CN115515186A

CN115515186A - Data forwarding method and device, and network equipment

Info

Publication number: CN115515186A
Application number: CN202110630906.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韦安妮; 马帅; 睢菲菲
Original assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Current assignee: China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd; China Mobile Communications Ltd Research Institute
Priority date: 2021-06-07
Filing date: 2021-06-07
Publication date: 2022-12-23

Abstract

The application discloses a data forwarding method, a data forwarding device and network equipment, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a first base station receives a data packet sent by a first terminal; and the first base station forwards the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet.

Description

Data forwarding method and device, and network equipment

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a data forwarding method and apparatus, and a network device.

Background

The third Generation Partnership project (3 rd Generation Partnership project,3 gpp) defines three data offloading schemes, which are: an upstream splitter (ULCL) based splitting scheme, a multi-host (Muti-hosting) based splitting scheme, and a Local Area Data Network (LADN) based splitting scheme.

The data Plane of the above three offloading schemes can implement offloading of data (also referred to as forwarding of data) only by participation of one or more User Plane Function network elements (UPFs) of a core network, which increases service transmission delay and network complexity. In the application of the vertical industry, most of services are transmitted by using Ethernet packets, the time delay requirement is relatively strict, and the current shunting scheme cannot well match the requirements of the current vertical industry.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above technical problem, embodiments of the present invention provide a data forwarding method and apparatus, a network device, a chip, and a computer-readable storage medium.

The data forwarding method provided by the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps:

a first base station receives a data packet sent by a first terminal;

and the first base station forwards the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet.

The data forwarding device provided in the embodiment of the present application,

the data forwarding device provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied to a first base station, and the device includes:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a data packet sent by a first terminal;

and the sending unit is used for forwarding the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet.

The network device provided by the embodiment of the application comprises: the processor is used for calling and running the computer program stored in the memory, and executing any one of the data forwarding methods.

The chip provided by the embodiment of the application comprises: and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory so that the equipment provided with the chip executes any one of the methods.

The computer-readable storage medium provided by the embodiment of the present application is used for storing a computer program, and the computer program enables a computer to execute any one of the methods.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the first base station forwards the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet, data forwarding (also called data shunting) can be realized without participation of a UPF (unified power flow) of a core network, the simplest network architecture is realized to finish data forwarding (also called data shunting) in a vertical industry scene, and the purposes of reducing time delay, reducing network deployment complexity and improving data isolation are achieved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a 5G network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G user plane protocol stack provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a 5G local breakout scheme provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a diagram of a ulsl-based local breakout architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a Muti-hosting based local breakout architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a diagram of a local breakout architecture based on a LADN according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a first flowchart of a data forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a first schematic diagram of a protocol stack on the terminal and base station sides according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a first schematic diagram of base station-side local breakout provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a second data forwarding method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a first schematic diagram of a registration procedure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of a session establishment procedure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a third flowchart of a data forwarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a second schematic diagram of a protocol stack on the terminal and base station sides according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a second schematic diagram of local offloading at the base station side according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 16 is a schematic flowchart of a data forwarding method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 17 is a second schematic diagram of a registration procedure provided in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural component diagram of a data forwarding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip of an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without making any inventive step based on the embodiments in the present application, are within the scope of protection of the present application.

For the convenience of understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following description is provided for the related art of the embodiments of the present application, and the following related art may be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as alternatives, which all belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

5G network architecture

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a 5G network architecture, as shown in fig. 1, the 5G network architecture includes the following nodes and network elements:

UE: user Equipment (User Equipment);

(R) AN: (Radio) Access Network;

and (4) UPF: a User Plane Function network element (User Plane Function);

DN: data networks (Data networks);

AMF: a Mobility Management Function network element (Mobility Management Function);

and (4) SMF: session Management Function network elements (Session Management Function);

PCF: a Policy Control function network element (Policy Control function);

UDM: a Unified Data Management network element (Unified Data Management);

AUSF: an Authentication Server Function network element (Authentication Server Function);

AF: an Application Function network element (Application Function);

NSSF: a Network Slice Selection Function Network element (Network Slice Selection Function);

NEF: a Network open Function Network element (Network expose Function);

NRF: a Network storage Function Network element (Network security Function).

The 5G control plane adopts a service-based architecture, and the control plane network element comprises: AUSF, AMF, SMF, NSSF, NEF, NRF, PCF, UDM, and AF.

It should be noted that the terminal described in the embodiment of the present application may be the UE described above.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a 5G user plane protocol stack, and as shown in fig. 2, a user plane protocol stack on the UE side includes: AN Application (Application) layer, a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) layer, and a 5G access layer (i.e., 5G-AN Protocol Layers); the user plane protocol stack of the 5G-AN side comprises: a 5G access Layer (i.e. 5G-AN protocols), a GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User plane (GTP-U) Layer, a UDP/IP Layer, a Layer 2 (Layer 2, L2) and a Layer 1 (Layer 1, L1); the user plane protocol stack on the UPF side comprises: l1, L2, UDP/IP layer, GTP-U layer.

It should be noted that the 5G access stratum (i.e. 5G-AN Protocol Layers) includes: a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a Media Access Control (MAC) layer, and a Physical (PHY) layer. The PHY layer is L1, and the MAC layer is L2.

Data splitting scheme

The 3GPP defines three data offloading schemes, as shown in fig. 3, which are: ULCL-based splitting schemes, muti-ringing-based splitting schemes, and LADN-based splitting schemes. The shunting scheme based on the ULCL is that the destination IP address of a data packet is identified through the ULCL, and upstream data shunting is achieved. The splitting scheme based on the Muti-hosting is that UPF configures a Branching node function (Branching point), and a source address of an IPv6 data packet is identified for splitting. The splitting scheme based on the LADN is that the SMF identifies the local DNN carried by the terminal, and selects the local UPF to establish session connection, so as to split.

Fig. 4 is a diagram of a local offload architecture based on ULCL, and as shown in fig. 4, when the offload scheme based on ULCL is adopted, the SMF inserts one ULCL in the data path of the PDU session during or after the PDU session is established, the number of the inserted ULCLs may be one or more, and in addition, it supports deleting ULCLs in the data path of the PDU session as required. The session type of the ULCL may be IPv4, or IPv6, or IPv4v6. The ULCL should support Packet Detection Rule (PDR) and flow Forwarding Rule (FAR) provided based on SMF to forward an uplink service flow to different PDU session anchor points UPF, and merge downlink service flows from different PDU session anchor points UPF on a link to a 5G terminal.

Fig. 5 is a local offloading architecture diagram based on the Muti-hosting, and as shown in fig. 5, when an offloading scheme based on the IPv6 Multi-hosting is adopted, the SMF should support to insert a Multi-homing (Multi-hosting) session branch Point (Branching Point) in a data path of a PDU session during or after the PDU session is established, and support to delete the Multi-homing session branch Point in the data path of the PDU session as needed. The session type of Multi-hosting can only be an IPv6 type. In a Multi-homeg scenario, the UPF should support an IPv6 Multi-homing (Multi-homeg) function, that is, one PDU session may be associated with multiple IPv6 prefixes, and the UPF serves as a branch Point (Branching Point) to connect multiple PDU session anchor points UPFs, and then accesses a data network, and supports the provision of forwarding uplink traffic flows of different IPv6 prefixes to different PDU session anchor points UPFs, and merging downlink traffic flows from different PDU session anchor points UPFs on a link to a 5G terminal, and may serve as both an IPv6 Multi-homed branch Point and a PDU session anchor Point.

Fig. 6 is a diagram of local breakout architecture based on LADN, as shown in fig. 6, when a 5G terminal moves to a designated area, a specific service is used to trigger a new setup of LADN session, and at this time, one 5G terminal may have two PDU sessions: internet sessions and LADN sessions. When the 5G terminal registers to the network, the AMF can determine that the 5G terminal appears in an LADN area according to LADN information, user location information and the like acquired from a core network; if the DNN of the AMF request is configured as a LADN DNN in the AMF, the AMF forwards an indication to the SMF, and the SMF determines whether the 5G terminal is in the LADN service area based on the indication from the AMF. The SMF establishes a local PDU session by selecting a proper local edge UPF to realize local network access and local application access.

In the vertical industry, the most typical requirement of local shunting of a 5G network is that the flow does not go out of a campus, and the method can be used for transmitting limited and delay-reducing scenes, and mainly comprises an enterprise campus, a campus, local video monitoring, VR/AR scenes, local video live broadcasting and the like. For how a 5G network branches traffic flow to a Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform, two types of schemes are used, one is a DNN scheme (including a general dedicated DNN scheme and a LADN DNN scheme), and the other is a ULCL scheme.

As can be seen from the above description, in the three offloading schemes currently formulated by 5G, the data plane can only realize data forwarding by the participation of one or more UPFs of the core network, which increases the transmission delay of the service and the complexity of the network. In the application of the vertical industry, most services are transmitted by using ethernet packets, the time delay requirement is relatively strict, and the current shunting scheme cannot well match the requirements of the current vertical industry.

Therefore, the following technical scheme of the embodiment of the application is provided. According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the identification of the data packet is realized on the base station side by enhancing the function of the base station, and the base station realizes the forwarding of the data under the condition that the UPF of the core network does not participate through the identification information in the data packet, so that the complexity of the vertical industry (such as the vertical industry applied to the scene of a wireless network inside a factory and the vertical industry applied to the scene of the deployment of a park network) is simplified, the local distribution (or local unloading and local forwarding) and the load balance of the data are realized, and the data transmission delay is reduced.

It should be noted that, although the related art is described with a 5G architecture, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application may be, but is not limited to be, applied to the 5G architecture, and may also be applied to other communication architectures, such as a future communication architecture.

In the embodiment of the present application, "data forwarding" may also be understood as "data offloading", or may also be understood as "data offloading".

Fig. 7 is a first flowchart of a data forwarding method provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 7, the data forwarding method includes the following steps:

step 701: the first base station receives a data packet sent by the first terminal.

Step 702: and the first base station forwards the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet.

In this embodiment of the present application, the identification information in the data packet includes at least one of the following: media Access Control (MAC) address, virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identification, and IP address. And the first base station forwards the data packet based on at least one of the MAC address, the VLAN identification and the IP address.

How the first base station performs forwarding of the data packet is described below.

Scheme one

In this embodiment, the MAC address is a destination MAC address. Based on this, the first base station determines a UE identity corresponding to a destination MAC address in the data packet based on a first corresponding relationship, where the first corresponding relationship includes a corresponding relationship between at least one group MAC address and the UE identity; and the first base station forwards the data packet to a second terminal based on the UE identification corresponding to the destination MAC address.

In some optional embodiments, the first base station determines the first correspondence by: the first base station acquires the MAC address of at least one terminal, and determines the first corresponding relation based on the MAC address of the at least one terminal. In a specific implementation, in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of each terminal of the at least one terminal, the first base station receives the MAC address sent by each terminal.

For example: in an attach process or a registration process of a terminal, the terminal sends a registration request message or an attach request message to a first base station, wherein the registration request message or the attach request message carries an MAC address of the terminal. In this way, the first base station can acquire the MAC address of the terminal from the registration request message or the attach request message.

For example: in an attachment process or a registration process of a terminal, the terminal receives a registration acceptance message or an attachment acceptance message sent by a first base station, and then the terminal sends a registration completion message or an attachment completion message to the first base station, wherein the registration completion message or the attachment completion message carries an MAC address of the terminal. In this way, the first base station may obtain the MAC address of the terminal from the registration completion message or the attachment completion message.

In some optional embodiments, in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of each of the at least one terminal, the first base station sends, to the each terminal, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first offload capability of the first base station.

In the foregoing scheme, the first offloading capability refers to a MAC layer offloading capability.

Here, the first indication information may be referred to as base station offloading capability indication information, or referred to as radio access network offloading capability (RAN offload capability) indication information, or referred to as RAN MAC offload capability indication information.

For example: in an attachment process or a registration process of a terminal, the terminal receives a registration acceptance message or an attachment acceptance message sent by a first base station, wherein the registration acceptance message or the attachment acceptance message carries first indication information, and the first indication information is used for indicating the shunting capability of an MAC layer.

The technical solution is illustrated below by referring to specific application examples.

Application example 1

The first base station receives the MAC addresses sent by the 3 terminals, and records the correspondence between the MAC addresses of the 3 terminals and the UE identity, thereby forming a first correspondence as shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

A first base station receives a data packet sent by a terminal 1, wherein a destination MAC address in the data packet is an MAC address 2; the first base station forwards the data packet to the terminal 2 according to the destination MAC address and the first correspondence shown in table 1.

Scheme two

In this embodiment, the MAC address is a destination MAC address or a source MAC address. Based on this, the first base station determines a forwarding manner corresponding to a destination MAC address or a source MAC address in the data packet based on a forwarding policy, where the forwarding policy is used to determine one or more forwarding manners corresponding to the destination MAC address or the source MAC address; and the first base station forwards the data packet based on the forwarding mode.

In some optional embodiments, the forwarding, by the first base station, the data packet based on the forwarding manner includes:

the first base station forwards the data packet to a second terminal according to a unicast mode; or,

the first base station forwards the data packet to at least one second terminal according to a multicast mode; or,

the first base station forwards the data packet to a plurality of second terminals according to a broadcasting mode; or,

and the first base station forwards the data packet to DN.

Application example two

The first base station configures a forwarding strategy in advance, wherein the forwarding strategy comprises at least one of the following forwarding rules:

rule 1: the data packet with the destination MAC address of MAC address 1 is forwarded to a terminal in a unicast mode;

rule 2: the data packet with the destination MAC address of MAC address 2 is forwarded to a plurality of terminals in a multicast mode;

rule 3: the data packet with the destination MAC address being MAC address 3 is forwarded to a plurality of terminals in a broadcasting mode;

rule 4: the data packet with the source MAC address being MAC address 4 is forwarded to the appointed terminal in a unicast mode;

rule 5: the data packet with the source MAC address being MAC address 5 is forwarded to a plurality of appointed terminals according to a multicast mode;

rule 6: the data packet with the source MAC address 6 is forwarded to a plurality of terminals in a broadcast manner.

The first base station receives a data packet sent by the terminal 1, the source MAC address in the data packet is the MAC address 4, and the first base station forwards the data packet to the specified terminal according to the rule 4 in a unicast mode.

Scheme three

In this embodiment of the present application, the first base station determines, based on a second correspondence, at least one base station identifier corresponding to a VLAN identifier in the data packet, where the second correspondence includes a correspondence between at least one group of base station identifiers and the VLAN identifier; the first base station forwards the data packet to at least one second base station based on at least one base station identifier corresponding to the VLAN identifier; and the destination MAC address in the data packet is used for the second base station to determine the UE identifier corresponding to the destination MAC address, and the data packet is forwarded to the second terminal corresponding to the UE identifier.

In some optional embodiments, the first base station determines the second correspondence by: the first base station and at least one second base station exchange the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the VLAN identification; and the first base station determines the second corresponding relation based on the obtained corresponding relation between the base station identifier and the VLAN identifier of at least one second base station.

Application example three

The first base station receives the MAC addresses sent by the 3 terminals, and records the correspondence between the MAC addresses of the 3 terminals and the UE identity, so as to form a first correspondence as shown in table 1 above. The second base station receives the MAC addresses sent by the 4 terminals, and records the correspondence between the MAC addresses of the 4 terminals and the UE identity, thereby forming a first correspondence as shown in table 2 below.

TABLE 2

The first base station and the second base station exchange the corresponding relationship between the base station identifier and the VLAN identifier, and the second corresponding relationship obtained by the first base station is shown in table 3 below.

TABLE 3

A first base station receives a data packet sent by a terminal 1, wherein a VLAN (virtual local area network) identifier in the data packet is a VLAN identifier 2, and a target MAC (media access control) address in the data packet is an MAC address 6; the first base station sends the data packet to the second base station according to the VLAN identification in the data packet and the second corresponding relation shown in the table 3; after receiving the data packet, the second base station forwards the data packet to the terminal 6 according to the destination MAC address in the data packet and the first corresponding relationship shown in table 2.

It should be noted that, with respect to the above-mentioned solutions one to three, in the process of forwarding the data packet, the participation of a user plane network element (e.g., UPF) of the core network is not required, in other words, a session establishment process of allocating the UPF is not required. In order to make the core network definitely not need the session establishment procedure of assigning the UPF, the session establishment procedure of assigning the UPF may be made definitely not needed by the core network by sending the second indication information to the core network.

Specifically, before the first base station receives a data packet sent by the first terminal, the method further includes: the first base station receives a session establishment request message sent by the first terminal and sends the session establishment request message to a core network; the session establishment request message sent to the core network carries second indication information, and the second indication information is used for indicating that the type of the session establishment request is a base station offload type session establishment request.

In some optional embodiments, the second indication information is added by the first terminal in the session establishment request message.

In some optional embodiments, the second indication information is added by the first base station in the session establishment request message.

In the above solution, the second indication information is further used to indicate that the core network does not need to allocate a session establishment procedure of a core network user plane network element.

Scheme four

In the embodiment of the present application, the IP address is a destination IP address. Based on this, the first base station determines a base station identifier corresponding to the destination IP address in the data packet based on a third corresponding relationship, where the third corresponding relationship includes a corresponding relationship between at least one group of base station identifiers and IP addresses; the first base station forwards the data packet to a second base station based on the base station identifier corresponding to the destination IP address; and the destination IP address in the data packet is used for the second base station to determine the UE identifier corresponding to the destination IP address, and the data packet is forwarded to the second terminal corresponding to the UE identifier.

In some optional embodiments, the first base station determines the third correspondence by: the first base station and at least one second base station exchange the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the IP address; and the first base station determines the third corresponding relation based on the obtained corresponding relation between the base station identifier and the IP address of the at least one second base station.

It should be noted that, a base station identification may correspond to one or more IP addresses,

Application example four

The first base station and the second base station exchange the corresponding relationship between the base station identifier and the IP address, and a third corresponding relationship obtained by the first base station is shown in table 4 below.

TABLE 4

A first base station receives a data packet sent by a terminal 1, wherein a destination IP address in the data packet is an IP address 5; the first base station sends the data packet to the second base station according to the destination IP address in the data packet and the third corresponding relation shown in the table 4; and after receiving the data packet, the second base station forwards the data packet to the corresponding terminal according to the destination IP address in the data packet.

Scheme five

In this embodiment, the IP address is a destination IP address or a source IP address. Based on this, the first base station determines a forwarding manner corresponding to a destination IP address or a source IP address in the data packet based on a forwarding policy, where the forwarding policy is used to determine one or more forwarding manners corresponding to the destination IP address or the source IP address; and the first base station forwards the data packet based on the forwarding mode.

the first base station forwards the data packet to a second terminal in a unicast mode; or,

the first base station forwards the data packet to a plurality of second terminals in a broadcasting mode; or,

and the first base station forwards the data packet to DN.

The technical scheme is illustrated by combining specific application examples.

Application example five

The first base station configures a forwarding strategy in advance, wherein the forwarding strategy comprises at least one forwarding rule of the following types:

rule 1: the data packet with the destination IP address of IP address 1 is forwarded to a terminal in a unicast mode;

rule 2: the data packet with the destination IP address of IP address 2 is forwarded to a plurality of terminals in a multicast mode;

rule 3: the data packet with the destination IP address of IP address 3 is forwarded to a plurality of terminals in a broadcast mode;

rule 4: the data packet with the source IP address of IP address 4 is forwarded to the appointed terminal in a unicast mode;

rule 5: the data packet with the source IP address of IP address 5 is forwarded to a plurality of appointed terminals according to a multicast mode;

rule 6: the data packet with the source IP address 6 is forwarded to a plurality of terminals in a broadcast manner.

The first base station receives a data packet sent by the terminal 1, the source IP address in the data packet is IP address 4, and the first base station forwards the data packet to the specified terminal according to the rule 4 in a unicast mode.

It should be noted that, for the fifth solution, in the process of forwarding the data packet, participation of a user plane network element (such as a UPF) of the core network is required. Specifically, before the first base station receives a data packet sent by the first terminal, the method further includes: the first base station receives a session establishment request message sent by the first terminal and sends the session establishment request message to a core network; the session establishment request message sent to the core network is used for requesting the core network to allocate a session establishment process of a core network user plane network element.

In some optional embodiments, in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of the first terminal, the first base station sends first indication information to the first terminal, where the first indication information is used to indicate a second offloading capability of the first base station.

In the foregoing scheme, the second offloading capability refers to an IP layer offloading capability.

Here, the second indication information may be referred to as base station offloading capability indication information, or referred to as radio access network offloading capability (RAN offload capability) indication information, or referred to as RAN IP offload capability indication information.

For example: in an attachment flow or a registration flow of a terminal, the terminal receives a registration acceptance message or an attachment acceptance message sent by a first base station, wherein the registration acceptance message or the attachment acceptance message carries second indication information, and the second indication information is used for indicating the IP layer shunting capability.

In the foregoing solution of the embodiment of the present application, the UE identifier includes at least one of the following: SUCI, 5G-GUTI, PEI, IP address and mobile phone number.

In the foregoing solution of the embodiment of the present application, the data packet may be an ethernet packet, a MAC packet, or an IP packet.

The following describes the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application with reference to a specific application scenario.

Application scenario one

As shown in fig. 8, the protocol stacks of the terminal and the base station side include: application (Application) layer, ethernet (Ethernet) layer, and 5G access layer (i.e., 5G-AN Protocol Layers); the protocol stack of the base station side comprises: 5G access layer (5G-AN Protocol Layers), ethernet layer, GTP-U layer, UDP/IP layer, L2, L1. The path of the uplink data is as follows: an application layer on the terminal side → an ethernet layer on the terminal side → a 5G access layer on the base station side → an ethernet layer on the base station side → a GTP-U layer on the base station side → a UDP/IP layer on the base station side → L2 on the base station side → L1 on the base station side. The ethernet layer at the base station side is a newly added protocol layer and is mainly responsible for forwarding data.

In this embodiment, before the terminal performs communication, the terminal registers in the 5G network based on a registration procedure, where the terminal sends its MAC address to the base station in the registration process, and the base station records the MAC address of the terminal and maintains a corresponding relationship between the MAC address and the UE identifier. When the terminal sends the data packet, the base station forwards the data packet according to the pre-configured corresponding relation.

As shown in fig. 9, UE1 is a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), UE2 is a Device (Device), UE1 and UE2 report their MAC addresses to a base station, and the base station records a correspondence between the MAC address of UE1 and a UE identity and a correspondence between the MAC address of UE2 and the UE identity. The UE1 sends a data packet to the base station, the destination MAC address in the data packet is the MAC address of the UE2, and the base station forwards the data packet to the UE2 according to the destination MAC address in the data packet and a preset corresponding relation.

Fig. 10 is a second flowchart of a data forwarding method provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 10, the data forwarding method includes the following steps:

step 1001: the UE1 attaches or registers to the network through an attachment flow or a registration flow, wherein in the attachment flow or the registration flow, the base station issues indication information of the shunting capacity of the base station to the UE1, and the UE1 sends the MAC address of the UE to the base station.

Step 1002: the base station records the corresponding relation between the MAC address of the UE1 and the UE identification.

Step 1003: and the UE 2-UEn performs attachment or registration to the network through an attachment flow or a registration flow, wherein in the attachment flow or the registration flow, the base station issues indication information of the shunting capacity of the base station to the UE 2-UEn, and the UE 2-UEn sends the MAC address of the UE 2-UEn to the base station.

Step 1004: and the base station records the corresponding relation between the MAC addresses of the UE 2-UEn and the UE identification.

Step 1005: the core network does not need to allocate the session establishment procedure of the UPF, and the UE1 sends a data packet.

Here, the destination MAC address in the packet may be a unicast address, or a broadcast address, or a multicast address.

Step 1006: and the base station determines the corresponding UE identification according to the destination MAC address in the data packet.

Step 1007: and the base station determines the state of the receiving UE according to the UE identification, and performs paging or RRC reconfiguration according to the state of the receiving UE.

Step 1008: and the base station completes the air interface resource allocation.

Here, the base station completes the air interface resource configuration, which may also be understood as that the base station completes the DRB establishment.

Step 1009: and the base station forwards the data packet to the receiving UE according to the UE identification.

In the above scheme, the registration flow related to step 1001 and step 1003 can be as shown in fig. 11.

In the above scenario, the session establishment procedure related to step 1005 may be as shown in fig. 12.

In the registration procedure shown in fig. 11, the UE may report its MAC address to the base station in step 1 or step 22. Specifically, in step 1, the UE sends a registration request message to the base station, where the registration request message carries an MAC address of the UE, or, in step 22, the UE sends a registration completion message to the base station, where the registration completion message carries the MAC address of the UE. After receiving the registration request message, the base station binds the corresponding relation between the MAC address of the UE and the UE identification according to the MAC address in the registration request message, and records the corresponding relation in an address table maintained by the base station.

In the registration procedure shown in fig. 11, the base station may indicate its offloading capability to the UE in step 21. Specifically, in step 21, the base station sends a registration acceptance message to the UE, where the registration acceptance message carries information indicating the offloading capability of the base station.

Here, the base station offloading capability indication information may also be referred to as RAN offload capability indication information, which is used for notifying the UE of the offloading capability of the base station. Here, the offloading capability of the base station may also be referred to as data offloading capability, or routing capability, or data forwarding capability. Further, the indication information RAN offload capability used for notifying the UE of the offloading capability of the base station may also indicate that the base station is MAC layer offloading, where the indication information is specifically named RAN MAC offload capability, and the name of the loss indication information in this embodiment is not limited.

In the session establishment procedure illustrated in fig. 12, the UE may send a base station streaming type session establishment request identifier to the core network through step 1. Specifically, in step 1, the UE sends a PDU session establishment request message to the AMF through the base station, where the PDU session establishment request message carries a base station offload type session establishment request identifier, where the base station offload type session establishment request identifier may be added in the PDU session establishment request message by the UE or added in the PDU session establishment request message by the base station.

Application scenario two

Fig. 13 is a third schematic flowchart of a data forwarding method provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 13, the data forwarding method includes the following steps:

step 1300: the corresponding relation between the VLAN identification and the MAC address and a data forwarding strategy are configured in advance by the base station, and the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the VLAN identification is maintained between adjacent base stations.

Step 1301: the UE1 attaches or registers to the network through an attachment flow or a registration flow, wherein in the attachment flow or the registration flow, the base station issues indication information of the shunting capacity of the base station to the UE1, and the UE1 sends the MAC address of the UE to the base station.

Step 1302: the base station records the corresponding relation among the VLAN identification, the MAC address and the UE identification of the UE 1.

Step 1303: and the UE 2-UEn performs attachment or registration to the network through an attachment flow or a registration flow, wherein in the attachment flow or the registration flow, the base station issues indication information of the shunting capacity of the base station to the UE 2-UEn, and the UE 2-UEn sends the MAC address of the UE 2-UEn to the base station.

Step 1304: the base station records the corresponding relation among VLAN identifications, MAC addresses and UE identifications of the UE 2-UEn.

Step 1305: the core network does not need to allocate the session establishment procedure of the UPF, and the UE1 sends a data packet.

Step 1306: and the base station sends the data packet to a corresponding target base station according to the VLAN identifier in the data packet, and the target base station determines a corresponding UE identifier according to a target MAC address in the data packet.

Step 1307: and the target base station determines the state of the receiving UE according to the UE identification, and performs paging or RRC reconfiguration according to the state of the receiving UE.

Step 1308: and the target base station completes air interface resource allocation.

Here, the target base station completes air interface resource configuration, which may also be understood as the target base station completing DRB establishment.

Step 1309: and the target base station forwards the data packet to the receiving UE according to the UE identification.

In the above solution, the registration process related to step 1301 and step 1303 may be as shown in fig. 11.

In the above scenario, the session establishment procedure related to step 1305 may be as shown in fig. 12.

The difference between the flow shown in fig. 13 and the flow shown in fig. 10 is that the flow shown in fig. 13 is to implement communication between base stations across UEs by exchanging correspondence between base station identifiers and VLAN identifiers between the base stations. In the flow shown in fig. 10, the base station determines the receiving UE according to the target MAC address. In the flow shown in fig. 13, the base station determines the target base station according to the VLAN id, and the target base station determines the receiving UE according to the target MAC address.

It should be noted that, in addition to determining the receiving UE according to the target MAC address, the base station may also determine the receiving UE according to a pre-configured forwarding rule. For example: and the base station determines the Ethernet data to be distributed according to the source MAC address of the data packet, and then distributes according to the rule. For example, a packet with a source address of MAC address 1 is forwarded in a broadcast manner. For example, a data packet with the source address of MAC address 2 needs to be forwarded to the UE with MAC address 3.

Application scenarios three

As shown in fig. 14, the protocol stacks of the terminal and the base station side include: application layer, IP layer, and 5G access layer (i.e., 5G-AN Protocol Layers); the protocol stack of the base station side comprises: 5G access layer (5G-AN Protocol Layers), IP layer, GTP-U layer, UDP/IP layer, L2 and L1. The path of the uplink data is as follows: an application layer on the terminal side → an IP layer on the terminal side → a 5G access layer on the base station side → an IP layer on the base station side → a GTP-U layer on the base station side → a UDP/IP layer on the base station side → L2 on the base station side → L1 on the base station side. The IP layer at the base station side is a newly added protocol layer and is mainly responsible for forwarding data.

As shown in fig. 15, the data packet is shunted or offloaded at the RAN side, specifically, the UE1 sends the data packet to the base station, and the base station determines, according to the destination IP address in the data packet, that the receiving UE is UE2; and the UE3 sends a data packet to the base station, and the base station determines that the receiving end is DN according to the destination IP address in the data packet.

Fig. 16 is a fourth flowchart schematic diagram of a data forwarding method provided in the embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 16, the data forwarding method includes the following steps:

step 1601: the corresponding relation between the IP address and the base station identification is configured in advance by the base station, and the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the IP address is maintained between adjacent base stations.

Step 1601: the UE1 attaches or registers to the network through an attachment flow or a registration flow, wherein in the attachment flow or the registration flow, the base station issues indication information of the base station shunting capacity to the UE 1.

Step 1602: and the UE 2-UEn performs attachment or registration to the network through an attachment flow or a registration flow, wherein in the attachment flow or the registration flow, the base station issues indication information of the base station flow splitting capability to the UE 2-UEn.

Step 1603: the session establishment procedure is performed and UE1 sends a data packet.

Here, it is detected whether the offloading or unloading is possible after the uplink data reaches the base station.

Step 1604: and the base station sends the data packet to a corresponding target base station according to the IP address in the data packet, and the target base station determines a corresponding UE identifier according to the IP address.

Step 1605: and the target base station determines the state of receiving the UE according to the UE identification, and performs paging or RRC reconfiguration according to the state of receiving the UE.

Step 1606: and the target base station completes the air interface resource allocation.

Here, the target base station completes air interface resource configuration, which may also be understood as that the target base station completes DRB establishment.

Step 1607: and the target base station forwards the data packet to the receiving UE according to the UE identification.

In the above scheme, the registration flow related to step 1601 and step 1602 can be shown with reference to fig. 17.

In the registration procedure shown in fig. 17, the base station may indicate its offloading capability to the UE in step 21. Specifically, in step 21, the base station sends a registration accept message to the UE, where the registration accept message carries information indicating the offloading capability of the base station (e.g., RAN offload capability). In step 22, the UE sends a registration complete message to the base station, where the registration complete message carries information of a base station offload capability acknowledgement (e.g., RAN offload capability ACK).

Here, the base station offloading capability indication information may also be referred to as RAN offload capability indication information, which is used for notifying the UE of the offloading capability of the base station. Here, the offloading capability of the base station may also be referred to as data offloading capability, or routing capability, or data forwarding capability. Further, the indication information RAN offload capability used for notifying the UE of the offload capability of the base station may also indicate that the base station is IP layer offload, where the indication information is specifically named RAN IP offload capability, and the name of the drop indication information in the embodiment of the present application is not limited.

It should be noted that, in addition to determining the receiving UE according to the target IP address, the base station may also determine the receiving UE according to a pre-configured forwarding rule. For example: and the base station determines the data packets to be distributed according to the source IP addresses of the data packets, and then distributes the data packets according to the rules. For example, a data packet with the source address of IP address 1 needs to be forwarded to the UE or DN with IP address 2.

The difference between the flow shown in fig. 16 and the flow shown in fig. 10 is that the flow shown in fig. 16 completes the offloading or offloading of the data packets through the IP layer on the base station side, and the flow shown in fig. 10 completes the offloading or offloading of the data packets through the MAC layer on the base station side.

According to the technical scheme, the simplest network architecture can be used for completing data distribution in a vertical industry scene, and the purposes of reducing time delay, reducing network deployment complexity and improving data isolation are achieved.

Fig. 18 is a schematic structural component diagram of a data forwarding device provided in an embodiment of the present application, and is applied to a first base station, as shown in fig. 18, the data forwarding device includes:

a receiving unit 1801, configured to receive a data packet sent by a first terminal;

a sending unit 1802, configured to forward the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet.

In some optional embodiments, the identification information comprises a MAC address and/or a VLAN identification.

In some optional embodiments, in a case that the MAC address is a destination MAC address, the apparatus further includes:

a determining unit 1803, configured to determine a UE identifier corresponding to a destination MAC address in the data packet based on a first corresponding relationship, where the first corresponding relationship includes a corresponding relationship between at least one group MAC address and the UE identifier;

the sending unit 1802 is configured to forward the data packet to the second terminal based on the UE identity corresponding to the destination MAC address.

In some optional embodiments, the determining unit 1803 is configured to obtain a MAC address of at least one terminal, and determine the first corresponding relationship based on the MAC address of the at least one terminal.

In some optional embodiments, the receiving unit 1801 is further configured to receive, in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of each terminal of the at least one terminal, a MAC address sent by each terminal.

In some optional embodiments, in the attach procedure or the registration procedure of each of the at least one terminal, the sending unit 1802 is further configured to send, to the each terminal, first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first offload capability of the first base station.

In some optional embodiments, in case that the MAC address is a destination MAC address or a source MAC address, the apparatus further includes:

a determining unit 1803, configured to determine, based on a forwarding policy, a forwarding manner corresponding to a destination MAC address or a source MAC address in the data packet, where the forwarding policy is used to determine one or more forwarding manners corresponding to the destination MAC address or the source MAC address;

the sending unit 1802 is configured to forward the data packet based on the forwarding manner.

In some optional embodiments, the sending unit 1802 is configured to forward the data packet to a second terminal in a unicast manner; or, the data packet is forwarded to at least one second terminal in a multicast manner; or forwarding the data packet to a plurality of second terminals according to a broadcasting mode; alternatively, the data packet is forwarded to the data network DN.

In some optional embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

a determining unit 1803, configured to determine, based on a second correspondence, at least one base station identifier corresponding to the VLAN identifier in the data packet, where the second correspondence includes a correspondence between at least one group of base station identifiers and the VLAN identifier;

the sending unit 1802, configured to forward the data packet to at least one second base station based on at least one base station identifier corresponding to the VLAN identifier;

and the destination MAC address in the data packet is used for the second base station to determine the UE identifier corresponding to the destination MAC address, and the data packet is forwarded to the second terminal corresponding to the UE identifier.

In some optional embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

the interaction unit is used for interacting the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the VLAN identification with at least one second base station;

the determining unit 1803 is configured to determine the second correspondence based on the obtained correspondence between the base station identifier of the at least one second base station and the VLAN identifier.

In some optional embodiments, before the receiving unit 1801 receives the data packet sent by the first terminal,

the receiving unit 1801 is further configured to receive a session establishment request message sent by the first terminal;

the sending unit 1802 is further configured to send the session establishment request message to a core network;

the session establishment request message sent to the core network carries second indication information, and the second indication information is used for indicating that the type of the session establishment request is a base station offload type session establishment request.

In some optional embodiments, the second indication information is added by the first terminal in the session establishment request message; or,

the second indication information is added by the first base station in the session establishment request message.

In some optional embodiments, the second indication information is further used to indicate that the core network does not need to allocate a session establishment procedure of a core network user plane network element.

In some optional embodiments, the identification information comprises an IP address.

In some optional embodiments, in the case that the IP address is a destination IP address, the apparatus further includes:

a determining unit 1803, configured to determine a base station identifier corresponding to a destination IP address in the data packet based on a third corresponding relationship, where the third corresponding relationship includes a corresponding relationship between at least one group of base station identifiers and IP addresses;

the sending unit 1802 is configured to forward the data packet to a second base station based on the base station identifier corresponding to the destination IP address;

and the destination IP address in the data packet is used for the second base station to determine the UE identifier corresponding to the destination IP address, and the data packet is forwarded to the second terminal corresponding to the UE identifier.

In some optional embodiments, the apparatus further comprises:

the interaction unit is used for interacting the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the IP address with at least one second base station;

the determining unit 1803 is configured to determine the third corresponding relationship based on the obtained corresponding relationship between the base station identifier of the at least one second base station and the IP address.

In some optional embodiments, in case that the IP address is a destination IP address or a source IP address, the apparatus further includes:

a determining unit 1803, configured to determine, based on a forwarding policy, a forwarding manner corresponding to a destination IP address or a source IP address in the data packet, where the forwarding policy is used to determine one or more destination IP addresses or forwarding manners corresponding to source IP addresses;

In some optional embodiments, the sending unit 1802 is configured to forward the data packet to a second terminal in a unicast manner; or forwarding the data packet to at least one second terminal according to a multicast mode; or forwarding the data packet to a plurality of second terminals according to a broadcasting mode; alternatively, the packet is forwarded to the DN.

the session establishment request message sent to the core network is used for requesting the core network to allocate a session establishment process of a core network user plane network element.

In some optional embodiments, the sending unit 1802 is further configured to send, to the first terminal, first indication information in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of the first terminal, where the first indication information is used to indicate a second offloading capability of the first base station.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the functions implemented by each unit in the data forwarding device shown in fig. 18 can be understood by referring to the related description of the foregoing method. The functions of the units in the data transfer device shown in fig. 18 may be implemented by a program running on a processor, or may be implemented by specific logic circuits.

Fig. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal or a network device (e.g. a first base station), and the communication device 1900 shown in fig. 19 includes a processor 1910, and the processor 1910 can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 19, the communication device 1900 may further include a memory 1920. From the memory 1920, the processor 1910 may call and execute a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

The memory 1920 may be a separate device from the processor 1910 or may be integrated into the processor 1910.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 19, the communication device 1900 may further include a transceiver 1930, and the processor 1910 may control the transceiver 1930 to communicate with other devices, and specifically, may transmit information or data to other devices or receive information or data transmitted by other devices.

The transceiver 1930 may include a transmitter and a receiver, among other things. The transceiver 1930 may further include one or more antennas.

Optionally, the communication device 1900 may specifically be a network device in this embodiment, and the communication device 1900 may implement a corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in this embodiment, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the communication device 1900 may specifically be a mobile terminal/terminal according to this embodiment, and the communication device 1900 may implement a corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal in each method according to this embodiment, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip of an embodiment of the present application. The chip 2000 shown in fig. 20 includes a processor 2010, and the processor 2010 may call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 20, the chip 2000 may further include a memory 2020. From the memory 2020, the processor 2010 may call and execute a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

The memory 2020 may be a separate device from the processor 2010 or may be integrated into the processor 2010.

Optionally, the chip 2000 may further comprise an input interface 2030. The processor 2010 may control the input interface 2030 to communicate with other devices or chips, and in particular, may obtain information or data sent by the other devices or chips.

Optionally, the chip 2000 may further include an output interface 2040. The processor 2010 may control the output interface 2040 to communicate with other devices or chips, and in particular, may output information or data to the other devices or chips.

Optionally, the chip may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip may implement a corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Optionally, the chip may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not repeated here.

It should be understood that the chips mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a system-on-chip, a system-on-chip or a system-on-chip, etc.

It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The Processor may be a general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component. The various methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eeprom storage media, registers, or the like as is known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile Memory may be a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash Memory. Volatile Memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache Memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (Dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic random access memory (Double Data Rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced Synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and Direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

It should be understood that the above memories are exemplary but not limiting illustrations, for example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), direct Rambus RAM (DR RAM), and the like. That is, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium for storing the computer program.

Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables a computer to execute corresponding processes implemented by the network device in the methods in the embodiments of the present application, which are not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising computer program instructions.

Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instruction enables the computer to execute a corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instruction causes the computer to execute a corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program.

Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the corresponding process implemented by the network device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, and for brevity, details are not described here again.

Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes a corresponding process implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which is not described herein again for brevity.

Those of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the various embodiments 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 application.

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 several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, 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 type of logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, multiple 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 position, or may be distributed on multiple 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 application 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 may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application, which are essential or contributing to the prior art, or parts thereof, can be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, and including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall 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 method of data forwarding, the method comprising:

a first base station receives a data packet sent by a first terminal;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information comprises a MAC address and/or a VLAN identification.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein if the MAC address is a destination MAC address, the first base station performs forwarding of the data packet based on identification information in the data packet, and the method comprises:

the first base station determines a UE identifier corresponding to a destination MAC address in the data packet based on a first corresponding relationship, wherein the first corresponding relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between at least one group MAC address and the UE identifier;

and the first base station forwards the data packet to a second terminal based on the UE identification corresponding to the destination MAC address.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

the first base station acquires the MAC address of at least one terminal, and determines the first corresponding relation based on the MAC address of the at least one terminal.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first base station obtaining the MAC address of at least one terminal comprises:

in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of each terminal of the at least one terminal, the first base station receives the MAC address sent by each terminal.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of each terminal of the at least one terminal, the first base station sends first indication information to the each terminal, where the first indication information is used to indicate a first offloading capability of the first base station.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein in the case that the MAC address is a destination MAC address or a source MAC address,

the first base station forwards the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet, and the forwarding comprises the following steps:

the first base station determines a forwarding mode corresponding to a destination MAC address or a source MAC address in the data packet based on a forwarding strategy, wherein the forwarding strategy is used for determining one or more forwarding modes corresponding to the destination MAC address or the source MAC address;

and the first base station forwards the data packet based on the forwarding mode.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the forwarding the packet by the first base station based on the forwarding scheme comprises:

and the first base station forwards the data packet to a data network DN.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the first base station performs forwarding of the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet, and wherein the forwarding comprises:

the first base station determines at least one base station identifier corresponding to the VLAN identifier in the data packet based on a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between at least one group of base station identifiers and the VLAN identifier;

the first base station forwards the data packet to at least one second base station based on at least one base station identifier corresponding to the VLAN identifier;

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the first base station and at least one second base station exchange the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the VLAN identification;

and the first base station determines the second corresponding relation based on the obtained corresponding relation between the base station identifier and the VLAN identifier of at least one second base station.

11. The method according to any of claims 2 to 10, wherein before the first base station receives the data packet sent by the first terminal, the method further comprises:

the first base station receives a session establishment request message sent by the first terminal and sends the session establishment request message to a core network;

12. The method of claim 11,

the second indication information is added in the session establishment request message by the first terminal; or,

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the second indication information is further used for indicating that the core network does not need to allocate a session establishment procedure of a core network user plane network element.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information comprises an IP address.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein if the IP address is a destination IP address, the first base station performs forwarding of the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet, and the method comprises:

the first base station determines a base station identifier corresponding to a destination IP address in the data packet based on a third corresponding relationship, wherein the third corresponding relationship comprises a corresponding relationship between at least one group of base station identifiers and IP addresses;

the first base station forwards the data packet to a second base station based on the base station identifier corresponding to the destination IP address;

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

the first base station and at least one second base station exchange the corresponding relation between the base station identification and the IP address;

and the first base station determines the third corresponding relation based on the obtained corresponding relation between the base station identifier and the IP address of at least one second base station.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein if the IP address is a destination IP address or a source IP address, the first base station performs forwarding of the data packet based on the identification information in the data packet, and the method includes:

the first base station determines a forwarding mode corresponding to a destination IP address or a source IP address in the data packet based on a forwarding strategy, wherein the forwarding strategy is used for determining one or more forwarding modes corresponding to the destination IP address or the source IP address;

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first base station performs the forwarding of the data packet based on the forwarding scheme, and wherein the forwarding comprises:

and the first base station forwards the data packet to a data network DN.

19. The method according to any of claims 14 to 18, wherein before the first base station receives the data packet sent by the first terminal, the method further comprises:

20. The method of any one of claims 14 to 18, further comprising:

in an attach procedure or a registration procedure of the first terminal, the first base station sends first indication information to the first terminal, where the first indication information is used to indicate a second offloading capability of the first base station.

21. A data forwarding apparatus, applied to a first base station, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive a data packet sent by a first terminal;

22. A network device, comprising: a processor and a memory for storing a computer program, the processor being configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 20.

23. A chip, comprising: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory so that a device on which the chip is installed performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 20.

24. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program which causes a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 20.