CN115474188A

CN115474188A - Policy negotiation method, device and storage medium in roaming scene

Info

Publication number: CN115474188A
Application number: CN202211057881.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈婉珺; 王光全; 马瑞涛; 马泽芳
Original assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-08-30
Filing date: 2022-08-30
Publication date: 2022-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 2042-08-30

Abstract

The application discloses a strategy negotiation method, a device and a storage medium in a roaming scene, relates to the field of communication, and is used for solving the problem that a strategy issued by a home PCF (home location PCF) cannot be executed in a network of a roaming location in the roaming scene. The method comprises the following steps: receiving a session management SM (session management) strategy request message from a Session Management Function (SMF) of a roaming place; acquiring a second SM strategy determined according to the first SM strategy, wherein the first SM strategy is an SM strategy from a home PCF, and the second SM strategy is the SM strategy determined after the roaming PCF adjusts the first SM strategy according to the network performance of a roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place; and sending the second SM strategy to the SMF of the roaming place. The method and the device are used in the policy negotiation process in the PCF.

Description

Policy negotiation method, device and storage medium in roaming scene

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a policy negotiation method and apparatus in a roaming scenario, and a storage medium.

Background

In the related art, in a roaming scenario in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), all policies of a terminal (User Experience, UE) at a roaming location are controlled by a home Policy Control Function (PCF), and since service types and Network performances in a home PCF and a roaming PCF are different, when a Session Management Function (SMF) of the roaming location receives a Policy issued by the home PCF, the Policy issued by the home PCF cannot be executed in a User Plane Function (UPF) selected by the SMF of the roaming location.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a policy negotiation method, device and storage medium in a roaming scene, which are used for solving the problem that a policy issued by a home PCF cannot be executed in a network of a roaming place in the roaming scene.

In order to achieve the purpose, the technical scheme is as follows:

in a first aspect, the present application provides a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario, applied to a PC F in a roaming area, including: the PCF of the roaming place receives a session management SM strategy request message from the SMF of the roaming place; the method comprises the steps that a roaming place PCF obtains a second SM strategy determined according to a first SM strategy, wherein the first SM strategy is an SM strategy from a home PCF, and the second SM strategy is the SM strategy determined after the roaming place PCF adjusts the first SM strategy according to network performance of the roaming place and/or service provided by the roaming place; the roaming destination PCF sends the second SM policy to the roaming destination SMF.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: a roaming place PC F receives a first policy request message from a roaming place access mobility management function AMF, wherein the first policy request message is a policy request message generated according to a registration request of a terminal UE; the roaming PCF forwards a first policy request message to the home PCF; the roaming PCF receives a first policy response message from the home PCF; the first policy response message includes a first SM policy; and the PCF of the roaming place adjusts the first SM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place and determines a second SM strategy.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the method comprises the steps that a roaming place PC F adjusts a first AM strategy to determine a second AM strategy according to network performance of the roaming place and/or service provided by the roaming place; and the roaming place PCF adjusts the first UE strategy to determine the second UE strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place.

With reference to the foregoing first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the roaming place PC F generates a second strategy according to at least one of the second SM strategy, the second AM strategy and the second UE strategy; the roaming-place PCF sends the second policy to the roaming-place AMF.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the roaming place PC F receives a marked first strategy sent by the home PCF, and the marked first strategy is marked with the contents which are not allowed to be modified in the first strategy; and the roaming place PCF modifies the marked first strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place to obtain a second strategy.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: and the roaming place PC F receives a third strategy sent by the home PCF, wherein the third strategy is a strategy obtained by updating the first strategy by the home PCF according to the strategy updating request of the home operator.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a policy negotiation apparatus in a roaming scenario, including: a communication unit; a communication unit, configured to receive an SM policy request message from a roaming destination SMF; the communication unit is further configured to acquire a second SM policy determined according to the first SM policy, where the first SM policy is an SM policy from the home PCF, and the second SM policy is an SM policy determined by the roaming PCF after adjusting the first SM policy according to the network performance of the roaming location and/or the service provided by the roaming location; and the communication unit is also used for sending the second SM strategy to the SMF of the roaming place.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the apparatus further includes a processing unit; the communication unit is further configured to receive a first policy request message from the roaming site AMF, where the first policy request message is a policy request message generated according to a registration request of the UE; the communication unit is also used for forwarding the first strategy request message to the home PC F; the communication unit is also used for receiving a first strategy response message from the home PCF; the first policy response message includes a first SM policy; and the processing unit is used for adjusting the first SM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place and determining the second SM strategy.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to: according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, adjusting the first AM strategy to determine a second AM strategy; and adjusting the first UE strategy to determine the second UE strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, an apparatus includes: the processing unit is further configured to generate a second policy according to at least one of the second SM policy, the second AM policy, and the second UE policy; and the communication unit is also used for sending the second strategy to the AMF of the roaming place.

With reference to the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, an apparatus includes: the communication unit is further configured to receive a marked first policy sent by the home PCF, where the marked first policy is marked with content that is not allowed to be modified in the first policy; and the processing unit is further used for modifying the marked first policy to obtain a second policy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the communication unit is further configured to: and receiving a third strategy sent by the home PCF, wherein the third strategy is a strategy obtained by updating the first strategy by the home PCF according to a strategy updating request of a home operator.

In a third aspect, a policy negotiation apparatus in a roaming scenario is provided, including: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer execution instructions, and when the policy negotiation apparatus in the roaming scenario runs, the processor executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory, so that the policy negotiation apparatus in the roaming scenario implements the policy negotiation method in the roaming scenario as described in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

In a fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which includes instructions that, when executed by a roaming scenario policy negotiation apparatus, cause a computer to execute the roaming scenario policy negotiation method as described in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

For a detailed description of the second to fourth aspects and their various implementations in this application, reference may be made to the detailed description of the first aspect and its various implementations; moreover, the beneficial effects of the second aspect to the fourth aspect and various implementation manners thereof may refer to the beneficial effect analysis in the first aspect and various implementation manners thereof, and are not described herein again. These and other aspects of the present application will be more readily apparent from the following description.

The scheme at least has the following beneficial effects: in this embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first SM policy from the home PCF, the roaming location PCF may obtain a second SM policy obtained by adjusting the first SM policy according to the network performance of the roaming location and/or the service provided by the roaming location. Therefore, the adjusted second SM strategy can adapt to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and the UPF selected by the SMF of the roaming place can normally execute the second strategy.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy negotiation apparatus in a roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of a 5G service-oriented interface system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2b is a schematic diagram of a 5G point-to-point interface system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3a is a schematic diagram of a local breakout roaming architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3b is a schematic diagram of a regression roaming architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user plane and a signaling plane for roaming access according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an I-SMF insertion architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a ULCL shunt architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a ULCL shunt architecture with I-SMF insertion according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of I-SMF controlled ULCL offload provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of another policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11a is a flowchart of a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11b is a schematic diagram illustrating an architecture diagram of policy negotiation in another roaming scenario according to the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a flowchart of a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a flowchart of a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a flowchart of a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a policy negotiation apparatus in a roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a policy negotiation apparatus in another roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The term "and/or" herein is merely an association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

The terms "first" and "second" and the like in the description and drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing different objects or for distinguishing different processes for the same object, and are not used for describing a specific order of the objects.

Furthermore, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, as referred to in the description of the present application, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations. Any embodiment or design described herein as "exemplary" or "such as" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, use of the word "exemplary" or "such as" is intended to present concepts related in a concrete fashion.

In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to various Communication systems, which may be a third Generation partnership project (3 GPP) Communication system, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, a fifth Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5 th-Generation Mobile Communication Technology, 5G) Mobile Communication system, a New Radio (NR) system, a New to Internet of Things (NR V2X) system, a LTE and 5G hybrid networking system, or a device to device (D2D) Communication system, a machine to machine (M2M) Communication system, the Internet of Things (Internet of Things), and other next Generation IoT Communication systems, and may also be non-3 GPP Communication systems, without limitation.

The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be applied to various communication scenarios, for example, may be applied to one or more of the following communication scenarios: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC), machine Type Communication (MTC), massive Machine Type Communication (MTC), SA, D2D, V2X, ioT, and other communication scenarios.

The communication system and the communication scenario applicable to the present application are only examples, and the communication system and the communication scenario applicable to the present application are not limited thereto, and are described herein in a unified manner, and are not described in detail below.

In some embodiments, the terminal device referred to in the present application may be a device for implementing a communication function. A terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), terminal, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile Station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile Terminal (MT), UE, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment, etc. The terminal device may be, for example, a wireless terminal or a wired terminal in an IoT, a V2X, D2D, M2M, 5G network, or a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) for future evolution. The wireless terminal can refer to a device with wireless transceiving function, which can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship and the like); and may also be deployed in the air (e.g., airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.).

For example, the terminal device may be a drone, an IoT device (e.g., sensor, electric meter, water meter, etc.), a V2X device, a Station (ST) in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with wireless communication capability, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an onboard device, a wearable device (also referred to as a wearable smart device), a tablet or a computer with wireless transceiving capability, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal, a wireless terminal in an industrial control (industrial control) control, a wireless terminal in an unmanned driving (smart device), a wireless terminal in a remote medical (smart) network, a wireless terminal in a drone (UAV), a wireless network (smart) with wireless communication capability, a wireless vehicle-vehicle (UAV-to-vehicle) terminal, a wireless vehicle (vehicle) with a communication capability, a wireless vehicle-to-vehicle (UAV), a wireless terminal in a home transport vehicle (vehicle), a wireless terminal with a wireless communication capability, a wireless terminal in a vehicle-vehicle (V2-to a wireless network, a wireless vehicle, a wireless terminal, and the like. The terminal may be mobile or fixed, and the present application is not limited thereto.

In order to implement the policy negotiation method in the roaming scenario provided in the embodiment of the present application, an embodiment of the present application provides a policy negotiation device in the roaming scenario, which is used to execute the policy negotiation method in the roaming scenario provided in the embodiment of the present application, and fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the policy negotiation device in the roaming scenario provided in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the policy negotiation apparatus 100 in the roaming scenario includes at least one processor 101, a communication line 102, and at least one communication interface 104, and may further include a memory 103. The processor 101, the memory 103 and the communication interface 104 may be connected via a communication line 102.

The processor 101 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the embodiments of the present application, for example: one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), or one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

The communication link 102 may include a path for communicating information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 104 is used for communicating with other devices or a communication network, and may use any transceiver or the like, such as ethernet, radio Access Network (RAN), WLAN, and the like.

The memory 103 may be, but is not limited to, a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that may store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disk, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, blu-ray disk, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to include or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

In a possible design, the memory 103 may exist independently from the processor 101, that is, the memory 103 may be a memory external to the processor 101, in which case, the memory 103 may be connected to the processor 101 through the communication line 102, and is used for storing execution instructions or application program codes, and is controlled by the processor 101 to execute, so as to implement the policy negotiation method in the roaming scenario provided in the following embodiments of the present application. In yet another possible design, the memory 103 may also be integrated with the processor 101, that is, the memory 103 may be an internal memory of the processor 101, for example, the memory 103 is a cache memory, and may be used for temporarily storing some data and instruction information.

As one implementation, processor 101 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 1. As another implementation, the policy negotiation apparatus 100 in the roaming scenario may include a plurality of processors, such as the processor 101 and the processor 107 in fig. 1. As yet another implementation manner, the policy negotiation apparatus 100 in the roaming scenario may further include an output device 105 and an input device 106.

Hereinafter, the terms related to the present application will be explained first.

1. 5G network basic architecture

The 5G network basic architecture comprises: a 5G services interface system architecture and a 5G point-to-point interface system architecture.

As fig. 2a provides a schematic diagram of a 5G service interface system architecture, the 5G service interface system architecture can deploy technologies using Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and SOFTWARE Defined Networking (SDN), for example. The 5G service interface system architecture can also send service-based interaction instructions between the control plane functions according to the requirements of the services. The service interface of the 5G service interface system architecture comprises: a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), a Network open Function (NEF), a Network Repository Function (NRF), a policy control Function (policy control Function, PCF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), AN Application Function (AF), AN authentication server Function (AUSF) entity, a core access and mobility management Function (AMF), AN SMF, a Service Communication Proxy (SCP), a UE, a (radio) access Network (R) AN, AN UPF, a data Network (data, network) Network.

As shown in fig. 2a, NSSF is connected to the bus through an interface NSSF; the NEF is connected with the bus through an interface Nnef; the NRF is connected with the bus through an interface Nnrf; the PCF is connected with the bus through an interface Nnssf; the UDF is connected with the bus through an interface Nudm; the AF is connected with the bus through an interface Naf, and the AUSF is connected with the bus through an interface Nausff; the AMF is connected with the bus through an interface Namf; the SMF is connected with the bus through an interface Nsmf; the UE equipment is connected with the AMF through N1; the RAN is connected with the AMF through N2; the RAN is connected with the UPF through N3; the SMF is connected with the UPF through N4; UPF is connected with DN through N5; the UE device connects with the AMF through N6.

As shown in fig. 2b, a schematic diagram of a 5G point-to-point interface system architecture is provided, where the 5G point-to-point interface system architecture includes: AUSF entity, AMF entity, DN, UDM entity, PCF entity, RAN equipment, UPF entity, UE, AF entity, SMF entity, NSSF entity and air interface N1, N2 and N3. The AUSF entity is used for carrying out user authentication and certification on the user; the UDM entity is used for storing user subscription data; the DN includes operator services, internet access or third party services.

As compared to fig. 2a, fig. 2b adds an interface: n5, N7, N11, N14, N15, N8, N10, N12, N13, N22. As shown in fig. 2b, NSSF is connected to AMF via interface N22; the AUSF is connected with the AMF through an interface N12; the UDM is connected with the AMF through an interface N8; the AUSF is connected with the UDM through an interface N13; the SMF is connected with the AMF through an interface N11; the PCF is connected with the UDF through an interface N15; the SMF is connected with the PCF through an interface N7; the PCF is connected to the AF via interface N5.

2. International roaming network architecture

The international roaming network architecture comprises: a local breakout roaming architecture and a regression roaming architecture.

As shown in fig. 3a, a schematic diagram of a local breakout roaming architecture is provided, where the local breakout roaming architecture includes: NSSF, roaming AMF, roaming SMF, roaming PCF, AF, UE, RAN, roaming UPF, DN, AUSF, UDM, home PCF. NSSF is connected with AMF of a roaming place through an N22 interface; the AMF of the roaming place is connected with the UE through an N1 interface; the roaming AMF is connected with the RAN through an N2 interface; the roaming AMF is connected with the roaming PCF through an N15 interface; the AMF of the roaming place is connected with the SMF of the roaming place through an N11 interface; the AMF of the roaming place is connected with the AUSF through an N12 interface; the roaming place AMF is connected with the UDM through an N8 interface; the SMF of the roaming place is connected with the UDM through an N10 interface; the SMF of the roaming place is connected with the PCF of the roaming place through an N7 interface; the SMF of the roaming place is connected with the UPF through an N4 interface; the roaming PCF is connected with the AF through an N5 interface; the roaming PCF is connected with the home PCF through an N24 interface; the AUSF is connected with the UDM through an N13 interface; the UPF of the roaming place is connected with the RAN through an N3 interface; the roaming UPF is connected to the DN via an N6 interface.

As shown in fig. 3b, a schematic diagram of a regression roaming architecture is provided, where the regression roaming architecture includes: roaming NSSF, roaming AMF, roaming SMF, roaming PCF, AF, UE, RAN, roaming UPF, DN, AUSF, UDM, home PCF, home NSSF, home SMF, home. The roaming place NSSF is connected with the roaming place AMF through an N22 interface; the roaming NSSF is connected with the home NSSF through an N31 interface; the AMF at the roaming place is connected with the UE through an N1 interface; the roaming place AMF is connected with the RAN through an N2 interface; the roaming AMF is connected with the roaming PCF through an N15 interface; the AMF of the roaming place is connected with the SMF of the roaming place through an N11 interface; the AMF of the roaming place is connected with the AUSF through an N12 interface; the AMF of the roaming place is connected with the UDM through an N8 interface; the SMF of the roaming place is connected with the SMF of the home place through an N16 interface; the SMF of the roaming place is connected with the UPF through an N4 interface; the roaming PCF is connected with the home PCF through an N24 interface; the AUSF is connected with the UDM through an N13 interface; the UPF of the roaming place is connected with the RAN through an N3 interface; the roaming UPF is connected with the home UPF through an N9 interface; the home SMF is connected with the home PCF through an N7 interface; the home SMF is connected with the home UPF through an N4 interface; the home SMF is connected with the UDM through an N10 interface; the home UPF is connected with the AF through an N5 interface; the home UPF is connected to the DN via an N6 interface.

In the standard architecture, an N24 interface between the roaming PCF and the home PCF is defined, but the N24 interface only transfers the UE policy, and cannot transfer a policy other than the UE policy, so that the roaming PCF and the home PCF in the roaming scenario cannot directly exchange an Access and Mo mobility (AM) policy and a Session Management (SM) policy.

And in the roaming scene, the PCF of the roaming place controls the AM strategy. In a Local Breakout (LBO) scenario, a roaming-site PCF controls an SM policy; in the HR scenario, the home PCF issues the SM policy to the home SMF.

3. Network roaming architecture in PLMN

In a 5G network, when a UE roams in a PLMN, the UE needs to access the network in an LBO manner.

If the UE initiates network registration in the roaming place and establishes a session, the intra-PLMN network roaming architecture flow is as shown in fig. 4, and the roaming place AMF and the roaming place SMF send a request message to the UDM to which the UE subscribes; meanwhile, the AMF and SMF of the roaming place send request messages to the home PCF to acquire the strategy information of the UE, so that the UE can access the DN of the roaming place through the UPF of the roaming place.

If the user has already established a session at the home location, and the UE is roaming in the PLMN, and the UE is switched to the roaming location, then the intra-PLMN network roaming architecture flow is as shown in fig. 5, and when the UE is roaming, because the anchor home location UPF for shunting the network and the corresponding home location SMF are not changed, it is necessary to insert an I-SMF and a roaming location UPF corresponding to the I-SMF at the roaming location, so that the user traffic can be dredged.

4. Shunting architecture

The 3GPP defines a forking architecture, and there are two main forking modes of the forking architecture, which are Uplink Classifier UPF (ULCL) forking and BP forking, respectively.

The ULCL offloading is to determine a routing path of a data packet according to a flow filtering rule, for example, to determine a routing path of a data packet according to a detected destination IP address or prefix of an uplink IP data packet sent by the UE. In the ULCL shunting process, the UE does not perceive the shunting of the ULCL and does not participate in the insertion and deletion of the ULCL. The UE associates a single IPv4 address or a single IP prefix or both allocated by the network to the packet session unit (PDU) session.

The BP offloading allocates different service anchor points to different IPv6 address prefixes of users, and the branch point offloads the service anchor points through the user address prefixes.

At present, the majority of networks adopt an ULCL offload mode to offload roaming data. In connection with the network architecture of the ULCL offload shown in fig. 6, the process of ULCL offload is as follows:

the SMF receives request information of a user terminal, wherein the request information comprises: DNN information of the user terminal and location information covered by the UPF. When the user terminal is activated, the SMF selects UPF PSA1 as a main anchor point according to the request information, and the main anchor point is used for allocating IP addresses for the user terminal. The SMF triggers the ULCL flow according to the subscription information of the user terminal in the PCF; or, the SMF triggers the ULCL flow according to the shunting strategy configured by the user terminal in the SMF. The SMF selects the ULCL UPF based on the current location (TAI) of the user terminal. The SMF determines a target anchor point PSA of the ULCL shunt according to the DNAI issued by the configured DNAI; or the SMF determines the target PSA of ULCL shunting according to the DNAI issued by the PCF; wherein the PSA is the secondary anchor point. In connection with figure 3a, the target PSA is PSA2 in figure 3 a.

In a private network scenario, in the process that the UE establishes a PDU Session in a public network, the UE selects a UPF of the public network as a primary Anchor point PSA1 (PDU Session Anchor 1), and the PSA1 is used for connecting a public network service. When the UE moves to a private network coverage area, the UE uses a private network service, and at the moment, the SMF determines a UPF sinking in a private network park as an auxiliary anchor point PSA2 according to a shunting strategy. PSA2 is used to connect the services of the private network campus. And the selected diversion point is selected based on the user location, typically when the selected diversion point will coincide with PSA2.

5. I-SMF control shunting architecture and process under PLMN internal roaming scene

The I-SMF control offload architecture is used for handling offload at roaming sites, fig. 7 is a diagram of ul cl offload architecture for I-SMF insertion, and fig. 7 adds an interface compared with fig. 3 a: n38, N40, N16a. As shown in fig. 7, CHF is connected to SMF via interface N40; the I-SMF is connected with the I-SMF through an interface N38; the I-SMF is connected with the AMF through an interface N11; the I-SMF is connected with the SMF through an interface N16 a; the I-SMF is connected with the UPF through an interface N4. The I-SMF controlled ULCL shunt flow shown in FIG. 8 is as follows:

s801, the UE and the PSA1 establish a PDU session participated in by the I-SMF; s802, finding PSA2 by I-SMF; s803, the I-SMF determines to use BP shunting or UL-CL shunting; s804, updating PDU conversation; s805, the SMF updates the downstream flow of the PSA 1; s806, initiating the requirement of establishing PDU session; s807, I-SMF renews PSA2; s808, updating BP shunting or UL-CL shunting by the I-SMF; s809, receiving a response for establishing the PDU session; s810, the home SMF transmits N4 (forwarding action rule, FAR, packet detection rule, PDR and other information) information corresponding to the shunting rule to the I-SMF through an N16a interface, so that shunting of a roaming place is realized; s811, I-SMF releases I-UPF. That is, the roaming place I-SMF sends a first DNAI list supported by the I-SMF to the home SMF; and the home SMF selects a second DNAI list interested in the PDU session from the first DNAI list according to the shunting service subscribed by the UE, wherein each DNAI corresponds to a UPF owned by a private network. I-SMF selects PSA2 based on the second DNAI list; the I-SMF selects a branch point to replace the I-UPF according to the position TA of the UE; and the home SMF transmits the N4 information corresponding to the shunting rule to the I-SMF through an N16a interface, thereby realizing the shunting of the roaming place.

However, the conditions for I-SMF controlled ULCL diversion are: the UE adopts a regression access mode when initiating a new session in a roaming place. Alternatively, the UE has established a PDU session at home and selected a session anchor point (PSA 1); the UE switches from the home to the roaming place where the I-SMF and the UPF corresponding to the I-SMF are inserted in the uninterrupted process of the session, and the main anchor point (PSA 1) is not changed.

In the prior art, in a roaming scenario in a PLMN, all policies of a UE in a roaming area are controlled by a home PCF, and since service types and network performances in the home PCF and the roaming PCF are different, when a roaming SMF receives a policy issued by the home PCF, the policy issued by the home PCF cannot be executed in a UPF selected by the roaming SMF.

In order to solve the technical problem in the related art, in the embodiment of the present application, the roaming PCF determines the second SM policy after adjusting the first SM policy from the home PCF, and then sends the second SM policy to the roaming SMF. In this way, since the roaming PCF adjusts the first SM policy from the home PCF, the adjusted second SM policy can adapt to the service type and network performance in the roaming PCF, so that when the roaming SMF receives the second SM policy adjusted by the first SM policy, the second SM policy can be issued to the UPF selected by the roaming SMF, and the UPF can normally execute the second SM policy.

Hereinafter, a policy negotiation method in a roaming scenario provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail with reference to fig. 9, and as shown in fig. 9, the policy negotiation method in the roaming scenario includes:

s901, the roaming SMF sends an SM policy request message to the roaming PCF. Accordingly, the roaming-place PCF receives the SM policy request message from the roaming-place SMF.

In a possible implementation manner, the SMF at the roaming site determines the PCF at the roaming site according to the LBO configuration of the current operator, and sends an SM policy request message to the PCF at the roaming site.

Wherein, the SM policy request message is used to request the SM policy.

Optionally, the SM policy is: the method includes that PDU sessions corresponding to partial Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (NSSAI)/Data Network Name (DNN) are appointed to be deactivated, or PDU sessions corresponding to partial NSSAI/DNN are appointed to be released.

S902, the roaming PCF acquires a second SM strategy determined according to the first SM strategy.

Wherein the first SM strategy is an SM strategy from a home PCF; the second SM strategy is determined by the roaming place PCF after adjusting the first SM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place.

In a possible implementation manner, the second SM policy is: and in the terminal registration process, the roaming PCF generates a second SM strategy after carrying out the first SM strategy of the home PCF. Specifically, in the registration process, after receiving the SM policy request message from the roaming SMF, the roaming PCF forwards the SM policy request message to the home PCF. In response to the SM policy request message, the home PCF determines a first SM policy and sends the first SM policy to the roaming PCF. After receiving the first SM strategy, the roaming PCF adjusts the first SM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determines a second SM strategy. After that, the roaming PCF stores the second SM policy.

After the roaming PCF receives the SM policy request message from the roaming SMF, the roaming PCF acquires the second SM policy.

It should be noted that, the process of generating the second SM policy by the PCF at the roaming location may be before S901 or after S901, which is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

S903, the PCF of the roaming place sends a second SM strategy to the SMF of the roaming place. Accordingly, the roaming SMF receives a second SM policy.

Optionally, after receiving the second SM policy, the SMF at the roaming location selects the UPF to execute the second SM policy.

The UPF selected by the SMF of the roaming place may be a UPF of the roaming place or a UPF of the home place.

In a possible implementation manner, before the above S901, the UE generally needs to register in the roaming network in advance. Hereinafter, a procedure of registering the UE in the roaming network will be described. Referring to fig. 9, as shown in fig. 10, the process of registering the UE in the roaming network may be specifically implemented through the following steps S1001 to S1011.

S1001, the UE transmits a UE registration request to the roaming AMF. Accordingly, the roaming AMF receives the registration request sent by the UE.

S1002, the roaming AMF sends authentication information to the home UDM. Correspondingly, the home UDM receives the authentication information sent by the roaming AMF.

And the authentication information is used for authenticating the legality of the UE.

And S1003, the home UDM sends a response message to the roaming AMF. Accordingly, the roaming AMF receives a response message from the home UDM.

In a possible implementation manner, after the validity authentication of the UE by the home UDM is successful, the home UDM sends a response message to the roaming AMF, where the response message includes subscription information of the UE.

It should be noted that, when the UE is authenticated by the validity authentication, the home UDM allows the UE to register with the network, thereby improving the security of the network.

S1004, the roaming AMF selects a PCF.

In one possible implementation, the roaming AMF selects a roaming PCF and a home PCF.

The process of selecting the roaming PCF by the roaming AMF specifically includes: the roaming AMF selects a roaming PCF according to the position of the UE and the configuration requirement of the roaming operator, and determines the IDentity (ID) of the roaming PCF. Or, the roaming AMF sends first indication information to the NRF, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the NRF to select the PCF of the roaming place according to the position of the UE and the configuration requirement of the operator of the roaming place. In response to the first indication information, the NRF selects a roaming-place PCF according to the location of the UE and the configuration requirements of the roaming-place operator. After that, the NRF generates a first response message according to the ID of the selected roaming-place PCF, and transmits the first response message to the roaming-place AMF.

The process of selecting the home PCF by the roaming AMF specifically includes: the roaming AMF selects a home PCF according to a user permanent identifier (SUPI) of the UE, and determines an ID of the home PCF. Alternatively, the roaming AMF transmits second indication information to the NRF, the second indication information indicating that the NRF selects the home PCF according to the SUPI of the UE. In response to the second indication information, the NRF selects a home PCF according to the SUPI of the UE. After that, the NRF generates a first response message according to the ID of the selected home PCF, and transmits a second response message to the roaming AMF.

Optionally, in a roaming scenario across PLMNs, the roaming AMF may select a home PCF according to the PLMN.

S1005, the roaming AMF sends the first policy request message to the roaming PCF. Accordingly, the roaming-site PCF receives a first policy request message from the roaming-site AMF.

The first policy request message is a policy request message generated by the roaming PCF according to the registration request of the UE.

In one possible implementation, the roaming AMF may send the first policy request message and the ID of the home PCF to the roaming PCF according to the ID of the roaming PCF.

S1006, the roaming PCF forwards the first policy request message to the home PCF.

In a possible implementation manner, the roaming PCF forwards the first policy request message to the home PCF according to the ID of the home PCF.

S1007, the home PCF receives the first policy request message and sends a first policy response message to the roaming PCF. Accordingly, the roaming PCF receives the first policy response message.

In a possible implementation manner, if the first policy request message is used to request an SM policy, the home PCF determines the first SM policy according to the received first policy request message, and sends a first policy response message to the roaming PCF, where the first policy response message includes the first SM policy.

If the first policy request message is used for requesting an AM policy, the home PCF determines the first AM policy according to the received first policy request message, and sends a first policy response message to the roaming PCF, where the first policy response message includes the first AM policy.

Optionally, the AM policy includes: access and mobility related Policy information (Access and mobile availability related Policy information) and UE Access Selection and Packet Data Unit session Selection related Policy information (UE Access Selection and Packet Data Unit (PDU) session Selection related Policy information), wherein the UE Access Selection and PDU Selection related Policy information includes Access Network Discovery and Selection Policy (andspc) and UE routing Policy (URSP).

If the first policy request message is used for requesting the UE policy, the home PCF determines a first SM policy according to the received first policy request message, and sends a first policy response message to the roaming PCF, wherein the first policy response message comprises the first UE policy.

Optionally, the UE Policy includes a Wireless Local Area Network Selection Policy (WLANSP) and a UE routing Policy (URSP) Policy, where the WLANSP is used to select a suitable WLAN connection for the terminal to transmit data; the role of the URSP is to apply for different network slices for different applications, which together with other policies establishes and binds specific PDU sessions for the relevant applications.

In one possible implementation, the first policy response message includes one or more of the following policies: a first SM strategy, a first AM strategy and a first UE strategy.

S1008, the PCF of the roaming place adjusts the first strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determines the second strategy.

Wherein the first policy includes at least one of the first SM policy, the first AM policy, and the first UE policy. Correspondingly, in the case that the first policy includes a first SM policy, the second policy includes a second SM policy; in the case that the first policy comprises a first AM policy, the second policy comprises a second AM policy; the second policy comprises a second UE policy if the first policy comprises the first UE policy.

Network performance includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following parameters: bandwidth, time delay, packet loss rate.

In a possible implementation manner, S1008 may specifically be implemented as: if the first policy comprises a first SM policy, the PCF of the roaming place adjusts the first SM policy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determines a second SM policy.

If the first policy comprises the first AM policy, the PCF of the roaming place adjusts the first AM policy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determines the second AM policy.

If the first strategy comprises the first UE strategy, the PCF of the roaming place adjusts the first UE strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determines the second UE strategy.

And the roaming place PCF generates a second strategy according to at least one of the second SM strategy, the second AM strategy and the second UE strategy.

Optionally, after generating the second policy, the roaming PCF stores the second policy in the roaming PCF.

Hereinafter, the roaming PCF will specifically describe the first SM policy and the second SM policy as an example.

An example, when a UE wants to apply for accessing a roaming feature service at a roaming site, a policy request needs to be sent to the home PCF via the roaming site SMF. Since the first SM policy provided by the home PCF does not support the UE to access the roaming-place feature service, the roaming-place PCF may add a policy allowing access to the roaming-place feature service on the first SM policy, thereby generating a second SM policy. In this case, the second SM policy generated by the PCF at the roaming location includes a Data Network Access Identifier (DNAI) subscribed by the UE corresponding to the feature Service, and a Quality of Service (QoS) rule corresponding to the DNAI.

For another example, when the network performance of the roaming area where the UE is located is poor, and the UE sends the policy request to the home PCF through the SMF of the roaming area, the network performance of the roaming area cannot meet the requirement of the first SM policy provided by the home PCF. Therefore, the roaming PCF may modify the network performance related parameters in the first SM policy to generate a second SM policy. And if the bandwidth requirement in the first SM strategy is reduced, generating a second SM strategy.

It should be noted that, when the roaming AMF sends the first policy request message to the roaming PCF again, the roaming PCF may send the saved second policy to the roaming AMF; alternatively, when the UE initiates the session establishment and the roaming PCF receives the first policy request message from the roaming SMF, the roaming PCF may send the saved second policy to the roaming SMF.

S1009, the roaming PCF sends the second policy to the roaming AMF. Accordingly, the roaming AMF receives the second policy sent by the roaming PCF.

Optionally, after receiving the second policy sent by the roaming PCF, the roaming AMF sends the second policy to the UPF selected by the roaming AMF, so that the UPF executes the second policy.

S1010, the roaming AMF sends a registration response message to the UE. Accordingly, the UE receives the registration response message transmitted by the roaming AMF.

In one possible implementation, the roaming AMF determines whether the UE can normally register according to the second AM policy, and sends a registration response message to the UE. If the UE can normally register, the registration response message includes: a UE registration acceptance instruction and a second UE strategy; if the UE cannot normally register, the registration response message includes: the UE registers for a rejection order.

S1011, the UE stores the registration response message.

Optionally, if the registration response message includes: a UE registration acceptance instruction and a second UE strategy; the UE saves the second UE policy. And after the session is established, the SMF at the roaming place executes a second UE strategy to finish the unloading or guiding of the session flow.

The scheme at least has the following beneficial effects: in the embodiment of the present application, when the roaming PCF receives the first SM policy request message sent by the roaming AMF, the roaming PCF forwards the first SM policy request message to the home PC F, and then the roaming PCF adjusts the first SM policy according to the network performance of the roaming location and/or the service provided by the roaming location, and determines the second SM policy. In this way, the adjusted second SM policy can be adapted to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place. When UE establishes session in network and roaming PCF receives request strategy information of SMF, roaming PCF can issue second SM strategy to roaming PCF, so that UPF selected by roaming SMF can execute the second strategy normally.

In addition, in case that the roaming-place PCF receives the first AM policy request message transmitted from the roaming-place AMF, the roaming-place PCF determines the second AM policy and transmits the second AM policy to the roaming-place AMF. And the roaming AMF determines whether to allow the UE to access the network according to the received second AM strategy. And under the condition that the roaming PCF receives the first UE policy request message sent by the roaming AMF, the roaming PCF adjusts the first UE policy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determines a second UE policy. In this way, the adjusted second UE policy can be adapted to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, so as to better provide the service for the UE.

In one possible implementation, after S1011, the UE generally needs to establish a PDU session in the roaming network. Hereinafter, a procedure of the UE establishing a PDU session in the roamed network will be described. As one possible embodiment of the present application, in conjunction with fig. 10, as shown in fig. 11a, the above process may be specifically implemented through the following S1101-S1107.

S1101, the UE sends a PDU session request message to the AMF of the roaming place. Accordingly, the roaming AMF receives the PDU session request message.

S1102, the roaming AMF selects the roaming SMF.

In one possible implementation, the AMF selects the SMF according to DNN information of the UE.

Or, the roaming AMF sends third indication information to the NRF, wherein the third indication information is used for indicating the NRF to select the roaming SMF according to the DNN information of the UE. In response to the third indication information, the NRF selects a roaming place SMF according to DNN information of the UE. After that, the NRF generates a third response message according to the ID of the selected roaming-destination SMF, and transmits the third response message to the roaming-destination AMF, which receives the third response message of the NRF.

S1103, the roaming location AMF creates a Session Management (SM) context.

S1104, the roaming AMF sends the ID of the home PCF and the ID of the roaming PCF to the roaming SMF. Accordingly, the roaming SMF receives the ID of the home PCF and the ID of the roaming PCF.

In one possible implementation, the roaming AMF determines the ID of the roaming PCF and the ID of the home PCF, here the same as S1004, and sends the ID of the home PCF and the ID of the roaming PCF to the roaming SMF.

In another possible implementation manner, the roaming AMF sends the ID of the home PCF and the ID of the roaming PCF to the roaming SMF according to the ID of the home PCF and the ID of the roaming PCF determined in the registration process.

In one possible implementation, when the roaming AMF creates the SM context, the ID of the home PCF and the ID of the roaming PCF are sent to the roaming SMF.

It should be noted that, a network element in the network may directly establish a communication connection with the PCF in the roaming place according to the ID of the PCF in the roaming place; the network element in the network can directly establish communication connection with the home PCF according to the ID of the home PCF.

S1105, the roaming SMF sends an SM policy request message to the roaming PCF. Accordingly, the roaming PCF receives the SM policy request message sent by the roaming SMF.

In one possible implementation, the SMF sends an SM policy request message to the PCF via the PCF's ID.

Optionally, the roaming SMF sends the ID of the home PCF to the roaming PCF.

S1106, the roaming PCF sends the SM policy response message to the roaming SMF. Accordingly, the SMF at the roaming place receives the SM strategy response message sent by the PCF at the roaming place.

Wherein the SM policy response message includes the second SM policy.

In a possible implementation manner, the roaming-location PCF generates an SM policy response message according to the second SM policy determined in the registration procedure, and sends the SM policy response message to the roaming-location SMF.

In another possible implementation manner, the roaming PCF forwards the SM policy request message to the home PCF, and the home PCF determines the first SM policy according to the received first policy request message and sends a first policy response message to the roaming PCF, where the first policy response message includes the first SM policy. And the PCF of the roaming place adjusts the first SM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, determines the second SM strategy and sends an SM strategy response message to the SMF of the roaming place.

Optionally, when returning a PDU session establishment response to the SMF at the roaming location, the PCF at the roaming location carries an SM policy response message.

S1107, the SMF at the roaming destination selects a UPF, and sends the second SM policy to the UPF. Accordingly, the UPF receives the second SM policy and executes the second SM policy.

Optionally, the SMF of the roaming place determines the UPF according to the second SM policy.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 11b, the SMF at the roaming site selects a first UPF from at least one UPF controlled by the SMF at the roaming site as a primary anchor point according to the DNN information of the UE and the network slice identifier; the SMF at the roaming place selects a second UPF from at least one UPF controlled by the SMF at the roaming place as a first auxiliary anchor point according to a second SM strategy; and the SMF at the roaming place directly forwards the second SM strategy to the SMF at the home place, and the SMF at the home place selects a third UPF from at least one UPF controlled by the SMF at the home place as a second auxiliary anchor point according to the second SM strategy.

The scheme at least has the following beneficial effects: in the embodiment of the present application, in a process of establishing a session, a roaming SMF requests an SM policy from a roaming PCF, and the roaming PCF sends an SM policy response message to the roaming SMF, where the SM policy response message includes a second SM policy. In this way, the adjusted second SM policy can be adapted to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place. When UE establishes session in network and roaming PCF receives request strategy information of SMF, roaming PCF can issue second SM strategy to roaming PCF, so that UPF selected by roaming SMF can execute the second strategy normally.

In one possible implementation, after S1005, the roaming PCF typically modifies the received policy. Hereinafter, a procedure for modifying the policy by the roaming-place PCF will be described. As one possible embodiment of the present application, with reference to fig. 10, as shown in fig. 12, the foregoing process may be specifically implemented by the following S1201-S1207.

S1201, the home PCF receives the first policy request message sent by the roaming PCF.

S1202, the home PCF determines the part which is not allowed to be modified in the first strategy according to the home operator strategy.

And the first strategy is the strategy determined by the home PCF according to the first strategy request message.

It should be noted that the first policy in the process of modifying the policy by the PCF at the roaming place is the same as the first policy in the process of registering and establishing the PDU session in the network at the roaming place by the UE.

In one possible implementation, the home PCF determines, according to the home operator policy, the private network service that is not allowed to be modified in the first policy.

Illustratively, the first policy includes that the home operator policy does not allow the UE to use the 5G network, or the first policy includes that the home operator policy does not allow the "limit the speed of the UE accessing the internet after the UE traffic exceeds 20G".

S1203, the home PCF marks a part of the first policy that is not allowed to be modified, and generates a marked first policy.

And marking the marked first strategy with the content which is not allowed to be modified in the first strategy.

S1204, the home PCF sends the marked first policy to the roaming PCF. Correspondingly, the roaming PCF receives the marked first policy sent by the home PCF.

S1205, the PCF of the roaming place modifies the marked first strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place to obtain a second strategy.

For example, when the marked first policy does not allow the UE to use the 5G network, the UE wants to apply for accessing the roaming feature service at the roaming place, and needs to send a policy request to the home PCF via the roaming place SMF. Since the access to the roaming feature service requires the use of the 5G network, and the marked first policy does not allow the UE to use the 5G network, the roaming PCF cannot modify the marked first policy. At this time, the roaming PCF does not modify the special roaming service in the marked first policy.

For example, the network performance of the roaming place where the UE is located is poor, when the UE sends the policy request to the home PCF through the SMF of the roaming place, the network performance of the roaming place cannot meet the requirement of the first policy provided by the home, and the marked first policy does not allow the UE to use the 5G network, and the unmarked policy does not allow the bandwidth to be modified. Therefore, the roaming PCF can modify the parameters related to the network performance in the marked first policy to generate a second policy. Such as reducing bandwidth requirements in the first policy, a second policy is generated.

S1206, the roaming PCF sends a strategy change notification message to the home PCF.

Wherein, the policy notification message is used to inform the home PCF of: the first policy has been modified to a second policy.

It should be noted that the PCF in the roaming place sends the second policy to the SMF in the roaming place, and the SM F in the roaming place forwards the second policy to the UPF, so that the UPF opens the value-added service of the UE after receiving the second policy sent by the SMF in the roaming place. Meanwhile, the policy change notification message is also used to inform the home PCF of: the value added service of the UE is already opened. Thus, the home PCF receives the strategy change notification message and can charge the user reasonably.

S1207, the home PCF sends a policy change response message to the roaming PCF.

Optionally, the policy change response message is used to indicate that the home PCF has charged the value-added service in the second policy used by the UE.

The scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the embodiment of the application, the home PCF determines the marked first policy according to the home operator policy, and the marked first policy is used for marking a part of the first policy that is not allowed to be modified. In this way, the PCF at the roaming site can modify the first policy according to the actual situation.

In one possible implementation, after S901, the home PCF typically updates the policy. The procedure for home PCF update policy is described below. As one possible embodiment of the present application, in conjunction with fig. 9, as shown in fig. 13, the above process may be specifically implemented by the following S1301-S1303.

S1301, the home PCF receives the updating strategy request of the home operator.

The updating policy request is used for requesting to update all or part of the content in the first policy.

S1302, the home PCF obtains a third policy according to the update policy request of the home operator.

And the third strategy is a strategy obtained by updating the first strategy by the home PCF according to the strategy updating request of the home operator.

S1303, the home PCF sends the third policy to the roaming PCF. Accordingly, the roaming PCF receives the third policy.

The scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the embodiment of the application, the home PCF can automatically update the strategy according to the updating strategy request of the home operator, and the updated third strategy is synchronized to the roaming PCF, so that the control of the home operator on the strategy is improved.

In one possible implementation, after S1303, the roaming PCF modifies the policy updated by the home PCF. The procedure for the roaming-site PCF to modify the policy is described below. As one possible embodiment of the present application, in conjunction with fig. 9, as shown in fig. 14, the above process may be specifically implemented by the following S1401 to S1402.

S1401, roaming the place PCF according to roaming the network performance and/or business that the place offered roaming of the place, modify the third tactics and receive the fourth tactics.

Optionally, the PCF at the roaming place modifies the third policy according to the network performance at the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, so as to obtain a fourth policy.

S1402, the roaming PCF sends the fourth policy to the roaming SMF. Accordingly, the roaming SMF receives the fourth policy.

Optionally, after receiving the fourth policy, the SMF at the roaming location selects the UPF to execute the fourth policy.

The scheme at least brings the following beneficial effects: in the embodiment of the application, the PCF of the roaming place modifies the third policy updated in real time in the home location to obtain the fourth policy. The fourth policy is obtained by modifying the third policy by the roaming PCF according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, so that the adjusted fourth policy can adapt to the service type and network performance in the roaming PCF.

It can be seen that the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are mainly introduced from the perspective of methods. To implement the above functions, it includes hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative modules and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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.

In the embodiment of the present application, the function modules of the policy negotiation apparatus in the roaming scenario may be divided according to the above method example, for example, each function module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. Optionally, the division of the modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy negotiation apparatus 150 in a roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. The policy negotiation apparatus 150 in the roaming scenario includes: a communication unit 1501; a communication unit 1501 for receiving an SM policy request message from a roaming destination SMF; the communication unit 1501 is further configured to acquire a second SM policy determined according to the first SM policy, where the first SM policy is an SM policy from a home PCF, and the second SM policy is an SM policy determined after a roaming PCF adjusts the first SM policy according to network performance of a roaming place and/or a service provided by the roaming place; the communication unit 1501 is further configured to send the second SM policy to the roaming SMF.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a processing unit 1502; a communication unit 1501, further configured to receive a first policy request message from the roaming AMF, where the first policy request message is a policy request message generated according to a registration request of the UE; a communication unit 1501, configured to forward the first policy request message to the home PCF; a communication unit 1501, further configured to receive a first policy response message from the home PCF; the first policy response message includes a first SM policy; a processing unit 1502, configured to adjust the first SM policy according to the network performance of the roaming destination and/or the service provided by the roaming destination, and determine the second SM policy.

Optionally, the processing unit 1502 is further configured to: according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, adjusting the first AM strategy to determine a second AM strategy; and adjusting the first UE strategy to determine the second UE strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place.

Optionally, the processing unit 1502 is further configured to generate a second policy according to at least one of the second SM policy, the second AM policy, and the second UE policy; the communication unit 1501 is further configured to send the second policy to the roaming AMF.

Optionally, the communication unit 1501 is further configured to receive a marked first policy sent by the home PCF, where the marked first policy is marked with a content that is not allowed to be modified in the first policy; the processing unit 1502 is further configured to modify the marked first policy according to the network performance of the roaming destination and/or the service provided by the roaming destination to obtain a second policy.

Optionally, the communication unit 1501 is further configured to: and receiving a third strategy sent by the home PCF, wherein the third strategy is a strategy obtained by updating the first strategy by the home PCF according to the strategy updating request of the home operator.

Wherein the processing unit may be a processor or a controller. Which may implement or execute the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein. A processor may also be a combination of computing functions, e.g., comprising one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP or microprocessors, a combination of DSPs and microprocessors, or the like. The communication unit may be a transceiving circuit or a communication interface, etc. The storage module may be a memory. When the processing unit 1502 is a processor, the communication unit 1501 is a communication interface, and the storage module is a memory, the policy negotiation apparatus in the roaming scenario according to the embodiment of the present application may be the policy negotiation apparatus in the roaming scenario shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a policy negotiation apparatus 160 in another roaming scenario according to an embodiment of the present application.

The policy negotiation apparatus 160 in the roaming scenario includes:

a policy input unit 1601 for: when roaming policy negotiation apparatus 160 performs the function of the roaming-destination PCF, it sends a policy request to the home PCF. When roaming policy negotiation apparatus 160 performs the function of home PCF, an update policy request of home operator is received.

A tag generation and identification unit 1602, configured to: when roaming policy negotiation apparatus 160 performs the function of the roaming-location PCF, it is identified whether the first policy sent by the home PCF includes a marked first policy that allows modification. When the roaming policy negotiation apparatus 160 executes the function of the home PCF, determining the part of the first policy that is not allowed to be modified according to the home operator policy; and marking the part which is not allowed to be modified in the first strategy, and generating the marked first strategy.

Policy store 1603 to: the marked first policy is stored.

A policy generation unit 1604 to: when the roaming policy negotiation apparatus 160 executes the function of PCF at roaming location, the marked first policy is modified to obtain the second policy according to the network performance at roaming location and/or the service provided by roaming location.

A policy output unit 1605 for: when the roaming policy negotiation apparatus 160 executes the function of the roaming PCF, it sends the modified policy to the UPF, and sends a policy notification message to the home PCF, where the policy notification message is used to notify the home PCF of: the first policy has been modified to a second policy.

Through the description of the above embodiments, it is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and simplicity of description, the foregoing division of the functional modules is merely used as an example, and in practical applications, the foregoing function distribution may be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the network node is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the above described functions. For the specific working processes of the system, the module and the network node described above, reference may be made to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which are not described herein again.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes each step in the method flow shown in the above method embodiment.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, where the chip includes a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled with the processor, and the processor is configured to run a computer program or an instruction, so as to implement the policy negotiation method in the roaming scenario in the foregoing method embodiment.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the policy negotiation method under the roaming scenario in the above method embodiments.

The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, and a hard disk. Random Access Memory (RAM), read-Only Memory (ROM), erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), registers, a hard disk, optical fiber, a portable Compact disk Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any other form of computer-readable storage medium known in the art, in any suitable combination of the above, or any other form of computer-readable storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may also be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In embodiments of the invention, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Since the apparatus, the device, the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program product in the embodiments of the present invention may be applied to the method described above, for technical effects obtained by the apparatus, the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program product, reference may also be made to the method embodiments described above, and details of the embodiments of the present application are not repeated herein.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present disclosure should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A strategy negotiation method in roaming scene is characterized in that, applied to a strategy control function PCF in roaming area, the method comprises:

receiving a session management SM (session management) strategy request message from a Session Management Function (SMF) of a roaming place;

acquiring a second SM strategy determined according to a first SM strategy, wherein the first SM strategy is an SM strategy from a home PCF, and the second SM strategy is the SM strategy determined after the roaming PCF adjusts the first SM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place;

and sending the second SM strategy to the SMF of the roaming place.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the receiving the SM policy request message from the roaming-site SMF, the method further comprises:

receiving a first policy request message from a roaming place access mobility management function (AMF), wherein the first policy request message is a policy request message generated according to a registration request of a terminal User Equipment (UE);

forwarding the first policy request message to the home PCF;

receiving a first policy response message from the home PCF; the first policy response message includes the first SM policy;

and adjusting the first SM strategy according to the network performance of a roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, and determining the second SM strategy.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first policy response message further includes a first access and mobility AM policy and a first UE policy, and wherein the method further comprises:

adjusting a first AM strategy to determine a second AM strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place;

and adjusting the first UE strategy to determine a second UE strategy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

generating a second strategy according to at least one of the second SM strategy, the second AM strategy and the second UE strategy;

sending the second policy to the roaming AMF.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a marked first strategy sent by the home PCF, wherein the marked first strategy is marked with contents which are not allowed to be modified in the first strategy;

and modifying the marked first policy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place to obtain the second policy.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, further comprising:

and receiving a third strategy sent by the home PCF, wherein the third strategy is a strategy obtained by updating the first strategy by the home PCF according to a strategy updating request of a home operator.

7. A policy negotiation apparatus in a roaming scenario, the apparatus comprising, a communication unit;

the communication unit is used for receiving an SM policy request message from a SMF of a roaming place;

the communication unit is further configured to acquire a second SM policy determined according to a first SM policy, where the first SM policy is an SM policy from a home PCF, and the second SM policy is an SM policy determined by a roaming PCF after adjusting the first SM policy according to network performance of the roaming destination and/or a service provided by the roaming destination;

the communication unit is further configured to send the second SM policy to the roaming destination SMF.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising, a processing unit;

the communication unit is further configured to receive a first policy request message from a roaming AMF, where the first policy request message is a policy request message generated according to a registration request of the UE;

the communication unit is further configured to forward the first policy request message to the home PCF;

the communication unit is further configured to receive a first policy response message from the home PCF; the first policy response message includes the first SM policy;

the processing unit is configured to adjust the first SM policy according to a network performance of a roaming location and/or a service provided by the roaming location, and determine the second SM policy.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place, adjusting a first AM strategy to determine a second AM strategy;

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus comprises:

the processing unit is further configured to generate a second policy according to at least one of the second SM policy, the second AM policy, and the second UE policy;

the communication unit is further configured to send the second policy to the roaming-destination AMF.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the apparatus comprises:

the communication unit is further configured to receive a marked first policy sent by the home PCF, where the marked first policy is marked with content that is not allowed to be modified in the first policy;

the processing unit is further configured to modify the marked first policy according to the network performance of the roaming place and/or the service provided by the roaming place to obtain the second policy.

12. The apparatus according to any of claims 8-10, wherein the communication unit is further configured to:

13. A policy negotiation device in a roaming scenario is characterized by comprising: a processor and a memory; wherein the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions, and when the roaming scenario policy negotiation apparatus is running, the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the roaming scenario policy negotiation apparatus to execute the roaming scenario policy negotiation method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

14. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a roaming scenario policy negotiation apparatus, cause the computer to perform the roaming scenario policy negotiation method of any one of claims 1-6.