CN115776487A

CN115776487A - Data distribution method, device, equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115776487A
Application number: CN202111034552.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陶源; 段小嫣
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-09-03
Filing date: 2021-09-03
Publication date: 2023-03-10

Abstract

In the data distribution method, the device, the equipment and the storage medium provided by the application, session data sent by User Equipment (UE) through a home routing protocol data unit (HR PDU) session is received, wherein the session data comprises roaming session data; and shunting the roaming session data to a target Edge Application Server (EAS) according to the acquired data shunting rule. According to the scheme, roaming session data can be distributed to the target EAS only by establishing one HR PDU, so that the MEC service of the roaming place is used.

Description

Data distribution method, device, equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

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

Background

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technology is widely used today, by migrating Computing storage capacity and business service capacity to the Edge of a network, data does not need to be transmitted back to a cloud as much as possible, and latency and network cost of data to and from the cloud can be reduced.

The MEC technology is based on a 5G distributed cloud infrastructure, a 5G User Plane Function (UPF) node and a 5G MEC node are constructed in an edge cloud, and an MEC application platform is provided through the 5G MEC node, so that deployment and management capacity of third-party application is realized, and a User can obtain corresponding services through the MEC application platform.

In the related art, networking of 5G roaming includes Local Breakout (LBO, also called "roaming destination routing") and Home Routing (HR), and when a user needs to use MEC service of a roaming destination and other services of the Home destination, a LBO PDU session and an HR PDU session of a roaming destination routing protocol data unit need to be established respectively, which is relatively complex.

Disclosure of Invention

The present application provides a data offloading method, apparatus, device and storage medium, which are used to simplify the process of using MEC service in a roaming location.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a data offloading method, which is applied to a user plane function entity UPF network element, where the data offloading method includes:

receiving session data sent by User Equipment (UE) through a home routing protocol data unit (HR PDU) session, wherein the session data comprises roaming session data;

and shunting the roaming session data to a target Edge Application Server (EAS) according to the acquired data shunting rule.

Optionally, the data offloading method further includes:

determining charging information of roaming session data according to the URR contained in the data offloading rule, wherein the charging information includes any one or more of the following: charging identification, HR PDU session information, user permanent identifier SUPI and data volume of roaming session data;

and sending the charging information to a CHF network element with a charging function so that the CHF network element charges the roaming session data according to the charging information.

Optionally, sending the charging information to the CHF network element includes:

and sending the charging information to the SMF network element so that the SMF network element forwards the charging information to the CHF network element.

Optionally, offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS according to the obtained data offloading rule, including:

determining a target EAS corresponding to a destination address and/or an application identifier according to the destination address and/or the application identifier carried in roaming session data and a flow routing rule contained in a data distribution rule;

and shunting the roaming session data to the target EAS.

Optionally, before offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS according to the obtained data offloading rule, the method further includes:

and determining whether the roaming session data is data sent to the EAS or not according to a flow detection rule contained in the data distribution rule.

Optionally, offloading the roaming session data to an edge application server EAS, comprising:

and if the UPF network element is the home UPF network element, sending the roaming session data to the roaming UPF network element, and shunting the roaming session data to the target EAS by the roaming UPF network element.

Optionally, the data splitting rule is obtained in the following manner:

acquiring a data distribution rule from a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, wherein the data distribution rule comprises any one or more of the following rules:

reporting rules, traffic routing rules, and traffic detection rules are used.

In a second aspect, the present application provides a data offloading method, which is applied to a session management function SMF network element, and the data offloading method includes:

determining a UPF network element and a data distribution rule according to a roaming area distribution strategy and/or EAS related information;

and sending a data distribution rule to the UPF network element so that the UPF network element distributes roaming session data sent by the UE through the HR PDU session to the target EAS according to the data distribution rule.

Optionally, the roaming offloading policy includes: and the UPF network element selection mode and at least one of an address range of the EAS and a service type provided by the EAS.

Optionally, determining the UPF network element according to the roaming area offloading policy and/or the EAS related information includes:

and determining the UPF network element according to the UPF network element selection mode, the data network access identifier DNAI and/or the related information of the UE in the roaming place offloading policy.

Optionally, before determining the UPF network element and the data offloading rule according to the information related to the offloading policy and/or the EAS of the roaming region, the method further includes:

receiving a session establishment request sent by UE;

and establishing an HR PDU session with the UE according to the session establishment request.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a data offloading device, which is applied to a user plane functional entity UPF network element, where the data offloading device includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive session data sent by a user equipment UE through a home routing protocol data unit HR PDU session, where the session data includes roaming session data;

and the shunting module is used for shunting the roaming session data to the target edge application server EAS according to the acquired data shunting rule.

Optionally, the data offloading device further includes: a determining module, configured to determine charging information of roaming session data according to the URR included in the data offloading rule, where the charging information includes any one or more of the following: charging identification, HR PDU session information, user permanent identifier SUPI and data volume of roaming session data;

and the sending module is used for sending the charging information to a CHF network element with a charging function so that the CHF network element charges the roaming session data according to the charging information.

Optionally, the sending module is specifically configured to send the charging information to the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element forwards the charging information to the CHF network element.

Optionally, according to the obtained data offloading rule, the offloading module is specifically configured to: determining a target EAS corresponding to a destination address and/or an application identifier according to the destination address and/or the application identifier carried in roaming session data and a flow routing rule contained in a data distribution rule;

and shunting the roaming session data to the target EAS.

Optionally, the determining module is further configured to determine whether the roaming session data is data sent to the EAS according to a traffic detection rule included in the data offloading rule.

Optionally, the offloading module is specifically configured to, if the UPF network element is a home UPF network element, send the roaming session data to the roaming-location UPF network element, and offload the roaming session data to the target EAS by the roaming-location UPF network element.

Optionally, the receiving module is further configured to obtain the data offloading rule in the following manner:

reporting rules, traffic routing rules, and traffic detection rules are used.

In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a data offloading device, which is applied to a session management function SMF network element, where the data offloading device includes:

the determining module is used for determining the UPF network element and the data distribution rule according to the related information of the roaming area distribution strategy and/or the EAS;

and the sending module is used for sending the data distribution rule to the UPF network element so that the UPF network element distributes roaming session data sent by the UE through the HR PDU session to the target EAS according to the data distribution rule.

Optionally, the roaming offloading policy includes: and the UPF network element selection mode and at least one of an EAS address range and a service type provided by the EAS.

Optionally, the determining module is specifically configured to determine the UPF network element according to the UPF network element selection manner, the data network access identifier DNAI, and/or the related information of the UE in the roaming area offloading policy.

Optionally, the data offloading device further includes: a receiving module, configured to receive a session establishment request sent by a UE;

In a fifth aspect, the present application further provides a UPF network element, including: a memory for storing a computer program;

a transceiver for transceiving data under the control of the processor;

a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following:

Optionally, the processor is further configured to perform the following operations:

determining a target EAS corresponding to the destination address and/or the application identifier according to the destination address and/or the application identifier carried in the roaming session data and a traffic routing rule contained in the data distribution rule;

offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS.

and determining whether the roaming session data is data transmitted to the EAS according to the flow detection rule contained in the data distribution rule.

Optionally, the processor obtains the data splitting rule by the following method:

reporting rules, traffic routing rules, and traffic detection rules are used.

In a sixth aspect, the present application provides an SMF network element, including:

a memory for storing a computer program;

a transceiver for transceiving data under the control of the processor;

a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and performing the following operations:

Optionally, the roaming destination offloading policy includes: and the UPF network element selection mode and at least one of an EAS address range and a service type provided by the EAS.

Optionally, determining the UPF network element according to the roaming region offloading policy and/or the information related to the EAS includes:

and determining the UPF network element according to the UPF network element selection mode, the data network access identifier DNAI and/or the related information of the UE in the roaming area shunting strategy.

receiving a session establishment request sent by UE;

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a processor-readable storage medium, where the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is configured to cause a processor to execute the data offloading method according to the first aspect and/or the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer program product, comprising: a computer program implementing the data offloading method of the first and/or second aspect when executed by a processor.

In a ninth aspect, the present application further provides a communication system, comprising: such as the UPF network element of the fifth aspect and the SMF network element of the sixth aspect.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and the computer program is used to enable a computer to execute the data offloading method according to the first aspect and/or the second aspect.

In the data distribution method, the device, the equipment and the storage medium provided by the application, session data sent by User Equipment (UE) through a home routing protocol data unit (HR PDU) session is received, wherein the session data comprises roaming session data; and shunting the roaming session data to a target Edge Application Server (EAS) according to the acquired data shunting rule. By the scheme, roaming session data can be distributed to the target EAS only by establishing one HR PDU, so that the MEC service of the roaming place is used.

It should be understood that what is described in the summary section above is not intended to limit key or critical features of the embodiments of the application, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the application. Other features of the present application will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present application or the prior art, the drawings required for the embodiments or the description of the prior art are briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive labor.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an edge computing network architecture for roaming route;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an edge computing network architecture for home routing;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a data offloading process in the prior art;

fig. 4 is a first schematic signaling interaction diagram of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a first schematic diagram of a network architecture of a data offloading process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a data offloading process according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic signaling interaction diagram ii of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a third schematic signaling interaction diagram of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic signaling interaction diagram of a roaming region offloading policy configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a first schematic structural diagram of a data offloading device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a UPF network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF network element according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The term "and/or" in this application describes an association relationship of associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., 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 Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) technology is widely used today, by migrating the Computing storage capacity and the business service capacity to the network Edge, and returning data to the cloud is not needed as much as possible, so that the waiting time of the data to and from the cloud and the network cost can be reduced.

The MEC technology is based on a 5G distributed cloud infrastructure, a 5G user plane function node and a 5G MEC node are constructed in an edge cloud mode, an MEC application platform is provided through the 5G MEC node, deployment and management capacity of third-party application is achieved, and a user can obtain corresponding services through the MEC application platform.

5G defines an Application Function that sends an AF Request to either the non-trusted domain (NEF) or the trusted domain (PCF) containing a series of parameters including the target DNN, application ID, N6 routing requirements, application location, etc. And the PCF generates a PCC rule for the target PDU Session service flow according to the information parameters provided by the AF and by combining with self policy control, and selects a proper UPF for the PCC rule through the SMF.

The MEC provides functions of application infrastructure resource orchestration, application instantiation, application rule configuration, and the like. Therefore, when the MEC is deployed in a 5G system, the MEC may also act as an Application Function role, interacting with the 5G system control plane on behalf of applications deployed on the MEC.

The networking of the 5G international roaming may be divided into a roaming place routing/Local Breakout (Local Breakout) scheme and a Home-Routed (Home-Routed) scheme.

Illustratively, fig. 1 and fig. 2 are schematic diagrams of edge computing network architectures of a roaming route and a home route, respectively, wherein the main network functions involved in the above architecture diagrams are introduced as follows:

AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function): the mobile terminal is mainly responsible for access and mobility management functions, registration, connection management and the like.

UPF (User plane Function): the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session node is mainly responsible for routing and forwarding packets and is connected to a Data network.

SMF (Session Management Function): the method is mainly responsible for session establishment and deletion, user plane selection and control, UE IP allocation and the like.

AF (Application Function): for interacting with a 3GPP core network to provide services, based on operator deployment, a trusted AF can directly interact with a relevant NF, whereas a non-trusted AF cannot directly interact with the NF, but should use an external public framework to do so through the NEF.

DNAI (data network Access Identifier, DN Access Identifier);

PCF: (Policy Control Function ) supports a unified Policy framework to manage network behavior, provide Policy rules for Control plane NF enforcement;

NEF (network open function);

NRF (Network storage Function), which supports a service discovery Function;

UDM (Unified Data Management) for storing information of the UE, such as subscription information, information that a PDU session has been established;

NEF (Network open Function) for providing a Function of securely exposing services and capabilities provided by the 3GPP Network to an external Network;

UDR (Unified database UDR) for storing subscription Data and UDM FE's retrieval of subscription Data, or storing policy information and PCF's retrieval of policy information;

an EASDF (Edge Application Server Discovery Function) for processing the DNS message based on the SMF indication;

UDR (Unified Data Repository function);

an EAS (Edge Application Server) for providing an Edge service;

PSA (PDU session anchor point).

In order to support selective data routing to a DN, the SMF may control a data path of a PDU session to ensure that the PDU session can simultaneously correspond to multiple N6 interfaces, and each anchor Point supporting the PDU session provides a different access path to the same DN to implement local offloading, which may be through an UL CL (Uplink Classifier) function and an IPv6 multi-homing BP (Branching Point) function, which is referred to as a session breakout connection model.

In the related art, a 5G roaming subscriber cannot access an edge computing service EAS through an HR PDU session at a roaming place. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a data offloading process in the prior art. As shown in fig. 3, when the roaming user establishes HR PDU session to use the service in HPLMN, if the roaming MEC service needs to be used, it is also necessary to access to the local MEC service by establishing LBO PDU session, so as to use the services of local and home through two PDU sessions, and this process is relatively complicated.

Further, an I-SMF may be inserted between the SMF and the AMF when the UE is located outside the service area of the SMF or the SMF cannot support DNAI for traffic routing to the home network. And in the non-roaming and Local Breakout (LBO) scene, inserting UL CL/BP UPF in the non-roaming/LBO PDU session established by the VPLMN establishment is supported to shunt the traffic to the local network. The SMF sends the local shunt related information to the I-SMF to indicate how the UPF controlled by the I-SMF performs traffic monitoring, execution and the like. The I-SMF determines rules for PDR, URR, etc. based on information provided by the SMF.

However, in the scenario of I-SMF insertion, it can only support inserting UL CL/BP UPF in non-roaming and LBO PDU sessions, and when establishing HR PDU session, it cannot insert UL CL/BP UPF for local breakout. And the method adopts a flow use information reporting and charging mode of non-roaming/LBO PDU conversation, and V-UPF UL CL/BP can not send mutual flow use information and charging information between UE and EAS to H-SMF through V-SMF. Similarly, when the MEC service of the roaming place and other services of the home place need to be used, two PDU sessions of local breakout and home routing need to be established respectively.

In summary, the existing method increases the deployment difficulty of operators and the complexity of using edge services by the UE when roaming, and when accessing the local service through the LBO PDU session, the home cannot control the services, for example, the home cannot charge the user.

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a data offloading method, an apparatus, and a storage medium, which determine a UPF network element and a data offloading rule according to an edge computing service required in a session, so that roaming session data sent by a UE through an HR PDU session is offloaded to a target EAS by the UPF network element according to the data offloading rule, so as to implement that a 5G roaming user accesses the edge computing service EAS through the HR PDU session in a roaming area.

It should be understood that the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, the applicable system may be a global system for mobile communication (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) system, a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, an LTE-a (long term evolution) system, a universal mobile system (universal mobile telecommunications system, UMTS), a universal internet Access (WiMAX) system, a New Radio Network (NR) system, etc. These various systems include terminals and network devices. The System also includes a core network portion, such as an Evolved Packet System (EPS), a 5G System (5 GS), and the like.

In addition, the names of the user equipment UE mentioned in this application in different systems may also be different, for example, the above terminal may also be referred to as a wireless terminal, where the wireless terminal may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CN) via a Radio Access Network (RAN), and the wireless terminal may be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or referred to as a "cellular" phone) and a computer having the mobile terminal, and may be, for example, a portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-included or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchange languages and/or data with the Radio Access Network. Examples of such devices include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). A wireless terminal 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 (remote terminal), an access terminal (access terminal), a user terminal (user terminal), a user agent (user agent), and a user device (user device), which are not limited in this embodiment.

Next, various embodiments of the present application are described in detail with reference to specific embodiments and drawings in the specification, and it should be noted that the display sequence of the embodiments of the present application only represents the sequence of the embodiments, and does not represent the merits of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments.

In practical applications, there are multiple selection manners of the UPF network element, and the embodiment of the present application is not particularly limited, for example, on the one hand, a roaming place UPF network element may be selected in a visited public land mobile network VPLMN, where the roaming place UPF network element includes a PSA UPF network element and a UL CL UPF network element, or the roaming place UPF network element includes a PSA UPF network element and a BP UPF network element, and then offloading of roaming data is implemented through at least one of the PSA UPF network element and the UL CL UPF network element or the BP UPF network element;

on the other hand, a roaming place UPF network element (V-UPF) can be selected in the VPLMN, wherein the roaming place UPF network element comprises a PSA UPF network element, and the offloading of the roaming data is realized through the roaming place UPF network element and/or a UPF network element (H-UPF) in the home public land mobile network HPLMN.

Fig. 4 is a first schematic signaling interaction diagram of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4, the data offloading method includes the following steps:

s101, determining a UPF network element and a data offloading rule of a roaming place by the SMF network element of the roaming place according to the offloading policy of the roaming place and/or the related information of the EAS.

In practical application, when the UE roams to the VPLMN, a PDU session (the PDU session here may be obtained according to the establishment manner of an HR PDU session) is established through a roaming-site SMF network element (i.e., V-SMF) deployed in the VPLMN, and accordingly, in the session establishment process, the roaming-site SMF network element selects an EASDF based on a preset rule and performs an EAS-related information discovery operation, thereby obtaining EAS-related information for providing an edge computing service, which is sent by the EASDF.

It should be noted that, the embodiment is not limited to the method for discovering the EAS related information, and for example, the EAS related information may be queried through a C-DNS or L-DNS query, where the EAS related information may include an IP address of the EAS, an edge service type that the EAS may provide, and the like.

Further, determining a UPF network element and a data offloading rule to be selected according to EAS related information sent by the EASDF and the offloading policy of the roaming area.

The roaming region offloading policy includes: and selecting the UPF network element, and at least one of an EAS address range and a service type provided by the EAS.

In some embodiments, when determining the UPF network element that needs to be selected according to the EAS related information sent by the EASDF and the roaming destination offload policy, specifically:

and if the address range of the EAS provided in the roaming place offloading policy is within the address range of the EAS sent by the EASDF, and/or the service type of the EAS provided in the roaming place offloading policy is within the service type range of the EAS sent by the EASDF, selecting the corresponding UPF network element according to the selection mode of the UPF network element provided in the roaming place offloading policy.

Wherein, the UPF network element selection mode provided in the roaming place offloading policy includes at least one of the following:

(1) Selecting a UPF network element at a roaming place in the VPLMN, wherein the UPF network element at the roaming place comprises: at least one of the UL CL UPF network element or the BP UPF network element and the PSA UPF network element, and then the shunting of the roaming data is realized through at least one of the UL CL UPF network element or the BP UPF network element and the PSA UPF network element;

(2) Selecting a roaming place UPF network element (V-UPF) in the VPLMN, wherein the roaming place network element comprises a PSA UPF network element, and shunting roaming session data to the target EAS through the roaming place UPF network element and/or a home UPF network element (H-UPF) in the HPLMN.

Specifically, the UPF network element may be selected in the VPLMN according to a data network access identifier DNAI and/or information related to the UE (e.g., location information of the UE, etc.), where the data network access identifier DNAI is determined according to the information related to the EAS.

Optionally, when the selection of the UPF network element in the VPLMN does not meet the requirements of the DNAI, the UPF network element may be reselected in the VPLMN according to the DNAI and/or the related information of the UE.

On one hand, when at least one of the UL CL UPF network element or the BP UPF network element and the PSA UPF network element are selected in the VPLMN, and the offloading of the roaming data is implemented through at least one of the UL CL UPF network element or the BP UPF network element and the PSA UPF network element, a network architecture of a data offloading process thereof is shown in fig. 5.

In this network architecture, please refer to steps S102 to S104 shown in fig. 4 for a scheme of data offloading performed by the UPF network element:

s102, the SMF network element of the roaming place sends a data distribution rule to the UPF network element.

S103, receiving session data sent by the UE through the HR PDU session by the UPF network element in the roaming place.

The session data includes roaming session data, local session data and other types of data.

And S104, the UPF network element at the roaming place shunts the roaming session data to the target EAS according to the acquired data shunting rule.

It should be noted that, in the network architecture shown in fig. 5, for a scheme in which the roaming location UPF network element shunts session data between the UE and the edge target EAS through the PSA UPF network element, reference may be made to the prior art, and details are not described here.

On the other hand, when a UPF network element (V-UPF) is selected in the VPLMN and data offloading is performed between the UPF network element in the roaming place and the UPF network element (H-UPF) in the HPLMN, the network architecture of the data offloading process is shown in fig. 6.

In the network architecture shown in fig. 6, it is further required to configure a data offloading rule for a home UPF network element, and next, the foregoing solution is described in detail with reference to fig. 7:

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a data offloading method provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 7, the data offloading method in the embodiment includes the following steps:

and S112, the SMF network element of the roaming place sends a data distribution rule to the UPF network element of the roaming place.

And S113, the SMF network element of the roaming place sends a data distribution rule to the SMF network element of the home place.

Specifically, the SMF network element at the roaming site may send a data offloading rule configuration indication to the H-SMF by calling an Nsmf _ pdusessionjupdate Request, where the data offloading rule configuration indication carries a data offloading rule.

S114, the home SMF network element sends the data distribution rule to the home UPF network element.

And S115, the UE sends session data to the home UPF network element and/or the roaming network element through the HR PDU session.

Wherein the session data comprises roaming session data.

And S116, the home UPF network element and/or the roaming UPF network element shunt the roaming session data to the target EAS according to the acquired data shunting rules.

It should be noted that, for the specific scheme of data offloading of the roaming session, it is shown in the subsequent embodiments, and details are not described here.

The application provides a data distribution method, which comprises the steps of receiving session data sent by User Equipment (UE) through a home routing protocol data unit (HR PDU) session, wherein the session data comprises roaming session data; and shunting the roaming session data to a target Edge Application Server (EAS) according to the acquired data shunting rule. By the scheme, roaming session data can be distributed to the target EAS only by establishing one HR PDU, so that the MEC service of the roaming place is used.

In some embodiments, in the data offloading process, an AF network element in the HPLMN may configure the roaming-destination offloading policy to the PCF network element by requesting configuration, so that the PCF network element configures the roaming-destination offloading policy to the SMF network element; or the AF network element may perform pre-configuration on the PCF network element or the SMF network element before data offloading.

It should be noted that the configuration scheme of the roaming-place offloading policy is shown in the subsequent embodiment, and details are not described here.

In some embodiments, the data distribution rules include any one or more of the following rules: a Reporting Rule (URR), a traffic routing Rule (traffic routing Rule), and a traffic detection Rule (traffic detection Rule) are used. Next, a specific scheme of the data splitting rule is described in detail with reference to fig. 8:

fig. 8 is a third schematic signaling interaction diagram of a data offloading method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the roaming UPF network element and/or the home UPF network element shunts the roaming session data to the target EAS according to the following steps S301 to S304 (the following UPF network elements are the roaming UPF network element or the home UPF network element):

s301, the UE sends session data through an HR PDU session.

S302, the UPF network element determines whether the roaming session data is the data sent to the EAS according to the flow detection rule contained in the data distribution rule.

In the step, whether the roaming session data is data sent to the EAS is determined according to the traffic detection rule including the address information of the target EAS and the destination address of the target EAS.

Specifically, whether the roaming session data is data sent to the EAS may be detected according to an IP Packet Filter Set (e.g., a target IP address or an IPv6 prefix) or an Application Identifier (Application Identifier).

Correspondingly, if yes, the roaming session data is shunted to the target EAS according to the scheme of steps S303-S304; if not, the roaming session number is not shunted.

And S303, the UPF network element determines the target EAS corresponding to the destination address and/or the application identifier according to the destination address and/or the application identifier carried in the roaming session data and the traffic routing rule contained in the data distribution rule.

And S304, shunting the roaming session data to the target EAS.

In one aspect, when the UPF network element is a roaming UPF network element, an application having a destination Address of an EAS IP Address and/or for a specific application identifier, such as an application having Routing info = EAS IP Address/port number/IP prefix @localpsa, application identifier =01/meta data = location, is directed to the target EAS.

For UL CL UPF, the target EAS can be determined by matching information such as destination IP address, destination port number and the like, and for BP UPF, the target EAS can be determined by matching IP prefix @ local PSA.

On the other hand, for the uplink roaming session data sent by the UE, the roaming-location UPF network element sends the uplink roaming session data to the home-location UPF network element through the preset tunnel, and the uplink roaming session data is distributed to the target EAS.

The preset tunnel can be determined according to the mapping relationship of the tunnel between the UPF network element at the roaming place and the UPF at the home place.

And for the downlink roaming session data received from the home UPF network element, the home UPF network element sends the downlink roaming session data to the target EAS corresponding to the destination address according to the destination address of the downlink roaming session data.

In some embodiments, the roaming session data may also be charged according to the offloading rule, and the specific charging scheme includes the following steps S305 to S307:

s305, the UPF network element determines the charging information of the roaming session data according to the use report rule URR contained in the data distribution rule.

Wherein, the charging information comprises any one or more of the following: a charging identification (e.g. charging ID), HR PDU session information (PDU session information), a user permanent identifier SUPI and a data Volume of roaming session data (e.g. Uplink/Downlink Volume).

And S306, the UPF network element sends the charging information to a CHF network element with a charging function.

Optionally, in step S306, the UPF network element may directly send the charging information to the CHF network element, or the SMF network element may forward the charging information, and specifically, when the charging information is forwarded by the SMF network element, S306 specifically includes the following steps:

(1) The UPF network element sends the charging information to the SMF network element;

(2) And the SMF network element sends the charging information to the CHF network element.

And S307, the CHF network element charges the roaming session data according to the charging information.

It should be noted that, as for the charging mode of the CHF network element, reference may be made to the prior art, which is not described herein again.

Next, a detailed description is given of a specific configuration procedure of the roaming-destination offloading policy with reference to fig. 9.

Fig. 9 is a schematic signaling interaction diagram of a roaming region offloading policy configuration method according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in fig. 9, a home SMF network element (H-SMF), a home PCF network element (H-PCF), a home UDR network element (H-UDR), a home NEF network element (H-NEF), and a home AF network element (H-AF) are deployed in the HPLMN; a roaming place SMF network element (V-SMF) and a roaming place PCF network element (V-PCF) are deployed in the VPLMN.

Specifically, the roaming region offloading policy configuration method provided in this embodiment includes the following steps:

s401, the home AF network element sends a roaming area shunting policy configuration request to the home NEF network element.

Specifically, the home AF network element sends a roaming-location offloading policy configuration request to the home NEF network element by invoking an nfransfficinfluence _ Create/Update service operation, where the roaming-location offloading policy includes: selection mode of UPF network element, EAS related information, etc.

The EAS-related information may include: the service range that the EAS can provide (e.g., FQDN, application id, application support requested by UE), the address range of the EAS, etc.

(1) Selecting a UPF network element at a roaming place in the VPLMN, wherein the UPF network element at the roaming place comprises: and the shunting of the roaming data is realized through at least one of the UL CL UPF network element or the BP UPF network element and the PSA UPF network element.

(2) Selecting a roaming place UPF network element (V-UPF) in the VPLMN, wherein the roaming place UPF network element comprises a PSA UPF network element, and shunting roaming session data to the target EAS through a home UPF network element (H-UPF) in the roaming place UPF network element and/or the HPLMN.

S402, the home NEF network element stores the configuration request in a home UDR network element, and the configuration request carries a roaming place distribution strategy.

Specifically, the home NEF network element stores the configuration request to the home UDR network element, and the home PCF network element subscribes, to the home UDR network element, a change condition of the configuration request sent by the AF network element, so as to obtain, from the notification information, information of the configuration request sent by the AF network element, thereby obtaining the roaming-location offloading policy.

Optionally, the AF network element may directly send the roaming-destination offloading policy to the home PCF network element.

S403, the home PCF network element obtains the configuration request from the home UDR network element, and obtains the roaming region shunting strategy according to the configuration request.

Specifically, the home UDR network element notifies the roaming-destination offload policy contained in the configuration request sent by the AF to the home PCF network element by invoking the nurr _ DM _ Notify notification.

It should be noted that the home PCF network element may send the roaming-destination offload policy to the roaming-destination PCF network element (see step S404 below), or the home SMF network element may forward the roaming-destination offload policy (see steps S405 to S406 below).

S404, the home PCF network element sends the roaming place shunting strategy to the roaming place PCF network element.

S405, the home PCF network element sends the roaming place shunting strategy to the home SMF.

S406, the home SMF network element sends the roaming place shunting strategy to the roaming place PCF network element.

And S407, the PCF network element of the roaming place sends the shunting strategy of the roaming place to the SMF network element of the roaming place.

On a side of a UPF network element, an embodiment of the present application provides a data offloading device. Fig. 10 is a first schematic structural diagram of a data offloading device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the data offloading device 500 includes:

a receiving module 501, configured to receive session data sent by a UE through a home routing protocol data unit HR PDU session, where the session data includes roaming session data;

the offloading module 502 is configured to offload roaming session data to the target edge application server EAS according to the obtained data offloading rule.

Optionally, the data offloading device 500 further includes: a determining module 503 and a sending module 504;

the determining module 503 is configured to determine charging information of roaming session data according to the URR included in the data offloading rule, where the charging information includes any one or more of the following: charging identification, HR PDU session information, user permanent identifier SUPI and data volume of roaming session data;

a sending module 504, configured to send the charging information to a charging function CHF network element, so that the CHF network element charges the roaming session data according to the charging information.

Optionally, the sending module 504 is specifically configured to send the charging information to the SMF network element, so that the SMF network element forwards the charging information to the CHF network element.

Optionally, according to the obtained data offloading rule, the offloading module is specifically configured to: determining a target EAS corresponding to the destination address and/or the application identifier according to the destination address and/or the application identifier carried in the roaming session data and a traffic routing rule contained in the data distribution rule;

offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS.

Optionally, the determining module 503 is further configured to determine whether the roaming session data is data sent to the EAS according to a traffic detection rule included in the data offloading rule.

Optionally, the offloading module 502 is specifically configured to, if the UPF network element is a home UPF network element, send the roaming session data to the roaming-location UPF network element, and offload the roaming session data to the target EAS by the roaming-location UPF network element.

Optionally, the receiving module 501 is further configured to obtain the data offloading rule in the following manner:

reporting rules, traffic routing rules, and traffic detection rules are used.

It should be noted that, the data offloading device provided in the present application can correspondingly implement the steps of all the data offloading methods implemented by the UPF network element in the method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are not repeated here.

On the SMF network element side, an embodiment of the present application provides a data offloading device. Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a data offloading device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the data splitting apparatus 600 includes:

a determining module 601, configured to determine a UPF network element and a data offloading rule according to a offloading policy of a roaming area and/or relevant information of EAS;

a sending module 602, configured to send a data offloading rule to the UPF network element, so that the UPF network element offloads roaming session data sent by the UE through the HR PDU session to the target EAS according to the data offloading rule.

Optionally, the roaming destination offloading policy includes: and the UPF network element selection mode and at least one of an address range of the EAS and a service type provided by the EAS.

Optionally, the determining module 601 is specifically configured to determine the UPF network element according to the UPF network element selection mode, the data network access identifier DNAI, and/or the related information of the UE in the roaming area offloading policy.

Optionally, the data offloading device 600 further includes: a receiving module 603, configured to receive a session establishment request sent by a UE;

It should be noted that, the data offloading device provided in the present application can correspondingly implement the steps of all the data offloading methods implemented by the SMF network element in the foregoing method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiments in this embodiment are not repeated here.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a UPF network element according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 12, the UPF network element includes: a transceiver 701, a processor 702, and a memory 703.

A memory 703 for storing a computer program;

a transceiver 701 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 702;

where, in fig. 12, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors, represented by the processor 702, and various circuits, represented by the memory 703, 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 701 may be a plurality 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 processor 702 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 703 may store data used by the processor 702 in performing operations.

The processor 702 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 703 may store data used by the processor 702 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 702 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), and may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

The processor 702 is configured to invoke a computer program stored in the memory 703 to execute any terminal access method related to the target relay terminal provided by the embodiment of the present application according to the obtained executable instructions. The processor 702 and the memory 703 may also be physically separated.

Specifically, the processor 702 is configured to read the computer program in the memory 703 and execute the following operations:

Optionally, the processor 702 is further configured to perform the following operations:

offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS.

Optionally, the processor 702 obtains the data splitting rule by:

reporting rules, traffic routing rules, and traffic detection rules are used.

It should be noted that, the UPF network element provided in this application can implement all the method steps implemented by the UPF network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect, and detailed descriptions of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are not repeated here.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF network element according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 13, the SMF network element includes: a transceiver 801, a processor 802, and a memory 803.

A memory 803 for storing a computer program;

a transceiver 801 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 802;

where, in fig. 13, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, in particular one or more processors, represented by the processor 802, and various circuits, represented by the memory 803, 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 801 may be a number of elements including a transmitter and 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 processor 802 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 803 may store data used by the processor 802 in performing operations.

The processor 802 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 803 may store data used by the processor 802 in performing operations.

Alternatively, the processor 802 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), and may also adopt a multi-core architecture.

The processor 802 is configured to invoke a computer program stored in the memory 803 to execute any terminal access method related to the target relay terminal according to the obtained executable instructions. The processor 802 and the memory 803 may also be physically separated.

Specifically, the processor 802 is configured to read the computer program in the memory 803 and execute the following operations:

determining a UPF network element and a data distribution rule according to the related information of the roaming area distribution strategy and/or the EAS;

Optionally, the processor 802 is further configured to perform the following operations:

receiving a session establishment request sent by UE;

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

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the unit is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and when the actual implementation is realized, another division manner may be provided. 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 may be stored in a processor-readable storage medium if it is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application, which are essential or contributing to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several 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 methods 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.

On the UPF network element side, an embodiment of the present application provides a processor-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored in the processor-readable storage medium, where the computer program is configured to enable a processor to implement the steps of all data offloading methods implemented in the UPF network element in the foregoing method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects as in the method embodiments are not described herein again.

At the SMF network element side, an embodiment of the present application provides a processor-readable storage medium, where a computer program is stored in the processor-readable storage medium, where the computer program is used to enable a processor to implement all the steps of the data offloading method implemented at the SMF network element side in the foregoing method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects as in the method embodiments in this embodiment are not described herein again.

The processor-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that can be accessed by the 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.

On the UPF network element side, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including instructions, where the computer program is stored in a storage medium, and the at least one processor can read the computer program from the storage medium, and when the at least one processor executes the computer program, the at least one processor can implement the steps of all the data offloading methods implemented by the UPF network element in the foregoing method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiment in this embodiment are not described herein.

On the SMF network element side, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including instructions, where the computer program is stored in a storage medium, and the at least one processor can read the computer program from the storage medium, and when the at least one processor executes the computer program, the at least one processor can implement the steps of all the data offloading methods implemented by the SMF network element in the foregoing method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effects, and details of the same parts and beneficial effects as those in the method embodiments in this embodiment are not described herein.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes a UPF network element and an SMF network element. And the UPF network element can execute the steps of all the data offloading methods executed by the UPF network element side in the above method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effect. The SMF network element can perform all the steps of the data offloading method performed by the SMF network element side in the above method embodiments, and can achieve the same technical effect. The same parts and advantages as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment will not be described in detail herein.

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 signaling interaction diagrams and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus, and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the signaling interaction diagram and/or block diagram, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the signaling interaction diagram and/or block diagram, 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 or flows of the signaling interaction diagram 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 signaling interaction diagram 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 or flowcharts 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 offloading method is applied to a user plane function entity (UPF) network element, and includes:

2. The data offloading method according to claim 1, wherein the data offloading method further includes:

determining charging information of the roaming session data according to a usage reporting rule URR included in the data offloading rule, where the charging information includes any one or more of the following: a charging identity, HR PDU session information, a user permanent identifier SUPI and a data volume of the roaming session data;

3. The data offloading method of claim 2, wherein sending the charging information to the CHF network element comprises:

and sending the charging information to an SMF network element so that the SMF network element forwards the charging information to the CHF network element.

4. The data offloading method according to claim 1, wherein offloading the roaming session data to a target EAS according to the obtained data offloading rule includes:

determining the target EAS corresponding to the destination address and/or the application identifier according to the destination address and/or the application identifier carried in the roaming session data and a flow routing rule contained in the data distribution rule;

offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS.

5. The data offloading method according to claim 1, further comprising, before offloading the roaming session data to the target EAS according to the obtained data offloading rule:

6. The data offloading method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein offloading the roaming session data to an Edge Application Server (EAS) comprises:

and if the UPF network element is the UPF network element at the home location, sending the roaming session data to the UPF network element at the roaming location, and shunting the roaming session data to the target EAS by the UPF network element at the roaming location.

7. The data splitting method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the data distribution rule is obtained through the following steps:

obtaining the data offloading rule from a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, wherein the data offloading rule includes any one or more of the following rules:

reporting rules, traffic routing rules, and traffic detection rules are used.

8. A data offloading method is applied to a Session Management Function (SMF) network element, and includes:

and sending the data distribution rule to the UPF network element so that the UPF network element distributes roaming session data sent by the UE through the HR PDU session to the target EAS according to the data distribution rule.

9. The data offloading method of claim 8, wherein the roaming-destination offloading policy comprises: and the UPF network element selection mode and at least one of an EAS address range and a service type provided by the EAS.

10. The data offloading method of claim 9, wherein determining the UPF network element according to the information related to the offloading policy of the roaming region and/or the EAS comprises:

and determining the UPF network element according to the UPF network element selection mode, the data network access identifier DNAI and/or the related information of the UE in the roaming area offloading policy.

11. The data offloading method of any of claims 8-10, further comprising, before determining the UPF network element and the data offloading rule according to the roaming-place offloading policy and/or EAS-related information, the following:

receiving a session establishment request sent by the UE;

12. A data offloading device, applied to a user plane function entity (UPF) network element, is characterized in that the data offloading device includes:

and the shunting module is used for shunting the roaming session data to a target Edge Application Server (EAS) according to the acquired data shunting rule.

13. A data offloading device, applied to a session management function SMF network element, the data offloading device comprising:

the determining module is used for determining the UPF network element and the data offloading rule according to the roaming area offloading policy and/or the EAS related information;

14. A UPF network element, comprising:

a memory for storing a computer program;

a transceiver for transceiving data under the control of the processor;

15. An SMF network element, comprising:

a memory for storing a computer program;

a transceiver for transceiving data under the control of the processor;

16. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and the computer program is used to make a computer execute the data distribution method of any one of claims 1 to 11.