CN115708329A

CN115708329A - Data processing method, network equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115708329A
Application number: CN202110959945.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘险峰; 王胡成
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-08-20
Filing date: 2021-08-20
Publication date: 2023-02-21

Abstract

The application provides a data processing method, a network device and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, a Session Management Function (SMF) determines a data processing mode according to target information, wherein the target information comprises: at least one of ephemeris information and PDU session information, the processing means comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching; and the SMF executes processing corresponding to the data processing mode. The data transmission performance of the communication system can be improved.

Description

Data processing method, network equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a data processing method, a network device, and a storage medium.

Background

In some communication systems (e.g., 5G systems) that support converged satellite communication, base stations and User Plane Functions (UPFs) may be deployed on the satellite. Handover also occurs in these communication systems after the terminal has accessed the network via a satellite. If these communication systems handle the handover of the terminal or the handover procedure based on terrestrial communication, for example: and selecting the UPF for indirect forwarding based on the terminal position information, wherein the selected UPF may not be successful in establishing an inter-satellite transmission link, or the transmission link is too long, so that the time delay is too large. Therefore, the switching process based on terrestrial communication is not suitable for a communication system supporting a converged satellite, which results in poor data transmission performance of the communication system.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a data processing method, a network device, and a storage medium, so as to solve the problem that data transmission performance of a communication system is poor.

An embodiment of the present application provides a data processing method, including:

when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, a Session Management Function (SMF) determines a data processing mode according to target information, wherein the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session information, wherein the processing mode includes: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

and the SMF executes processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

Optionally, the indirect data forwarding includes:

data forwarding is indirect through the UPF on the satellite; or

And indirectly forwarding the data through the ground UPF.

Optionally, when it is determined that the data processing mode is indirect data forwarding, the SMF determines indirect data forwarding through the on-satellite UPF or indirect data forwarding through the ground UPF according to transmission delay of the on-satellite UPF indirect data forwarding and the ground UPF indirect data forwarding.

Optionally, when the SMF determines that there is no onboard UPF available for forwarding data according to the ephemeris information, it determines to indirectly forward data through a ground UPF; or alternatively

And when the SMF determines that the on-satellite UPF capable of being used for forwarding data exists according to the ephemeris information and the on-satellite forwarding transmission delay is smaller than the ground forwarding transmission delay, determining that the data is forwarded indirectly through the on-satellite UPF.

Optionally, the SMF executes processing corresponding to the data processing manner, including:

and under the condition that the data processing mode is indirect data forwarding through the on-satellite UPF, the SMF establishes an indirect forwarding tunnel among the source base station, the on-satellite UPF and the target base station and informs a network controller of configuring the routing configuration of the indirect forwarding tunnel.

Optionally, the method further includes:

and selecting the UPF on the satellite according to the ephemeris information.

Optionally, the SMF determines a data processing manner according to the target information, where the data processing manner includes at least one of the following:

determining on-satellite data cache under the condition that the SMF determines that the PDU session supports delayed communication according to the PDU session information;

and determining indirect data forwarding by the SMF under the condition that the PDU session does not support delayed communication according to the PDU session information.

Optionally, the SMF performs processing corresponding to the data processing manner, where the processing includes at least one of the following:

under the condition that the data processing mode is on-satellite data caching, the SMF establishes a forwarding tunnel of a target on-satellite UPF and an on-satellite UPF serving a communication opposite terminal of the terminal, and informs a network controller of configuring the routing configuration of the forwarding tunnel;

and under the condition that the data processing mode is on-satellite data caching, the SMF indicates a target on-satellite UPF to perform caching action on a downlink data packet sent to the terminal.

Optionally, the duration of the downlink data packet sent to the terminal by the target satellite UPF cache is configured by the SMF or the target satellite UPF.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a network device, where the network device includes an SMF, including: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, wherein:

the memory for storing a computer program; the transceiver is used for transceiving data under the control of the processor; the processor is used for reading the computer program in the memory and executing the following operations:

under the condition that a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, determining a data processing mode according to target information, wherein the target information comprises: at least one of ephemeris information and data protocol unit, PDU, session information, the processing method comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

and executing the processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

Optionally, the indirect data forwarding includes:

data forwarding is indirect through the UPF on the satellite; or alternatively

And indirectly forwarding data through the ground UPF.

Optionally, when it is determined that the data processing manner is indirect data forwarding, it is determined that the data is forwarded indirectly through the on-satellite UPF or indirectly through the ground UPF according to the transmission delay between the on-satellite UPF indirect data forwarding and the ground UPF indirect data forwarding.

Optionally, when it is determined that there is no onboard UPF available for forwarding data according to the ephemeris information, determining to indirectly forward data through a ground UPF; or

And determining to transmit the data indirectly through the on-board UPF under the condition that the on-board UPF capable of being used for transmitting the data is determined to exist according to the ephemeris information and the on-board transmitting transmission delay is smaller than the ground transmitting transmission delay.

Optionally, the executing the processing corresponding to the data processing manner includes:

and under the condition that the data processing mode is indirect data forwarding through the on-satellite UPF, establishing an indirect forwarding tunnel among the source base station, the on-satellite UPF and the target base station, and informing a network controller of configuring the routing configuration of the indirect forwarding tunnel.

Optionally, the determining a data processing manner according to the target information includes at least one of the following:

determining on-satellite data cache under the condition that PDU session support delay communication is determined according to the PDU session information;

and determining indirect data forwarding under the condition that the PDU session does not support the delay communication according to the PDU session information.

Optionally, the executing the processing corresponding to the data processing manner includes at least one of the following:

under the condition that the data processing mode is on-satellite data caching, establishing a forwarding tunnel of a target on-satellite UPF and an on-satellite UPF serving a communication opposite end of the terminal, and informing a network controller of configuring the routing configuration of the forwarding tunnel;

and under the condition that the data processing mode is on-board data caching, indicating a target on-board UPF to execute caching action on a downlink data packet sent to the terminal.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a network device, where the network device includes an SMF, and the network device includes:

a determining unit, configured to determine a data processing manner according to target information when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is handed over, where the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and PDU session information, the processing means comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

and the execution unit is used for executing the processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

Optionally, the indirect data forwarding includes:

data forwarding is indirect through the UPF on the satellite; or

And indirectly forwarding the data through the ground UPF.

Optionally, when it is determined that the data processing mode is indirect data forwarding, the on-board UPF indirect data forwarding or the ground UPF indirect data forwarding is determined according to the transmission delay of the on-board UPF indirect data forwarding and the ground UPF indirect data forwarding.

Optionally, the execution unit is configured to establish an indirect forwarding tunnel between the source base station, the on-satellite UPF, and the destination base station, and notify the network controller to configure the routing configuration of the indirect forwarding tunnel, when the data processing mode is indirect data forwarding through the on-satellite UPF.

Optionally, the execution unit is configured to at least one of:

under the condition that the data processing mode is on-satellite data caching, establishing a target on-satellite UPF and a forwarding tunnel of the on-satellite UPF serving a communication opposite terminal of the terminal, and informing a network controller of configuring the route configuration of the forwarding tunnel;

and under the condition that the data processing mode is on-satellite data caching, indicating a target on-satellite UPF to execute a caching action on a downlink data packet sent to the terminal.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a processor-readable storage medium, where the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is configured to enable the processor to execute the data processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the application, when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, a session management function SMF determines a data processing mode according to target information, where the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and PDU session information, the processing means comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-satellite data caching; and the SMF executes processing corresponding to the data processing mode. Because the indirect data forwarding or the on-board data caching is determined according to at least one item of the ephemeris information and the PDU session information, the communication system supporting the converged satellite can be suitable for the indirect data forwarding or the on-board data caching, and the data transmission performance of the communication system is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network architecture in which the present application is applicable;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a constellation provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a flowchart of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a structural diagram of an SMF according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 9 is a block diagram of another SMF provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

To make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantages to be solved by the present application clearer, the following detailed description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

In the embodiment of the present application, the term "and/or" describes an association relationship of associated objects, 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 character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

In the embodiments of the present application, the term "plurality" means two or more, and other terms are similar thereto.

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

The embodiment of the application provides a data processing method, an SMF and a storage medium, so as to solve the problem that the data transmission performance of a communication system is poor.

The method and the equipment are based on the same application concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the equipment are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not described again.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for various systems, particularly 6G systems. For example, suitable systems may be global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems, code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) systems, long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, long term evolution (long term evolution) systems, LTE-a systems, universal mobile systems (universal mobile telecommunications systems, UMTS), universal internet Access (world interoperability for microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, new G6 Radio systems, etc. These various systems include terminal devices and network devices. The System may further include a core network portion, such as an Evolved Packet System (EPS), a 5G System (5 GS), and the like.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a network architecture to which the present application is applicable, as shown in fig. 1, including but not limited to: a terminal 11, a base station 12, a UPF13, an SMF14, and an Access Management Function (AMF) 15;

the terminal 11 according to the embodiment of the present application may be a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device having a wireless connection function, or another processing device connected to a wireless modem. In different systems, the names of the terminal devices may be different, for example, in a 5G system, the terminal device may be called a User Equipment (UE). A wireless terminal device, which may be a mobile terminal device such as a mobile telephone (or "cellular" telephone) and a computer having a mobile terminal device, e.g., a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included or vehicle-mounted mobile device, may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and may exchange language and/or data with the RAN. For example, devices such as Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), redcap terminals, and Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) terminals. The wireless terminal device may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (subscriber unit), a subscriber station (subscriber station), a mobile station (mobile), a remote station (remote station), an access point (access point), a remote terminal device (remote terminal), an access terminal device (access terminal), a user terminal device (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), and a user device (user device), which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The base station 12 according to the embodiment of the present application may include a plurality of cells for serving the terminal. A base station may also be referred to as an access point, or a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminal devices, or by other names, depending on the particular application. The network device may be configured to exchange received air frames with Internet Protocol (IP) packets as a router between the wireless terminal device and the rest of the access network, which may include an Internet Protocol (IP) communication network. Base station 12 may also coordinate management of attributes for the air interface. For example, the Base Station 12 according to the embodiment of the present application may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), may be a network device (NodeB) in a Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), may be an evolved Node B (eNB) or an e-NodeB) in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) System, may be a Base Station (gNB) in a 5G network architecture (next generation System), may be a Home evolved Node B (Home evolved Node B, heNB), a relay Node (relay Node), a Home Base Station (femto), a pico Base Station (pico), and the like. In some network architectures, a network device may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node and a Distributed Unit (DU) node, which may also be geographically separated.

Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission may be performed between a base station and a terminal by using one or more antennas, and the MIMO transmission may be Single User MIMO (SU-MIMO) or Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO). According to the form and the number of the root antenna combination, the MIMO transmission can be 2D-MIMO, 3D-MIMO, FD-MIMO or massive-MIMO, and can also be diversity transmission, precoding transmission, beamforming transmission, etc.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the base station and the UPF may be deployed on a satellite, for example: base stations and UPFs are deployed on some satellites, base stations are deployed on some satellites, and the like, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

It should be noted that fig. 1 is only a schematic diagram of a simple system architecture, and in the embodiment of the present application, the architecture of the communication system is not limited.

In the embodiment of the application, the inter-satellite links can be divided into inter-satellite links among satellites in the same type of orbit and inter-satellite links among satellites in different types of orbits according to the orbits of the satellites. The same type of Orbit may be, for example, geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) -GTO, or Low Earth Orbit (LEO) -LEO, etc., and the different type of Orbit may be, for example, GTO-LEO.

The orbit plane of the slave satellite can be divided into inter-satellite links in the same orbit plane and inter-satellite links in different orbits. Taking the Iridium constellation as an example, each satellite has 4 LEO-LEO inter-satellite links, of which 2 are relatively fixed inter-satellite links established with adjacent satellites in the same orbital plane (e.g., inter-satellite links between satellite 1 and satellite 2in fig. 2 and between satellite 1 and satellite 3), and another 2 are movable beam inter-satellite links established with 2 satellites in the adjacent different orbital planes (e.g., movable beam inter-satellite links between satellite 1 and satellite 4 in fig. 2 and movable beam inter-satellite links between satellite 1 and satellite 5). Due to the limitation of the setting of the inter-satellite link, as shown in fig. 2, there is no inter-satellite link between the satellite 1 and the

satellites

6 and 7 on the adjacent different orbit planes, thereby reducing the complexity of inter-satellite link design.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a flowchart of a data processing method according to an embodiment of the present application, including the following steps:

step 301, when the terminal accesses the network through the satellite and is switched, the SMF determines a data processing mode according to target information, wherein the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and PDU session information, the processing means comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

and step 302, the SMF executes the processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

The terminal accesses the network through the satellite and performs handover, where the terminal accesses the network through the satellite and performs N2 handover, where the N2 handover may be handover where direct forwarding is unavailable, for example: this may be triggered by the following reasons:

there may be no Xn connection between the source base station and the target base station; or

Xn handover fails; or alternatively

And the source base station determines to initiate N2 switching of the target base station based on the dynamic information acquired by the source base station.

The ephemeris information and PDU session information may be obtained by the SMF in advance before performing step 301, where the PDU session information is PDU session information of the terminal.

The indirect data forwarding may be indirect data forwarding through a UPF, and the onboard data caching may be data caching of the terminal on a destination UPF. It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present application, the UPF used for forwarding may be referred to as a transit UPR.

The SMF may execute the processing corresponding to the data processing method by establishing a forwarding tunnel performed by the data processing method to implement forwarding of terminal data.

In the embodiment of the application, the indirect data forwarding or the satellite data caching is determined according to at least one of the ephemeris information and the PDU session information, so that the indirect data forwarding or the satellite data caching can be suitable for a communication system supporting a fusion satellite, and the data transmission performance of the communication system is improved. For example: the data forwarding interruption or the too large forwarding time delay can be avoided through indirect data forwarding, and the data forwarding interruption can be avoided through on-board data caching, so that the data transmission performance of the communication system can be improved.

As an optional implementation manner, the indirect data forwarding includes:

data forwarding is indirect through the UPF on the satellite; or

And indirectly forwarding data through the ground UPF.

The above-mentioned onboard UPF refers to a UPF deployed on a satellite, and the above-mentioned terrestrial UPF refers to a UPF deployed on the ground.

In the embodiment, the indirect data forwarding comprises on-satellite UPF indirect data forwarding or ground UPF indirect data forwarding, so that an indirect data forwarding mode can be flexibly selected according to actual conditions.

In this embodiment, the indirect data forwarding with a smaller transmission delay may be selected from the on-satellite UPF indirect data forwarding and the terrestrial UPF indirect data forwarding, for example: and if the transmission time delay of the ground UPF indirect data forwarding is smaller than that of the satellite UPF indirect data forwarding, selecting the ground UPF indirect data forwarding, and otherwise, selecting the satellite UPF indirect data forwarding. This can reduce data transmission delay.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, a calculation manner of the transmission delay of the satellite and ground forwarding is not limited, for example: the transmission delay can be calculated by a calculation method commonly used in the industry.

Optionally, when the SMF determines that there is no on-satellite UPF available for forwarding data according to the ephemeris information, it determines to indirectly forward data through a ground UPF.

In the embodiment, the data forwarding indirectly through the ground UPF can be determined under the condition that the on-satellite UPF which can be used for forwarding data does not exist, so that the data forwarding interruption is avoided.

Optionally, when the SMF determines that an on-satellite UPF for forwarding data exists according to the ephemeris information, and the on-satellite forwarding transmission delay is smaller than the ground forwarding transmission delay, it determines that the data is indirectly forwarded through the on-satellite UPF.

In the embodiment, the data can be determined to be indirectly forwarded through the onboard UPF under the condition that the onboard forwarding transmission delay is smaller than the ground forwarding transmission delay, so that the data transmission delay is reduced.

Furthermore, if the on-satellite forwarding transmission delay is greater than the ground forwarding transmission delay, indirect data forwarding through the ground is determined, so that the data transmission delay is reduced.

As an optional implementation manner, the SMF determines a data processing manner according to the target information, which includes at least one of the following:

The on-satellite data caching may be that the target on-satellite UPF is selected to cache the data.

For example: and judging whether the PDU session of the terminal supports delayed communication or not according to the Name of the Data Network (DNN), single Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI) or 5G Quality of Service identification (5GQoS identifier, 5QI) of the current Quality of Service flow (QoS flow).

In the embodiment, under the condition that the PDU session of the terminal supports delayed communication, the SMF selects on-satellite data cache, so that data forwarding interruption can be avoided, and resources for establishing an indirect forwarding tunnel are saved.

For example: as shown in fig. 4, the method comprises the following steps:

under the condition that direct forwarding is determined to be unavailable in the switching process, whether PDU conversation meets the on-satellite cache condition is judged;

if yes, selecting on-satellite UPF cache;

if not, selecting a UPF for forwarding, wherein the UPF for forwarding can comprise an on-satellite UPF and a ground UPF;

judging whether an on-satellite UPF available for forwarding exists or not;

if the on-satellite UPF available for forwarding exists, judging whether the transmission efficiency of the on-satellite UPF forwarding is higher than that of the ground UPF forwarding;

if the transmission efficiency of the on-board UPF forwarding is higher than that of the ground UPF forwarding, the on-board UPF is used for providing data forwarding and informing the network controller of completing the routing configuration;

and if the transmission efficiency of the on-satellite UPF forwarding is not higher than that of the ground UPF forwarding, the ground UPF is used for providing data forwarding.

As an optional implementation manner, the SMF performs processing corresponding to the data processing manner, and includes:

In this embodiment, the SMF establishes the indirect forwarding tunnel between the source base station, the on-satellite UPF, and the destination base station, and notifies the network controller to configure the routing configuration of the indirect forwarding tunnel, so that the data of the terminal can be indirectly forwarded in time, and the data transmission delay is further reduced.

Optionally, the method further includes:

and selecting the UPF on the satellite according to the ephemeris information.

Because the on-satellite UPF with the transmission layer link connected and the highest transmission efficiency can be selected according to the ephemeris information, the data transmission delay can be reduced by adopting the selected on-satellite UPF to indirectly forward the data, for example: with the constellation shown in fig. 2, when the terminal is handed over from satellite 2 to satellite 4, the SMF can select the on-satellite UPF on satellite 1 according to the ephemeris information, thereby reducing the data forwarding delay.

As an optional implementation manner, the SMF performs processing corresponding to the data processing manner, and includes at least one of the following:

The target on-satellite UPF refers to an on-satellite UPF corresponding to a target base station switched by the terminal, that is, the terminal is switched to the target base station and the target on-satellite UPF.

In the embodiment, the SMF can establish a forwarding tunnel of a UPF on a target satellite and a UPF on the satellite (MT S-UPF for short) serving a communication opposite terminal of the terminal, and inform the network controller of configuring the routing configuration of the forwarding tunnel, so that the data of the terminal can be forwarded to the UPF on the target satellite through the forwarding tunnel in time, and the UPF on the target satellite caches the data, so that the interruption of data forwarding is avoided.

Optionally, the duration of the downlink data packet sent to the terminal is cached by the UPF on the target satellite and configured by the SMF or the UPF on the target satellite.

The time length for caching the downlink data packet sent to the terminal by the target onboard UPF may be, the SMF or the target onboard UPF determines the caching time length of the target onboard UPF according to information such as the idle condition of the caching resource of the current onboard UPF and/or the average system switching time length.

In the embodiment of the application, when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, a session management function SMF determines a data processing mode according to target information, where the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and PDU session information, the processing means comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching; and the SMF executes the processing corresponding to the data processing mode. Because the indirect data forwarding or the satellite data caching is determined according to at least one item of the ephemeris information and the PDU session information, the communication system supporting the fusion satellite can be suitable through the indirect data forwarding or the satellite data caching, and the data transmission performance of the communication system is further improved.

The following examples illustrate the data processing method provided in the embodiments of the present application by way of a plurality of embodiments:

example one

Referring to fig. 2, for example, when a terminal is switched from a satellite 2 (source) to a satellite 4 (target), an SMF selects an onboard UPF on the satellite 1 as a transfer UPF according to ephemeris information, calculates an onboard forwarding delay and a terrestrial forwarding delay, and determines to use onboard indirect data forwarding if the onboard forwarding delay is smaller than the terrestrial forwarding delay, where the process is as follows, where S-gNB refers to an onboard base station and S-UPF refers to an onboard UPF, and the specific process includes the following steps as shown in fig. 5:

1. the source S-gNB sends a Handover request message to the source AMF (S-AMF), which may include a Session Management (SM) N2 information list, a PDU Session ID, an intra-system Handover indication, and the like. The SM N2 information also includes the availability of the direct forwarding path if direct data forwarding is not available.

Wherein direct forwarding path availability indicates whether direct forwarding from the source S-gNB to the target S-gNB is available. The source S-gNB may decide on this parameter based on whether an IP connection exists between itself and the target S-gNB and the security association.

2. The S-AMF performs target AMF (T-AMF for short) selection, such as: and when the S-AMF can not continuously serve the terminal, the S-AMF selects the T-AMF.

3. The S-AMF calls a create UE context (Namf _ Communication _ CreateUEContext) service operation and initiates a switching resource allocation process to the T-AMF.

This step, and step 12, need not be performed if the S-AMF can still serve the terminal.

4. For each PDU session indicated by the source S-gNB, the T-AMF calls a PDU session update SM context request (Nsmf _ PDU _ update smcontext) to the relevant SMF.

5. And the SMF selects the S-UPF co-deployed with the target S-gNB as the target S-UPF according to the identification of the target S-gNB.

6a, SMF sends an N4 session modification request to a target S-UPF;

if the SMF selects a new S-UPF as the intermediate S-UPF for the PDU session, the target S-UPF may use different CN tunnel information, and the target S-UPF assigns the CN tunnel information, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to the target S-UPF. If the SMF allocates CN tunnel information, the SMF sends the CN tunnel information and an uplink data packet detection rule related to the CN tunnel information to the target S-UPF.

7. SMF sends PDU conversation update SM context response (Nsmf _ PDScession _ UpdateSMContext response) to T-AMF;

for example: if the SMF accepts the N2 handover of the PDU session, the SMF includes the N3 UP address and UL CN tunnel ID of the target S-UPF and the QoS parameters in the SM N2 message.

8. The T-AMF performs PDU Handover Response monitoring (8. PDU Handover Response Supervision);

for example: the T-AMF manages the PDU session update SM context response message received by the T-AMF from the SMF and continues to execute the N2 switching process.

9. The T-AMF sends a switching request to a target S-gNB;

10. the target S-gNB sends a handover request acknowledgement to the T-AMF, including the PDU session list for handover and the N2SM information.

The N2SM information in the handover PDU session list includes a PDU session ID and target S-gNB N3 address information, that is, an N3 UP address and a tunnel ID of a target gNB of the PDU session.

The SM N2 information may also include a tunnel ID that the target S-gNB uses to receive forwarded data.

11a, the T-AMF sends a PDU session update SM context request to the SMF, specifically, it may reply to each N2SM received from the target S-gNB (N2 SM information included in the handover request acknowledgement), and the AMF sends it to the corresponding SMF according to the PDU session ID.

And the SMF selects the S-UPF on the satellite 1 as a transfer S-UPF according to the ephemeris information, calculates the time delay of on-satellite forwarding and ground forwarding, and determines to adopt on-satellite indirect data forwarding if the on-satellite forwarding time delay is smaller than the ground forwarding time delay.

If the SMF distributes CN tunnel information of the UPF, the SMF informs the network controller to complete the route configuration of the satellite indirect forwarding tunnel. If CN tunnel information is allocated by the UPF, this is done after step 11 c.

11b, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request to the transfer S-UPF;

the request may include a list of target S-gNB SM N3 forwarding information, and an indication to allocate a DL forwarding tunnel for indirect forwarding.

If the SMF distributes CN tunnel information of UPF, the SMF carries the distributed forwarding tunnel information in the N4 session modification request.

11c, the transit S-UPF sends an N4 session modification response to the SMF, which may include a transit S-UPF SM N3 forwarding tunnel information list.

For example: and the transfer S-UPF distributes forwarding tunnel information and returns an N4 session modification response message to the SMF.

The transit S-UPF SM N3 forwarding tunnel information list may include a transit S-UPF N3 address and a transit S-UPF N3 tunnel identifier required for forwarding data.

11d, the SMF sends a PDU session update SM context Response (Nsmf _ PDSUSessionUpdateSMContext Response) to the T-AMF, and the Response message may include N2SM information.

For example: the SMF may transmit an Nsmf _ pdusesion _ UpdateSMContext Response to the T-AMF on a per PDU session basis.

The N2SM information may include DL forwarding tunnel information sent to the source S-gNB including the DL tunnel ID and the N3 UP address of the intermediate S-UPF.

12. The T-AMF sends a CreateUEContext Response (Namf _ Communication _ CreateContext Response) to the S-AMF.

Specifically, the T-AMF may manage an Nsmf _ pdusesion _ UpdateSMContext Response message received from the SMF. When the maximum waiting time is over, or all the Nsmf _ pdusesion _ UpdateSMContext responses are received, the T-AMF sends a Namf _ Communication _ createeuecontext Response to the S-AMF.

Example two

Referring to fig. 2, for example, when the terminal is switched from the satellite 2 (source) to the satellite 7 (target), the SMF selects the S-UPF on the satellite 1 as the transfer S-UPF according to the ephemeris information, calculates the on-satellite forwarding delay and the ground forwarding delay, and determines that the on-satellite forwarding delay is greater than the ground forwarding delay; or the SMF determines that no satellite UPF is available for forwarding data according to the ephemeris information, and determines to use ground indirect data forwarding, which is the same as the process shown in fig. 5 in the above embodiment, except that the ground UPF is replaced by the transfer S-UPF, which is not described herein again.

EXAMPLE III

Referring to fig. 2, for example, if the UE switches from satellite 2 (source) to satellite 7 (target), the SMF determines to employ on-satellite data caching based on PDU session information (e.g., as determined by DNN, S-NSSAI, or 5QI for current QoS flow) that the PDU session supports delayed communications. The specific process can be as shown in fig. 6, and includes the following steps:

1. the source S-gNB sends a Handover requested message to the source AMF (S-AMF for short), where the message may include a Session Management (SM) N2 information list, a PDU Session ID, an intra-system Handover indication, and the like. The SM N2 information also includes the availability of the direct forwarding path if direct data forwarding is not available.

The handover request may be initiated if the source S-gNB decides to relocate via N2.

If the SMF allocates CN tunnel information of the S-UPF, the SMF informs the network controller to complete the route configuration between the target S-UPF and the S-UPF (MT S-UPF for short) serving the communication opposite terminal of the terminal. If assigned by S-UPF, then it is done after step 6 b.

6a, SMF sends an N4 session establishment request to a target S-UPF;

and the SMF determines to adopt on-satellite data buffering according to the PDU session information, such as 5QI according to the current QoS flow to determine that the PDU session supports delayed communication.

The SMF sends an N4 session establishment request to a target S-UPF, carries CN tunnel information of the S-UPF serving a communication opposite terminal of the terminal, and indicates a downlink data packet sent to the switched terminal (MO UE for short) to execute a cache action.

If the SMF allocates CN tunnel information of the UPF, the N4 session establishment request also carries the CN tunnel information allocated to the SMF.

In the embodiment of the present application, a terminal that performs handover, that is, a terminal in step 301 in the embodiment of the present application is referred to as an MO UE, and a correspondent node of the terminal may be referred to as an MT UE.

And 6b, updating the local packet filtering and forwarding rule by the target S-UPF, and returning an N4 session modification response to the SMF, wherein the session modification response carries the distributed CN tunnel information.

And the SMF/target S-UPF determines the cache duration of the on-satellite S-UPF according to the information such as the idle condition of the cache resource of the current S-UPF, the average system switching duration and the like. And starting a cache timer by the target S-UPF, and stopping caching when the timer is overtime.

7. SMF sends PDU conversation update SM context response (Nsmf _ PDSUSession _ UpdateSMContext response) to T-AMF;

9. The T-AMF sends a switching request to a target S-gNB;

10. the target S-gNB sends a handover request acknowledgement to the T-AMF, containing the PDU session list for handover and the N2SM information.

11b, the SMF finds the MT S-UPF serving the MT UE according to the corresponding relation between the MO UE and the MT UE which are locally stored, and sends an N4 session modification request carrying CN tunnel information of the target S-UPF.

11c, MT S-UPF returns N4 session modification response to SMF.

At this time, the downlink packet is transmitted from the MT S-UPF to the destination S-UPF, and the buffering action is performed.

11d, the SMF sends a PDU session update SM context Response (Nsmf _ PDUSESION _ UpdateSMContext Response) to the T-AMF based on each PDU session.

12. The T-AMF sends a create UE context Response (Namf _ Communication _ createeuecontext Response) to the S-AMF.

Example four

This embodiment mainly describes the transmission of the buffered data, and as shown in fig. 7, includes the following steps:

1. the S-AMF sends a switching command to the S-RAN;

the target RAN to source RAN transparent container comprises a switched PDU session list and N2SM information, and the PDU session list which fails is established.

2. The source S-gNB sends a switching command to the UE;

specifically, the handover command may be sent by the UE container.

2a-2c, the source S-gNB sends an uplink RAN status transfer message to the S-AMF.

Wherein, if all radio bearers of the UE do not need to reserve a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) state, the S-RAN does not send the message.

3. And the target S-gNB sends the uplink data to the target S-UPF and the MT S-UPF. The MT S-UPF sends the downlink data to the target S-UPF where it is cached.

4. The UE sends a switching confirmation to the target S-gNB;

and after the UE is successfully synchronized to the target cell, the UE sends a switching confirmation to the target S-gNB. The UE considers the handover as successful.

5. The target S-gNB sends a switching notification to the T-AMF;

and the target S-gNB sends a switching notice to the T-AMF when considering that the switching is successful.

6a, the T-AMF sends an N2 information notification (Namf _ Communication _ N2 InfoNotify) to the S-AMF;

this step may be for the T-AMF to notify the S-AMF that it has received a handover notification from the target S-gNB. And the S-AMF starts a timer for managing the release of resources in the source S-gNB.

6b, S-AMF to T-AMF sends N2 information notification acknowledgement (Namf _ Communication _ N2InfoNotify ACK)

The step is that the S-AMF returns an acknowledgement message to the T-AMF.

6c, the S-AMF sends a PDU session release SM context Request (Nsmf _ PDSUSessionReleaseContext Request) to the SMF;

the request may include a user Permanent Identifier (SUPI) and a PDU session ID).

If the T-AMF does not receive the PDU session (e.g., S-NSSAI for the PDU session is not available in the T-AMF), the S-AMF triggers a PDU session release procedure.

7. The T-AMF sends a PDU session update SM context Request (Nsmf _ PDScession _ UpdateSMContext Request) to the SMF;

the request includes a handover complete indication of the PDU session ID.

The T-AMF sends a handover completion indication to the corresponding SMF on a per PDU session basis to indicate that the N2 handover is successfully completed.

8. SMF sends N4 session modification request to target S-UPF;

the SMF sends an N4 session modification request to a target S-UPF, and indicates that the downlink data packet sent to the MO UE acts as forwarding. At this time, the destination S-UPF forwards the buffered and newly received downlink data packets to the MO UE.

9. The target S-UPF sends an N4 session modification response to the SMF.

10. The SMF sends a PDU session release SM context Response (Nsmf _ PDSUSsion _ UpdateSMContext Response) to the T-AMF, wherein the Response comprises a PDU session ID;

the SMF acknowledges the handover completion.

11. The UE initiates a mobility registration update procedure.

The target AMF knows that this is a Handover (HO) procedure and therefore only a part of the steps of the registration procedure is performed by the target AMF, especially the steps of transferring context between the source AMF and the target AMF are skipped.

12. SMF sends N4 session release request to source S-UPF;

this step may be the SMF sending an N4 session release request to the source S-UPF after the timer started at the preparation phase step 6d times out, which request may include a release reason.

13. The source S-UPF sends an N4 session release response to the SMF;

this step may be the return of an N4 session release response to the SMF after the source S-UPF releases the resources.

14a, AMF sends UE context release command to source S-gNB.

The AMF sends the message after the timer started in step 6a has expired.

14b, the source S-gNB sends a UE context release completion message to the AMF;

and the source S-gNB releases the resources related to the UE and replies a UE context release completion message.

Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a block diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the network device includes an SMF, and as shown in fig. 8, the network device includes a memory 820, a transceiver 800, and a processor 810:

a memory 820 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 800 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 810; a processor 810 for reading the computer program in the memory 820 and performing the following operations:

under the condition that a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, determining a data processing mode according to target information, wherein the target information comprises: at least one of ephemeris information and PDU session information, the processing means comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

and executing the processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

Where in fig. 8, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, with one or more processors, represented by processor 810, and various circuits, represented by memory 820, being linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further herein. The bus interface provides an interface. The transceiver 800 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and a receiver that provide a means for communicating with various other apparatus over a transmission medium including wireless channels, wired channels, fiber optic cables, and the like. The user interface 830 may also be an interface capable of interfacing with a desired device for different user devices, including but not limited to a keypad, a display, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, etc.

The processor 810 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 820 may store data used by the processor 800 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 810 may be a CPU (central processing unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), and the processor may also have a multi-core architecture.

The processor is used for executing any method provided by the embodiment of the application according to the obtained executable instructions by calling the computer program stored in the memory. The processor and memory may also be physically separated.

Optionally, the indirect data forwarding includes:

data forwarding is indirectly carried out through a user plane function UPF on the satellite; or

And indirectly forwarding data through the ground UPF.

Optionally, when it is determined that there is no on-satellite UPF available for forwarding data according to the ephemeris information, determining to indirectly forward data through a ground UPF; or alternatively

And determining to indirectly forward the data through the on-satellite UPF under the condition that the on-satellite UPF capable of being used for forwarding the data is determined to exist according to the ephemeris information and the on-satellite forwarding transmission delay is smaller than the ground forwarding transmission delay.

Optionally, the processor 810 is further configured to read the computer program in the memory 820 and perform the following operations:

and selecting the UPF on the satellite according to the ephemeris information.

and determining indirect data forwarding under the condition that the PDU conversation does not support the delay communication according to the PDU conversation information.

It should be noted that, the SMF provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement all the method steps implemented by the method embodiment and achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in the embodiment are omitted here.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a block diagram of another network device according to an embodiment of the present application, where the network device includes an SMF, and as shown in fig. 9, the network device 900 includes:

a determining unit 901, configured to determine a data processing manner according to target information when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and a handover occurs, where the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and data protocol unit, PDU, session information, the processing method comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

the execution unit 902 is configured to execute processing corresponding to the data processing manner.

Optionally, the indirect data forwarding includes:

And indirectly forwarding data through the ground UPF.

Optionally, when it is determined that there is no on-satellite UPF available for forwarding data according to the ephemeris information, determining to indirectly forward data through a ground UPF; or

Optionally, the network device further includes:

and the selection unit is used for selecting the UPF on the satellite according to the ephemeris information.

Optionally, the determining unit 901 is configured to at least one of:

Optionally, the executing unit 902 is configured to at least one of:

It should be noted that the division of the unit 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. 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 integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a processor readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The processor-readable storage medium may be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by a processor, including, but not limited to, magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical memory (e.g., CDs, DVDs, BDs, HVDs, etc.), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, non-volatile memories (NAND FLASH), solid State Disks (SSDs)), etc.

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

1. A data processing method, comprising:

when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is switched, a Session Management Function (SMF) determines a data processing mode according to target information, wherein the target information comprises: at least one of ephemeris information and data protocol unit, PDU, session information, the processing method comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

and the SMF executes processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indirect data forwarding comprises:

And indirectly forwarding data through the ground UPF.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein in case that the data processing mode is determined to be indirect data forwarding, the SMF determines to forward the data indirectly through the UPF on the satellite or to forward the data indirectly through the UPF on the ground according to the transmission delay of the UPF on the satellite and the UPF on the ground.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein in the event that the SMF determines from the ephemeris information that there is no on-satellite UPF available to forward data, determining to forward data indirectly through a ground UPF; or

And when the SMF determines that the on-satellite UPF capable of being used for forwarding data exists according to the ephemeris information and the on-satellite forwarding transmission delay is smaller than the ground forwarding transmission delay, determining to forward the data indirectly through the on-satellite UPF.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the SMF performs the processing corresponding to the data processing mode, including:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

and selecting the UPF on the satellite according to the ephemeris information.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the SMF determines a data processing mode according to the target information, including at least one of:

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the SMF performs processing corresponding to the data processing mode, including at least one of:

and under the condition that the data processing mode is on-satellite data caching, the SMF indicates a target on-satellite UPF to perform caching action on the downlink data packet sent to the terminal.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a duration for which the target on-satellite UPF buffers the downlink data packets destined for the terminal is configured by the SMF or the target on-satellite UPF.

10. A network device comprising a session management function, SMF, comprising: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, wherein:

and executing the processing corresponding to the data processing mode.

11. The network device of claim 10, wherein the indirect data forwarding comprises:

And indirectly forwarding the data through the ground UPF.

12. The network device according to claim 11, wherein in a case where it is determined that the data processing manner is indirect data forwarding, the indirect data forwarding through the on-board UPF or the indirect data forwarding through the terrestrial UPF is determined according to a transmission delay of the on-board UPF indirect data forwarding and the terrestrial UPF indirect data forwarding.

13. The network device of claim 12, wherein in the event that it is determined from the ephemeris information that there is no on-board UPF available for forwarding data, determining to forward data indirectly via a ground UPF; or alternatively

14. The network device of claim 11, wherein the executing the processing corresponding to the data processing manner includes:

15. The network device according to any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the determining a data processing manner according to the target information comprises at least one of:

determining on-satellite data cache under the condition that PDU conversation supports delay communication according to the PDU conversation information;

16. The network device according to any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the performing the processing corresponding to the data processing manner includes at least one of:

17. A network device comprising a session management function, SMF, comprising:

a determining unit, configured to determine a data processing manner according to target information when a terminal accesses a network through a satellite and is handed over, where the target information includes: at least one of ephemeris information and data protocol unit, PDU, session information, the processing method comprising: indirect data forwarding or on-board data caching;

18. The network device of claim 17, wherein the indirect data forwarding comprises:

data forwarding is indirect through a user plane function UPF on the satellite; or

And indirectly forwarding data through the ground UPF.

19. The network device according to claim 18, wherein in a case where it is determined that the data processing manner is indirect data forwarding, the indirect data forwarding through the on-board UPF or the indirect data forwarding through the terrestrial UPF is determined according to a transmission delay of the on-board UPF indirect data forwarding and the terrestrial UPF indirect data forwarding.

20. The network device according to claim 18, wherein the execution unit is configured to establish an indirect forwarding tunnel between the source base station, the on-satellite UPF, and the destination base station, and notify the network controller to configure a routing configuration of the indirect forwarding tunnel, if the data processing manner is indirect data forwarding through the on-satellite UPF.

21. Network device according to any of claims 17 to 20, wherein the execution unit is configured to at least one of:

22. A processor-readable storage medium, characterized in that the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a processor to execute the data processing method of any one of claims 1 to 9.