclosed above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and suitable combinations thereof. Some or all of the physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, digital signal processor, or microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on computer readable media, which may include computer storage media (or non-transitory media) and communication media (or transitory media). The term computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by a computer. In addition, communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media as known to those skilled in the art.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and deviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the scope of this invention.

Claims

1. An information processing method is applied to a second access and mobility management function network element AMF, and the method comprises the following steps:

under the condition that a message transmission request sent by a session management function network element (SMF) is obtained and an update session management context message is not sent to the SMF according to the message transmission request, sending a session update request to the SMF, so that the SMF updates information in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session according to the session update request;

wherein the message transmission request is for the second AMF to take over a session of the first AMF; updating the information in the PDU session includes updating information in the PDU session corresponding to the first AMF to information corresponding to the second AMF.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending a session update request to the SMF comprises:

constructing a session updating request according to the message transmission request, wherein the session updating request comprises network element switching information and target access management information; wherein, the network element switching information is used for identifying that the AMF of the service terminal has been switched from the first AMF to the second AMF; the target access management information comprises second management information for identifying an identity of the second AMF;

sending the session update request including the network element handover information and the target access management information to the SMF.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the session update request comprises a network element handover field and a target access management field, and wherein constructing the session update request comprises:

constructing the network element switching field and the target access management field;

filling the network element switching information into the network element switching field;

filling the target access management information into the target access management field;

and obtaining the session updating request according to the network element switching field filled with the network element switching information and the target access management field filled with the target access management information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the failing to send an update session management context message to the session management function network element (SMF) according to the message transmission request comprises:

and when the terminal is detected to be in an idle state and the message transmission request comprises a skip indicator field, determining not to send a session management context updating message to the SMF according to the message transmission request.

5. The method according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the second management information comprises AMF identification information, GSM network element identification information, and callback uniform resource identification information.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein after acquiring the message transmission request sent by the session management function network element SMF, the method further comprises:

acquiring a first session identifier of a first session according to the message transmission request; the first session is a session which is registered under the first AMF and is taken over by the second AMF after switching;

acquiring first session context information corresponding to the first session identifier from a database according to the first session identifier;

taking over the first session according to the first session context information.

7. An information processing method is applied to a session management function network element (SMF), and the method comprises the following steps:

sending a message transmission request to a second access and mobility management function network element AMF;

receiving a session update request sent by the second AMF, wherein the session update request is sent by the second AMF without sending an update session management context message to the SMF according to the message transmission request;

updating information in a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session according to the session updating request;

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the session update request comprises network element handover information and target access management information; wherein, the network element switching information is used for identifying that the AMF of the service terminal has been switched from the first AMF to the second AMF; the target access management information comprises second management information capable of identifying the second AMF identity.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein updating the information corresponding to the first AMF to the information corresponding to the second AMF in the PDU session comprises:

updating the first management information in the PDU conversation to the second management information; the first management information is access and mobility management information capable of identifying the first AMF identity.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the second management information comprises AMF identification information, gsm mme identification information, and callback url identification information.

11. A network element, comprising: memory, processor and computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that the processor implements the information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 when executing the computer program.

12. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer program or computer instructions, characterized in that the computer program or the computer instructions is stored in a computer readable storage medium, from which the computer program or the computer instructions is read by a processor of a computer device, the processor executing the computer program or the computer instructions, causing the computer device to perform the information processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.