CN114079640B

CN114079640B - Data processing method, user plane function and device

Info

Publication number: CN114079640B
Application number: CN202010794988.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 程志密; 胡渭琦
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-10
Filing date: 2020-08-10
Publication date: 2022-12-16
Anticipated expiration: 2040-08-10
Also published as: CN114079640A

Abstract

The invention discloses a data processing method, a user plane function and a device, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow table item issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message; and the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one primary flow table entry. The scheme of the invention can solve the problem of how to perform data transmission processing on the user plane function UPF based on the SDN technology according to the IP header information of the data message.

Description

Data processing method, user plane function and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a data processing method, a user plane function, and an apparatus.

Background

The main idea of Software Defined Networking (SDN) is the separation of the control plane and the forwarding plane; centralized control and scheduling of network resources; the open programmability allows the application to program and schedule the network resources, and realizes the seamless combination of the application and the network resources.

As shown in fig. 1, which is an architectural diagram of an SDN network, network devices in the SDN network are typically Openflow switches, and in a broader sense, the network devices may include forwarding devices whose all forwarding rules are controlled by an SDN controller.

As shown in fig. 2, the control plane is separated from the forwarding plane in the SDN network. The control plane node is an SDN Controller (SDN Controller) and is responsible for network topology calculation, network state monitoring, path calculation, path rule generation, and the like. The forwarding plane node is called an SDN switch and is responsible for forwarding data according to entries in a flow table, and the current SDN switches all support an Openflow protocol. The communication between the controller and the switch depends on an Openflow protocol, and the communication is mainly used for reporting unknown packets, reporting network state and flow statistics, issuing flow rules and the like.

The data forwarding mechanism in the SDN network is greatly different from the packet forwarding mechanism in the traditional IP network, and when the SDN switch forwards a packet, flow table matching is performed according to packet header information of the packet, where the packet header information mainly includes 11 fields.

If the SDN switch finds a matching item of the packet, the SDN switch may perform a next action, such as drop, output, set queue, and the like, according to an action (action domain) entry in the matching item. When a data packet is forwarded, the SDN switch completes the forwarding by simply sending the packet out of the corresponding port.

If the SDN switch does not find a matching table entry of the packet, the SDN switch needs to send the packet or packet header information of the packet to the SDN controller through a packet in message, and the SDN controller calculates a forwarding path and a corresponding rule according to the packet header information.

And searching the stored network topology according to the analyzed information such as the MAC address and the IP address of the packet by the SDN controller to obtain shortest path information, wherein the path information mainly comprises a switch identifier, a data receiving port, a forwarding port and the like. And then the SDN controller calculates a forwarding rule corresponding to each switch according to the path information and sends the forwarding rule to the SDN switch through a FLOW _ MOD message. After receiving the flow forwarding rule, the SDN switch updates the flow table, and then may forward the flow according to the flow table.

The SDN switch supporting the Openflow protocol can also support multi-flow table forwarding subsequently, that is, multi-stage flow table matching is required when flow table query is performed.

In the 5G system, the user plane function UPF may use the SDN mechanism to perform data forwarding processing, and the UPF uses a GTP-U protocol to perform data forwarding, that is, the forwarding network element UPF performs data processing (such as data forwarding or data reporting) according to a GTP message header.

At present, in the prior art scheme, a detailed scheme that how to simply and quickly implement data processing (such as data forwarding, data offloading, or flow detection) based on IP header information of a data packet in an SDN network without increasing complexity of a system is not given specifically for a user plane using a GTP-U protocol, and is a problem to be solved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a data processing method, a user plane function and a device. The problem of how to transmit and process data according to the IP header information of the data message by the user plane function UPF can be solved.

In order to solve the above technical problem, embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

a data processing method is applied to a User Plane Function (UPF) based on a Software Defined Network (SDN), and comprises the following steps:

the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow table items issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message;

and the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one primary flow table entry.

Optionally, the flow entry is generated by the SDN controller receiving at least one of path information, a flow forwarding rule, and a flow detection rule from a session management function SMF, and according to the at least one of path information, the flow forwarding rule, and the flow detection rule.

Optionally, the receiving, by the SDN switch of the UPF, at least one stage of flow entry issued by the SDN controller includes:

and the SDN switch receives the at least one stage of flow table entry generated and issued by the SDN controller according to the path information and the flow forwarding rule.

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes: the header of the received GTP data message is deleted to obtain an IP data message, and the forwarding action of the message is determined according to the header information of the IP data message.

Optionally, the at least one level of flow entry includes:

a first flow entry: the system comprises a first matching domain and a first action domain, wherein the first matching domain comprises GTP message header information, and the first action domain comprises a GTP message header deletion and next-level table item information to be executed;

the second flow table entry: the second matching domain comprises IP header information of the data message, and the second action domain comprises an added GTP message header.

Optionally, for a UPF supporting an uplink offload ULCL function, the processing, by the SDN switch, of the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage of flow entry includes:

when receiving DN data to be sent to a data network, the SDN switch performs first flow table matching according to header information of received GTP data messages, and if a matching item can be found, an action field of the matching item is to delete the header of the GTP data messages and transfer the GTP data messages to a next-stage flow table item;

and the SDN switch performs second flow table matching according to a target IP address or an IP prefix in the header information of the IP data message obtained by deleting the GTP data message header, and if a matching item can be found, the action domain of the matching item is to add the GTP data message header and forward the GTP data message header.

Optionally, for a UPF supporting a BP function of an uplink branch point, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage of flow entry, including:

when receiving DN data to be sent to a data network, the SDN switch performs first flow table matching according to header information of the received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, an action field of the matching item is to delete the GTP data message and transfer the GTP data message to a next-stage flow table item;

and performing flow table matching according to the source IP prefix in the header information of the IP data message obtained after deleting the GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, forwarding the header information of the GTP data message added by the action field of the matching item.

Optionally, for a UPF supporting a downlink offload ULCL function and a branch point BP function, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage of flow entry, including:

and when the SDN switch receives data to be sent to a terminal, flow table matching is carried out according to header information of a received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, an action domain of the matching item is to modify a GTP header and forward the GTP header.

and the SDN switch receives a flow table entry generated and issued by the SDN controller according to a flow detection rule and a flow forwarding rule.

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes:

deleting the header of the received GTP data message by the SDN switch to obtain an IP data message; determining whether the IP data message is reported to SMF according to the header information of the IP data message; and if the IP data message needs to be reported, the SDN switch reports the IP data message to an SDN controller through a Packet in message, and the SDN controller calls a northbound interface to send the IP data message to the SMF.

Optionally, the processing, by the SDN switch, the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage of flow entry includes:

the SDN switch receives the SMF through the SDN controller, determines a flow processing rule according to the header information of the IP data message, and at least one stage of flow table entry corresponding to the flow processing rule;

the SDN switch carries out flow table matching on header information of the received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, an action domain of the matching item is to delete the header of the GTP data message and transfer the GTP data message to a next-stage flow table item; performing flow table matching according to a destination port number in the header information of the IP data message obtained by deleting the header of the GTP data message, wherein if a matching item can be found, the action field of the matching item is Packet in; and reporting the IP data message to an SDN controller through Packet in information, and calling a northbound interface by the SDN controller to send the IP data message to the SMF.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a user plane function UPF, including: a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, wherein a program executable by the processor is stored on the memory; the processor implements, when executing the program: the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow table items issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message; and the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one stage of flow table entry.

and the SDN switch receives the at least one stage of flow table item generated and issued by the SDN controller according to the path information and the flow forwarding rule.

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes: deleting the head of the received GTP data message to obtain an IP data message, and determining the forwarding action of the message according to the head information of the IP data message.

Optionally, the at least one stage of flow entry includes:

Optionally, for a UPF supporting an uplink offload ULCL function, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage of flow entry, including:

when receiving DN data to be sent to a data network, the SDN switch performs first flow table matching according to header information of received GTP data messages, and if a matching item can be found, an action field of the matching item is to delete the header of the GTP data messages and switch to a next-stage flow table item;

and the SDN switch performs second flow table matching according to a target IP address or an IP prefix in the header information of the IP data message obtained by deleting the header of the GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, the action domain of the matching item is to add the header of the GTP data message and forward the header of the GTP data message.

when receiving DN data to be sent to a data network, the SDN switch performs first flow table matching according to header information of received GTP data messages, and if a matching item can be found, the action field of the matching item is deleting the GTP data messages and transferring to the next-stage flow table item;

and performing flow table matching according to a source IP prefix in the header information of the IP data message obtained after deleting the GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, adding the header information of the GTP data message into an action domain of the matching item and forwarding the GTP data message.

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes:

the SDN switch carries out flow table matching on header information of the received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, the action domain of the matching item is to delete the header of the GTP data message and switch to the next stage of flow table item; performing flow table matching according to a destination port number in the header information of the IP data message obtained by deleting the header of the GTP data message, wherein if a matching item can be found, the action field of the matching item is Packet in; and reporting the IP data message to an SDN controller through Packet in information, and calling a northbound interface by the SDN controller to send the IP data message to the SMF.

The embodiment of the present invention further provides a data transmission processing apparatus, which is applied to a user plane function UPF, and the apparatus includes:

the SDN flow management system comprises a receiving and sending module, a processing module and a processing module, wherein the receiving and sending module is used for receiving at least one stage of flow table items issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message;

and the processing module is used for processing the received GTP data message according to the at least one stage of flow table entry.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions for causing a processor to perform the method as described above.

The embodiment of the invention has the beneficial effects that:

in the embodiment of the present invention, the SDN switch of the UPF based on the SDN network technology receives at least one stage of flow entry issued by the SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message; and the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one primary flow table entry. The method solves the problem that the user interface in the SDN network adopts a GTP-U protocol, and the UPF can process data according to the header information of the IP data message.

Drawings

Figure 1 is an architectural diagram of an SDN network;

figure 2 is a schematic diagram of separation of a control plane and a forwarding plane in an SDN network;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack of a PDU session in a 5G network;

FIG. 4 is a format diagram of a GTP data message;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating insertion of UL CL on the data path of a PDU session;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a multi-homed PDU session for supporting service continuity;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of multi-homed PDU session local access;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a control plane protocol stack between a control plane and a user plane node;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a user plane protocol stack between a control plane and a user plane node;

figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of an SDN based 5G network;

figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of an SDN based 5G network;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic view of a scenario of data forwarding or data splitting;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of inserting UL CL on the data path of a PDU session;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a Multi-homed PDU session service continuity scenario;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a scenario in which a Multi-homed PDU session is locally accessed to different DNs;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a flow detection scenario;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of a Multi-homed PDU session service continuity scenario;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a scenario in which a Multi-homed PDU session locally accesses a different DN;

fig. 20 is a schematic view of a scenario in which a UPF is required to report data to an SMF;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a UPF;

fig. 22 is a block diagram of a data transmission processing apparatus according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the invention may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

As shown in fig. 3, the user plane protocol stack of the PDU session in the 5G network is specifically as follows:

in 5G systems, UPF is typically implemented using GTP tunnels, which are bi-directional, identified by a GTP quadruple (source IP address, source GTP TEID, destination IP address, destination GTP TEID); GTP TEID (GPRS tunneling protocol, tunnel end identifier) is allocated to the network elements at both ends of the tunnel, respectively. One session consists of multiple GTP tunnels, each corresponding to only one session. In the data forwarding process, the forwarding network element is determined according to the GTP message header in the data packet, if so, the GTP message header in the data packet is replaced by the GTP message header of the next tunnel, and the next tunnel is forwarded.

As shown in fig. 4, the format of GTP data packet is shown. Multiple PDU session anchor support for a single PDU session for a 5G network, in order to support selective traffic routing or to support SSC mode 3, the SMF can control the data path of the PDU session to ensure that the PDU session can go to multiple N6 interfaces simultaneously. The UPF that is the termination point for these interfaces is called the PDU session anchor point.

1) The PDU session uses UL-CL: when the PDU session type is IPv4 or IPv6 or IPv4v6 or Ethernet, the SMF may decide to insert a "UL CL" (Uplink classifier) in the data path of the PDU session. UPFs that support UL CL functionality shunt certain traffic by matching the flow filters provided by SMFs. UL CL insertion and deletion is determined by SMF, and SMF is controlled via N4 interface and UPF capability. During or after the PDU session is established, the SMF may decide to insert a UPF supporting UL CL function in the data path of the PDU session; or deleting the UPF supporting UL CL functionality on the data path of the PDU session after the PDU session is established. The SMF may contain multiple UPFs supporting UL CL functionality on the PDU session data path. When the UL CL function is inserted on the data path of a PDU session, then there are multiple PDU session anchors for that PDU session. These PDU session anchors provide different access to the same DN.

UL CL provides offloading of upstream traffic to different PDU session anchors and aggregation of downstream traffic to the UE, i.e., aggregating traffic sent to the UE from different PDU session anchors. The offloading and aggregation is implemented according to flow detection and flow forwarding rules provided by SMF.

UL CL employs flow filtering rules (e.g., examining destination IP address/prefix of uplink IP packets sent by the UE) to decide how to route packets.

Fig. 5 depicts the insertion of UL CL on the data path of a PDU session.

2) The PDU session uses IPv6 multi-host: one PDU session may be associated with multiple IPv6 prefixes, which is a multi-homed PDU session. A multi-homed PDU session provides access to the DN through multiple PDU session anchors. The different user plane paths to the different PDU session anchors branch at a "common" UPF, which is referred to as a UPF supporting "Branching Point" functionality. The Branching Point forwards the upstream traffic to different PDU session anchor points and aggregates the downstream traffic sent to the UE, i.e., aggregates the flows sent from different PDU session anchor points to the UE.

The SMF implements offloading of upstream traffic between PDU session anchors based on the UE source prefix (the source prefix may be selected by the UE based on routing information and preferences received from the network) by configuring the UPF that supports the Branching Point function.

The UE shall use the decision multi-homed PDU session for supporting the service continuity as shown in fig. 6 below or for supporting the local access in fig. 7.

Interface between control plane and user plane nodes: 1. the control plane protocol stack between the control plane and the user plane node is shown in fig. 8; 2. the user plane protocol stack between the control plane and the user plane node is shown in figure 9.

As shown in fig. 10 and 11, the system architecture of the SDN-based 5G network is shown.

As shown in fig. 12, an embodiment of the present invention provides a data processing method, which is applied to a user plane function UPF based on software defined network SDN technology, where the method includes:

step 121, the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow entry issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message;

and step 122, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage flow entry.

In the embodiment of the invention, in the 5G network based on the SDN, the SDN controller issues the multi-level flow table entry to the forwarding device (i.e., switch) on the bottom layer to solve the problem of the multi-processing of the GTP data packet to achieve the correct processing of the data, that is, the SDN controller issues the multi-level flow table entry to the SDN switch that needs to perform data processing on the header information based on the IP data packet according to the received path information, the flow forwarding rule or/and the flow detection rule.

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the flow entry is generated by the SDN controller receiving at least one of path information, a flow forwarding rule, and a flow detection rule from a session management function SMF, and according to the at least one of the path information, the flow forwarding rule, and the flow detection rule.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, step 101 may include:

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes: the flow forwarding rule includes: the header of the received GTP data message is deleted to obtain an IP data message, and the forwarding action of the message is determined according to the header information of the IP data message.

Here, the at least one stage of flow entry includes:

In specific implementation, as shown in fig. 13, a scenario of data forwarding or data splitting is as follows:

the SDN controller calculates a flow forwarding rule which needs to be configured by an SDN switch for data forwarding based on the header information of the IP data message according to the received path information and the flow forwarding rule: the header of the received GTP data message is stripped to obtain an IP data message, and the forwarding action of the message is determined according to the header information of the IP data message (as the user plane adopts a GTP-U protocol, the GTP data message is encapsulated again in the forwarding action).

Because the SDN switch is required to process the received GTP data packet twice, the SDN controller sends a flow entry to the SDN switch: upstream table entry 1 (i.e., the first flow table entry): the matching domain is GTP message header information (all items or partial items in an IP address, a UDP port number and a TEID), and the action domain is to strip the GTP message header and execute the next flow table entry 2; upstream table entry 2 (i.e., the second table entry): the matching field is IP header information of the data message, and the action field is to add GTP data message header (re-packaged into GTP data message) and forward the GTP data message header.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, for a UPF supporting an uplink splitting ULCL function, step 122 may include:

In specific implementation, as shown in fig. 14, for the case of inserting UL CL on the data path of the PDU session, for the uplink data:

when receiving data to be sent to the DN, the SDN switch supporting the ULCL function needs to perform flow table matching according to header information (all items or partial items in an IP address, a UDP port number and a TEID) of the received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, an action field of the matching item is to strip off the header of the GTP data message and transfer the GTP data message to a next-stage flow table item. And (3) carrying out flow table matching according to a target IP address or an IP prefix in the header information (IP 5-packets) of the IP data message obtained by stripping the header of the GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, adding the header of the GTP data message (re-encapsulating the header into the GTP data message) in the action field of the matching item and forwarding the GTP data message. The specific flow rules are as follows:

Match	Actions
		GTP message packet header information	Delete GTP data message header, go to table n

Table n:

Match	Actions
		Destination IP address 1 or IP prefix 1	Add GTP data message header 1, output to port x
Destination IP address 2 or IP prefix 2	Add GTP data message header 2, output to port y

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, for a UPF supporting the BP function of the uplink branch point, step 122 may include:

In specific implementation, as shown in fig. 15 and fig. 16, fig. 15 is a scenario of service continuity of a Multi-homed PDU session, and fig. 16 is a scenario of local access to different DNs for a Multi-homed PDU session, where, for uplink data:

when receiving data to be sent to the DN, the SDN switch supporting the BP function needs to perform flow table matching according to header information (all items or partial items in an IP address, a UDP port number and a TEID) of the received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, an action field of the matching item is to strip the GTP data message and transfer the GTP data message to a next-stage flow table item. And (4) carrying out flow table matching according to a source IP prefix in the header information (IP 5-tags) of the IP data message obtained after the GTP data message is stripped, and if a matching item can be found, adding GTP data message header information (re-encapsulating the GTP data message) into the action field of the matching item and forwarding the GTP data message header information. The specific flow rules are as follows:

Match	Actions
		GTP data message header information	Delete GTP data message header information, go to table n

Table n:

Match	Actions
		Source IP Prefix 1	Add GTP data message header information 1, output to port x
Source IP Prefix 2	Add GTP data message header information 2, output to port y

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, for a UPF supporting the downlink forking ULCL function and the branch point BP function, the step 122 may include:

and when the SDN switch receives data to be sent to the terminal, flow table matching is carried out according to header information of a received GTP data message, and if a matching item can be found, the action domain of the matching item is to modify a GTP header and forward the GTP header.

In specific implementation, for downlink data: as shown in fig. 17, fig. 18 and fig. 19, wherein fig. 18 is a Multi-homed PDU session: service continuity scenario, and fig. 19 is a Multi-homed PDU session: scenario of local access to a different DN:

when receiving data to be sent to the UE, the SDN switch supporting the ULCL function and the BP function needs to perform flow table item matching according to header information (all items or partial items in an IP address, a UDP port number, and a TEID) of a received GTP data packet, and if a matching item can be found, an action field of the matching item is to modify a GTP header (re-encapsulate the GTP data packet) and forward the modified GTP header. The flow entry here may be as the downstream entry in fig. 13, and the specific flow rule is as follows:

Match	Actions
		GTP data message header information 1	Output to port x. Of modification GTP data message header information
GTP message header information 2	Output to port x. Of modification GTP data message header information

In an optional embodiment of the present invention, the receiving, by the SDN switch of the UPF, at least one stage of flow entry issued by an SDN controller includes:

and the SDN switch receives a flow table item generated and issued by the SDN controller according to a flow detection rule and a flow forwarding rule.

Here, the flow forwarding rule includes: deleting the header of the received GTP data message by the SDN switch to obtain an IP data message; determining whether the IP data message is reported to SMF according to the header information of the IP data message; and if the IP data message needs to be reported, the SDN switch reports the IP data message to an SDN controller through a Packet in message, and the SDN controller calls a northbound interface to send the IP data message to the SMF.

The SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one primary flow entry, including:

In specific implementation, as shown in fig. 20, for a scenario in which the UPF is required to report data to the SMF, the SDN receives a flow detection rule and a flow forwarding rule sent by the SMF, and calculates a flow forwarding rule that the SDN switch that needs to perform data detection based on header information of the IP data packet should configure: the header information of the IP data message obtained by stripping the header of the received GTP data message is firstly determined, and whether the message is reported to the SMF is determined according to the header information of the IP data message. If the IP data message needs to be reported, the switch reports the IP data message to the controller through Packet in information, and the controller calls a northbound interface to send the data message to the SMF. The SMF receives the IP data message, determines a flow processing rule according to the header information of the IP data message, then sends the flow processing rule to the controller, and the SDN controller sends a corresponding flow table entry to the SDN switch. And the SDN switch processes the data flow according to the flow table entry.

Because the SDN switch is required to process the received GTP data packet twice, the SDN controller sends a flow entry to the SDN switch: flow table entry 1: the matching field is GTP data message header information (all items or part of items in an IP address, a UDP port number and a TEID), and the action field is to strip the GTP data message header and execute the next flow table entry 2; flow table entry 2: the matching domain is the header information of the IP data message, and the action domain is Packet in to the controller.

For a flow detection scenario, when the SDN switch receives data to be sent to the DN, flow table matching is required according to header information (all or part of entries in an IP address, a UDP port number, and a TEID) of a received GTP data packet, and if a matching entry can be found, an action field of the matching entry is to strip off a GTP data packet header and forward to a next-stage flow table entry. And performing flow table matching according to a destination port number in the header information (IP 5-packets) of the IP data message obtained by stripping the header of the GTP data message, wherein if a matching item can be found, the action domain of the matching item is Packet in. The specific flow rules are as follows:

Match	Actions
		GTP data message header	Delete GTP data message header, go to table n

Table n:

Match	Actions
		Destination port number of IP data message	Packet in

After receiving the Packet in, the SDN controller forwards the IP data message carried by the Packet in message to the SMF, the SMF performs data processing according to the header information of the IP data message, and issues a flow processing rule to the SDN controller, and then the SDN controller issues a proper flow table item to the SDN switch according to the flow processing rule. And the switch receives the flow table items, then configures the flow table items and processes data according to the flow table items.

Under the network architecture as shown in fig. 10 or fig. 11, the SDN controller itself provides the northbound interface. For the similar scenario of the flow detection, the switch obtains the IP data Packet according to the execution result of embodiment 4, and can send a Packet in to the controller without processing the IP Packet, for example, encapsulating the Packet into a GTP data Packet again, and the like, where the carried message includes the IP data Packet. After receiving the IP data packet, the controller calls a general northbound interface provided by itself to send the data packet to the SMF. And the SMF issues a correct flow processing rule to the controller according to the data message. And then the controller sends the flow table items to the switch according to the flow processing rule. The switch configures the flow entry and processes the data flow according to the flow entry, including forwarding, dropping, and the like.

The embodiment of the invention can solve the problem that how the user plane in the SDN network adopts a GTP-U protocol and the UPF realizes the scheme of processing data according to the header information of the IP data message, such as a data distribution scene supported by a multi-PDU session anchor point of a single PDU session and a data processing scene of detecting the flow based on the IP header information of the data message. The idea of multi-level flow table entries is adopted, so that the method is simple and quick to implement, and the processing complexity of a system (comprising an SDN controller and a switch) is not increased. The implementation of the core network user plane of the 5G network based on the SDN is realized. For a scenario similar to flow detection, in a 5G network based on an SDN, a UPF that needs flow detection does not need to process a packet, and may directly call a northbound interface provided by an SDN controller to send the packet to an SMF of an application layer. This reduces the processing complexity of the underlying switches and controllers. Meanwhile, the SMF is not required to de-encapsulate and encapsulate the data message, so that the complexity of the SMF is reduced.

As shown in fig. 21, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a user plane function UPF210, including: a transceiver 211, a processor 212, and a memory 213, wherein the memory 213 stores programs executable by the processor 212; the processor 212, when executing the program, implements: the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow table item issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message; and the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one primary flow table entry.

Optionally, the at least one stage of flow entry includes:

a first flow table entry: the method comprises a first matching domain and a first action domain, wherein the first matching domain comprises GTP message header information, and the first action domain comprises a next-level table item information to be executed and a GTP message header deletion;

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes:

It should be noted that the UPF in this embodiment is a UPF corresponding to the method shown in fig. 12, and the implementation manners in the above embodiments are all applied to this UPF embodiment, and the same technical effects can be achieved. In the UPF, the transceiver 211 and the memory 213, and the transceiver 211 and the processor 212 may be communicatively connected through a bus interface, and the functions of the processor 212 may also be implemented by the transceiver 211, and the functions of the transceiver 211 may also be implemented by the processor 212. It should be noted that, the terminal provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

As shown in fig. 22, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a data transmission processing apparatus 220, which is applied to a user plane function UPF, and the apparatus includes:

the transceiver module 221 is configured to receive at least one level of flow entry issued by the SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message;

the processing module 222 is configured to process the received GTP data packet according to the at least one level of flow entry.

Optionally, the at least one stage of flow entry includes:

a first flow table entry: the system comprises a first matching domain and a first action domain, wherein the first matching domain comprises GTP message header information, and the first action domain comprises a GTP message header deletion and next-level table item information to be executed;

Optionally, the flow forwarding rule includes:

It should be noted that the apparatus in this embodiment is an apparatus corresponding to the method shown in fig. 12, and the implementation manners in the above embodiments are all applied to the embodiment of the apparatus, and the same technical effects can be achieved. It should be noted that, the apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present invention can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as the method embodiment in this embodiment are omitted here.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions for causing the processor to perform the method as described above. All the implementation manners in the above method embodiment are applicable to this embodiment, and the same technical effect can be achieved.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

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

In the embodiments provided in the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that in the device and method of the invention, it is obvious that the individual components or steps can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be considered as equivalents of the present invention. Also, the steps of performing the series of processes described above may naturally be performed chronologically in the order described, but need not necessarily be performed chronologically, and some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or any of the steps or elements of the method and apparatus of the present invention may be implemented in any computing device (including processor, storage medium, etc.) or network of computing devices, in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof, which can be implemented by those skilled in the art using their basic programming skills after reading the description of the present invention.

Thus, the objects of the invention may also be achieved by running a program or a set of programs on any computing device. The computing device may be a general purpose device as is well known. The object of the invention is thus also achieved solely by providing a program product containing program code for implementing the method or device. That is, such a program product also constitutes the present invention, and a storage medium storing such a program product also constitutes the present invention. It is to be understood that the storage medium may be any known storage medium or any storage medium developed in the future. It is also noted that in the apparatus and method of the present invention, it is apparent that each component or step can be decomposed and/or recombined. These decompositions and/or recombinations are to be considered as equivalents of the present invention. Also, the steps of executing the series of processes described above may naturally be executed chronologically in the order described, but need not necessarily be executed chronologically. Some steps may be performed in parallel or independently of each other.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A data processing method is applied to a Software Defined Network (SDN) -based User Plane Function (UPF), and comprises the following steps:

the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow table item issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message;

the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one primary flow table entry;

the flow entry is generated by the SDN controller receiving at least one of path information, a flow forwarding rule and a flow detection rule from a Session Management Function (SMF) and according to the at least one of the path information, the flow forwarding rule and the flow detection rule;

the method for receiving at least one stage of flow table items issued by an SDN controller by the SDN switch of the UPF includes the following steps:

the SDN switch receives a flow table entry generated and issued by the SDN controller according to a flow detection rule and a flow forwarding rule;

the flow forwarding rule includes:

2. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the SDN switch of the UPF, the at least one level of flow entry issued by an SDN controller comprises:

3. The data processing method of claim 2, wherein the flow forwarding rule comprises: deleting the head of the received GTP data message to obtain an IP data message, and determining the forwarding action of the message according to the head information of the IP data message.

4. The data processing method of claim 2, wherein the at least one level of flow entry comprises:

a second flow entry: the second matching domain comprises IP header information of the data message, and the second action domain comprises an added GTP message header.

5. The data processing method according to claim 4, wherein for a UPF supporting an UL CL function, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one primary flow entry, including:

6. The data processing method according to claim 4, wherein for a UPF that supports an upstream branch point BP function, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage flow entry, including:

7. The data processing method according to claim 2, wherein for a UPF supporting a downlink offload ULCL function and a branch point BP function, the SDN switch processing the received GTP data packet according to the at least one stage of flow entry, comprising:

8. The data processing method of claim 1, wherein the processing, by the SDN switch, the received GTP data packet according to the at least one primary flow entry comprises:

9. A user plane function, UPF, comprising: the transceiver, the processor, the memorizer, store the procedure that the said processor can carry out on the said memorizer; the processor implements, when executing the program: the SDN switch of the UPF receives at least one stage of flow table items issued by an SDN controller; the SDN switch is an SDN switch which needs to perform data processing based on the header information of the IP data message; the SDN switch processes the received GTP data message according to the at least one stage flow table entry;

the method for receiving at least one stage of flow table items issued by an SDN controller by the SDN switch of the UPF comprises the following steps:

the flow forwarding rule includes:

10. The UPF of claim 9, wherein the receiving, by the SDN switch of the UPF, the at least one level of flow entry issued by the SDN controller comprises:

11. The user plane function, UPF, according to claim 10, wherein said flow forwarding rules comprise: deleting the head of the received GTP data message to obtain an IP data message, and determining the forwarding action of the message according to the head information of the IP data message.

12. The user plane function, UPF, of claim 10, wherein the at least one level of flow entries comprises:

13. The user plane function, UPF, of claim 12, wherein for a UPF that supports an uplink offload, ULCL, function, the SDN switch processing the received GTP data packet according to the at least one level of flow entry, comprises:

14. The UPF according to claim 13, wherein for a UPF supporting an upstream branch point BP function, the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one primary flow entry, including:

15. The UPF of claim 9, wherein for a UPF supporting a downlink offload, ULCL, function and a branch point, BP, function, the SDN switch processing the received GTP data packet according to the at least one level of flow entry, comprising:

16. The UPF as claimed in claim 9, wherein the SDN switch processes the received GTP data packet according to the at least one primary flow entry, comprising:

17. A data transmission processing apparatus, which is applied to a user plane function UPF, the apparatus comprising:

the processing module is used for processing the received GTP data message according to the at least one stage flow table entry;

the flow entry is generated by the SDN controller receiving at least one of path information, a flow forwarding rule and a flow detection rule from a Session Management Function (SMF) according to the at least one of the path information, the flow forwarding rule and the flow detection rule;

the SDN switch receives a flow table item which is generated and issued by the SDN controller according to a flow detection rule and a flow forwarding rule;

the flow forwarding rule includes:

18. A processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable instructions for causing a processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8.