CN116939891A

CN116939891A - Information transmission method, network function entity, device and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN116939891A
Application number: CN202210374970.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 曹彩红; 胡渭琦
Original assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-04-11
Filing date: 2022-04-11
Publication date: 2023-10-24

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides an information transmission method, a network function entity, a device and a storage medium, wherein the method comprises the following steps: transmitting a first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel; and receiving a first session modification response message sent by the first UPF and the second UPF. In the application, the SMF sends the session modification request message to a plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, thereby shortening the time for establishing the user plane tunnel and improving the efficiency of establishing the user plane tunnel.

Description

Information transmission method, network function entity, device and storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to an information transmission method, a network functional entity, an apparatus, and a storage medium.

Background

In The third generation partnership project (The 3rd Generation Partnership Project,3GPP) standard, in The scenario of multiple user plane functions (User Plane Function, UPFs), tunnels between UPFs are established point-to-point, with tunnels between every two UPFs being established in turn until The entire user plane tunnel establishment is completed.

The tunnel establishment time is longer and the efficiency is lower.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing problems in the related art, embodiments of the present application provide an information transmission method, a network function entity, an apparatus, and a storage medium.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission method, including:

transmitting a first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel;

and receiving a first session modification response message sent by the first UPF and the second UPF.

Optionally, the first session modification request message sent to the first UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF, and the first session modification request message sent to the second UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF.

Optionally, when the first session modification request message is sent to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, further comprising:

the method comprises the steps of sending a first session modification request message to a third UPF in parallel, wherein the first session modification request message sent to the third UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF, and the first session modification request message sent to the second UPF also carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the third UPF;

And receiving a first session modification response message sent by the third UPF.

Optionally, when the first session modification request message is sent in parallel to the third UPF, further comprising:

and sending a target message to the AMF in parallel, wherein the target message comprises CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

sending a second session modification request message to a third UPF, wherein the second session modification request message carries AN tunnel information, forwarding rules and CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF;

and receiving a second session modification response message sent by the third UPF.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

transmitting a session establishment request message to the first UPF, the second UPF and the third UPF in parallel;

receiving session establishment response messages sent by the first UPF, the second UPF and the third UPF, wherein the session establishment response message sent by the first UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the first UPF, the session establishment response message sent by the second UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF, and the session establishment response message sent by the third UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

Optionally, the first session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the third UPF.

a first session modification request message is sent to the third UPF in parallel, wherein the first session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF and the second UPF;

Optionally, the method further comprises:

transmitting a session establishment request message to the second UPF and the third UPF in parallel;

receiving session establishment response messages sent by the second UPF and the third UPF, wherein the session establishment response messages sent by the second UPF carry CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF, and the session establishment response messages sent by the third UPF carry CN tunnel information sent by the third UPF.

Optionally, the third UPF is an N3 side UPF in SSC mode 1, SSC mode 2, or SSC mode 3, and the first UPF is a PSA UPF in SSC mode corresponding to the third UPF.

Optionally, the third UPF is a BP UPF in the process of changing a PDU session anchor point in SSC mode 3 using an IPv6 multi-homed PDU session, or an UL CL UPF or a BP UPF in the process of adding a PDU session anchor point or a branching point or an uplink classifier to an established PDU session;

in the case where the third UPF is a BP UPF, the first UPF and the second UPF are both PSA UPFs.

Optionally, the first UPF is a PSA UPF in a virtual network group in a 5G LAN scenario, the second UPF is another PSA UPF in the virtual network group except for the first UPF, a first session modification request message sent to the first UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF, and a first session modification request message sent to the second UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an SMF network functional entity, including a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, where:

a memory for storing a computer program; a transceiver for transceiving data under control of the processor; and a processor for reading the computer program in the memory and implementing the information transmission method provided in the first aspect as described above.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an information transmission apparatus, including:

a first transmitting unit, configured to transmit a first session modification request message to a first UPF and a second UPF in parallel;

and the receiving unit is used for receiving the first session modification response message sent by the first UPF and the second UPF.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing the processor to execute the information transmission method according to the first aspect.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to execute the information transmission method provided in the first aspect as described above.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a communication device to execute the information transmission method provided in the first aspect as described above.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application also provide a chip product readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing a chip product to execute the information transmission method provided in the first aspect as described above.

According to the information transmission method, the network function entity, the device and the storage medium provided by the embodiment of the application, the SMF sends the session modification request message to the plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, so that the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is shortened, and the efficiency for establishing the user plane tunnel is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the related art, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments or the related technical descriptions will be briefly described, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following descriptions are some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to the drawings without inventive effort for those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of PDU session establishment provided by the related art;

fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of adding PSA or BP or UL CL for an established PDU session provided by the related art;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a related art provided for modifying PSA in SSC mode 3 using IPv6 multi-homed PDU sessions;

fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of establishing a user plane tunnel provided by the related art;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for establishing a user plane tunnel according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a second flowchart of a method for establishing a user plane tunnel according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a third flow chart of a method for establishing a user plane tunnel according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a flowchart of a method for establishing a user plane tunnel according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment in SSC mode 1 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment in SSC mode 2 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment in SSC mode 3 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart of establishing an N19 tunnel in a 5G LAN scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF network functional entity according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an information transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to better describe the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application, the following description will introduce related knowledge.

(1) Protocol data unit (Protocol Data Unit, PDU) session establishment procedure

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment provided in the related art, as shown in fig. 1, in which the PDU session establishment in the related art includes the following steps:

step 101, the terminal (UE) initiates a PDU session establishment request (PDU Session Establishment Request) to an access and mobility management function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF).

Step 102, the AMF performs session management function (Session Management Function, SMF) Selection (SMF Selection).

Step 103, the AMF initiates a request to establish Session management (Session Management, SM) context (namf_pdu session_ Create SM Context Request) to the SMF.

Subscription data subscription/download (Subscription retrieval/Subscription for updates) between step 104, SMF and unified data management (Unified Data Management, UDM).

Step 105, the SMF sends a set up context response (namf_pdu session_ Create SM Context Response) to the AMF.

Step 106, PDU session authentication/authorization (PDU Session authentication/authorization) is performed.

Steps 107a-b, SMF performs policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF) selection (PCF selection), and policy association establishment or policy association modification is performed between the SMF and PCF (SM Policy Association Establishment or SMF initiated SM Policy Association Modification).

Step 108, the SMF performs UPF Selection (UPF Selection).

Step 109, SMF initiates SM policy association modification (SMF initiated SM Policy Association Modification).

Steps 110a-b, the SMF sends an N4 session setup/modification request to the UPF (N4 Session Establishment/Modification Request), and the UPF sends an N4 session setup/modification response to the SMF (N4 Session Establishment/Modification Response).

In the process that the SMF transmits a session establishment request message to the selected UPF, the UPF provides allocated Core Network (CN) Tunnel information (Tunnel Info) to the SMF through a session establishment response message.

Step 111, the SMF sends an N1N2 information transmission service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer) to the AMF.

Step 112, the AMF sends a PDU session request (N2 PDU Session Request) to AN Access Network (AN). The RAN is a radio access network (Radio Access Network).

Step 113, the access network sends a resource setup message (AN-specific resource setup) to the UE.

Step 114, the access network sends a PDU session response (N2 PDU Session Response) to the AMF. To this end, first upstream data is transmitted between the UE and the UPF (First Uplink Data).

Step 115, AMF sends an update context request (namf_pdu session_ Update SM Context Request) to SMF.

Steps 116a-b-c, the SMF sending a Session modification request to the UPF (N4 Session Modification Request), the SMF providing AN tunnel information and corresponding forwarding rules to the UPF, the UPF sending a Session modification response to the SMF (N4 Session/Modification Response), registration being performed between the SMF and the UDM. To this end, a first downstream data is transmitted between the UPF and the UE (First Downlink Data).

Step 117, the SMF sends an update context response (Namf PDU Session Update SM Context Response) to the AMF.

Step 118, the SMF sends a context state notification (Namf PDU Session SM Context Status Notify) to the AMF.

Step 119, the SMF sends an IPv6 address configuration message (IPv 6 Address Configuration) to the UE.

Step 120, SMF initiates SM policy association modification (SMF initiated SM Policy Association Modification).

Step 121, performing unsubscribe (unsubscribe) between SMF and UDM.

Wherein the DN is a Data Network (DN).

Only one UPF is shown in fig. 1, and if multiple UPFs are used during a PDU session, the UPF in fig. 1 is an N3 side UPF, and the N3 side UPF is a special intermediate UPF (I-UPF). If multiple UPFs are selected for the PDU session, the SMF initiates an N4 session setup/modification procedure for each UPF in the PDU session setup procedure.

(2) Adding a PDU session anchor (PDU Session Anchor, PSA) or Branch Point (BP) or uplink classifier (Uplink Classifier, ULCL) for an established PDU session

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a process provided by the related art for adding PSA or BP or UL CL for an established PDU session, as shown in fig. 2, the process includes the following steps:

step 201, the UE has established a PDU session to PSA 1.

Step 202, SMF selects PSA2 and establishes a new PDU session anchor PSA2 using N4.

Step 203, the SMF establishes a BP or UL CL, sends an N4 session establishment request message to the BP or UL CL, requests the BP or UL CL to allocate CN tunnel information, and provides the CN tunnel information of PSA1 and PSA2 to the BP or UL CL, and establishes an uplink forwarding tunnel from the BP or UL CL to PSA1 and PSA 2; simultaneously, providing AN tunnel information to BP or UL CL, and establishing a downlink forwarding tunnel from BP or UL CL to (R) AN.

Step 204, the SMF updates PSA1 for downlink service, provides CN tunnel information of BP or UL CL to PSA1, and establishes a downlink forwarding tunnel of PSA1 to BP or UL CL.

Step 205, the SMF updates PSA2, provides CN tunnel information of BP or UL CL to PSA2, and establishes a downstream forwarding tunnel from PSA2 to BP or UL CL.

Step 206, the SMF updates (R) AN by the N2 SM information on N11, and establishes AN uplink forwarding tunnel from (R) AN to BP/ULCL.

Step 207, in case of IPv6 Multi-homing (Multi-homed), the SMF informs the UE that a new internet protocol (Internet Protocol, IP) prefix @ PSA2 is available.

Step 208, in case of IPv6 multi-homing, the SMF reconfigures the UE to the original IP prefix @ PSA1, i.e. the SMF sends the IPv6 multi-homing routing rules and IPv6 prefixes to the UE using an IPv6 router advertisement message.

(3) Modification of session and service continuity (Session and Service Continuity, SSC) mode 3 PSA using IPv6 multi-homed PDU session

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a flow of modifying PSA in SSC mode 3 using an IPv6 multi-homed PDU session, as shown in fig. 3, provided in the related art, the flow comprising the steps of:

step 301, SMF determines that a UPF relocation is required.

Steps 302a-b-c, the SMF sends an N4session setup request to the UPF2 (N4 Session Establishment Request), and the UPF2 sends an N4session setup response to the SMF (N4 Session Establishment Response). The SMF sends session management policy modifications (Session Management Policy Modification) to the policy control function (Policy Control Function, PCF).

Step 303, SMF performs BP UPF Selection (BP UPF Selection).

The steps 304a-b, the SMF sends an N4session setup request to the BP UPF (N4 Session Establishment Request), and the BP UPF sends an N4session setup response to the SMF (N4 Session Establishment Response).

Steps 305a-b, SMF sends an N4session modification request to UPF1 (N4 Session Modification Request), UPF1 sends an N4session modification response to SMF (N4 Session Modification Response).

Steps 306a-b, the SMF sends an N4session modification request to the UPF2 (N4 Session Modification Request), and the UPF2 sends an N4session modification response to the SMF (N4 Session Modification Response).

Step 307, the SMF sends an N1N2 information Transfer service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer) to the AMF.

Steps 308a-b, AMF sends AN N2 Request (N2 Request) to (R) AN, which sends AN N2 Response (N2 Response) to AMF.

Steps 309a-b, AMF sends an update context request (Namf PDU Session Update SM Context Request) to SMF, and SMF sends an update context response (Namf PDU Session Update SM Context Response) to AMF.

Steps 310-311, IPv6 prefix configuration (IPv 6 Prefix Configuration).

Steps 312a-b, the SMF sends an N4session modification request to the BP UPF (N4 Session Modification Request), and the BP UPF sends an N4session modification response to the SMF (N4 Session Modification Response).

Step 313a-b-c, SMF sends an N4session release request to UPF1 (N4 Session Release Request), UPF1 sends an N4session release response to AMF (N4 Session Release Response). The SMF sends the session management policy modification to the PCF (Session Management Policy Modification).

Steps 314a-b, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request to the UPF2 (N4 Session Modification Request), and the UPF2 sends an N4 session modification response to the SMF (N4 Session Modification Response).

Step 315, the SMF sends an N1N2 information Transfer service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer) to the AMF.

Steps 316a-b, AMF sends AN N2 Request (N2 Request) to (R) AN, which sends AN N2 Response (N2 Response) to AMF.

Steps 317a-b, AMF sends an update context request (Namf PDU Session Update SM Context Request) to SMF, and SMF sends an update context response (Namf PDU Session Update SM Context Response) to AMF.

Steps 318a-b, the SMF sends an N4 session release request to the BP UPF (N4 Session Release Request), and the BP UPF sends an N4 session release response to the AMF (N4 Session Release Response).

(4) User plane tunnel establishment for multiple UPFs

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a process for establishing a user plane tunnel provided by the related art, as shown in fig. 4, which can be obtained by analyzing a process for adding PSA, BP or UL CL to an established PDU session provided by the related art, where the process for establishing a user plane tunnel in the related art includes:

step 401, the UE has established a PDU session to PSA 1.

Step 402, the SMF sends an N4 session establishment request message to the PSA2, and the PSA2 sends the allocated CN tunnel information to the SMF through an N4 session establishment response message.

Step 403, establishing a request/response message through the N4 session, and simultaneously establishing AN uplink forwarding tunnel from the BP or UL CL to the PSA1 and PSA2, and establishing a downlink forwarding tunnel from the BP or UL CL to the (R) AN. Step 403 corresponds to the dashed portion in fig. 4.

Step 404, establish a downstream forwarding tunnel for PSA1 to BP or UL CL.

Step 405, establish a downstream forwarding tunnel for PSA2 to BP or UL CL.

Step 406, AN uplink forwarding tunnel from (R) AN to BP/ULCL is established.

Steps 401 and 406 are not shown in fig. 4.

It can be seen that the tunnel between the UPFs is established point to point, and the tunnel between every two UPFs is established in turn, and the establishment process can be summarized as follows: firstly, AN uplink forwarding tunnel from AN N3 side UPF/BP UPF/UL CL UPF to PSA and a downlink forwarding tunnel from AN N3 side UPF/BP UPF/UL CL UPF to (R) AN are established (at the moment, the uplink forwarding tunnel from AN (R) AN to the PSA is not completely established), then, the downlink forwarding tunnel from the PSA to AN N3 side UPF/BP UPF/UL CL UPF is established (not completely established), and finally, the uplink forwarding tunnel from the (R) AN to the N3 side UPF/BP UPF/UL CL UPF is established. Assuming that the time from each N4 message to the receipt of the response is t, the complete tunnel establishment step takes 4t. The tunnel establishment time is longer and the efficiency is lower.

In the embodiment of the application, the term "and/or" describes the association relation of the association objects, which means that three relations can exist, for example, a and/or B can be expressed as follows: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship.

The term "plurality" in embodiments of the present application means two or more, and other adjectives are similar.

The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application can be suitable for various systems, in particular to a 5G system. For example, suitable systems may be global system for mobile communications (Global System of Mobile Communication, GSM), code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), wideband code division multiple access (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA) universal packet Radio service (Aeneral Packet Radio Service, GPRS), long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE), LTE frequency division duplex (Frequency Division Duplex, FDD), LTE time division duplex (Time Division Duplex, TDD), long term evolution-advanced (Long Term Evolution Advanced, LTE-a), universal mobile system (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, wiMAX), 5G New air interface (New Radio, NR), and the like. Terminal devices and network devices are included in these various systems. Core network parts such as evolved packet system (Evloved Packet System, EPS), 5G system (5 GS) etc. may also be included in the system.

The terminal device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a device that provides voice and/or data connectivity to a user, a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, etc. The names of the terminal devices may also be different in different systems, for example in a 5G system, the terminal devices may be referred to as User Equipment (UE). The wireless terminal device may communicate with one or more Core Networks (CNs) via a radio access Network (Radio Access Network, RAN), which may be mobile terminal devices such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, e.g., portable, pocket, hand-held, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and/or data with the radio access Network. Such as personal communication services (Personal Communication Service, PCS) phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (Session Initiated Protocol, SIP) phones, wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (Personal Digital Assistant, PDAs), and the like. The wireless Terminal Device may also be referred to as a system, subscriber Unit (Subscriber Unit), subscriber Station (Subscriber Station), mobile Station (Mobile Station), remote Station (Remote Station), access Point (Access Point), remote Terminal Device (Remote Terminal), access Terminal Device (Access Terminal), user Terminal Device (User Terminal), user Agent (User Agent), user equipment (User Device), and embodiments of the present application are not limited.

The network device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a base station, where the base station may include a plurality of cells for providing services for the terminal. A base station may also be called an access point or may be a device in an access network that communicates over the air-interface, through one or more sectors, with wireless terminal devices, or other names, depending on the particular application. The network device may be operable to exchange received air frames with internet protocol (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. The network device may also coordinate attribute management for the air interface. For example, the network device according to the embodiment of the present application may be a network device (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a global system for mobile communications (Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM) or code division multiple access (Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA), a network device (NodeB) in a wideband code division multiple access (Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access, WCDMA), an evolved network device (Evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in a long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system, a 5G base station (gNB) in a 5G network architecture (Next Generation System), a home evolved base station (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 structures, the network device may include a Centralized Unit (CU) node and a Distributed Unit (DU) node, which may also be geographically separated.

The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is apparent that the embodiments described are only some embodiments, but not all embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 5, an execution body of the method is SMF, and the method at least includes the following steps:

step 501, a first session modification request message is sent to a first UPF and a second UPF in parallel.

Step 502, receiving a first session modification response message sent by the first UPF and the second UPF.

Specifically, in the scenario where an SMF interacts with multiple UPFs, each UPF of the SMF and PDU session initiates an N4 session setup/modification procedure.

The SMF sends session modification request messages to a plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, and establishes user plane tunnels among the UPFs.

The following describes possible application scenarios of the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

In the first scenario, in a non-roaming user plane architecture supporting a 5G LAN service by using an N19 tunnel, when the PSA UPF and other PSA UPFs in the 5G virtual network group establish an N19 tunnel, the first UPF is the PSA UPF selected for currently establishing a PDU session, the second UPF is the other PSA UPFs in the virtual network group, and the SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF to the first UPF, and provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF to the second UPF.

Scenario two there is a case where multiple UPFs are selected when a PDU session containing UPFs is established in different SSC modes, including mode 1, mode 2 and mode 3. The plurality of UPFs in the PDU session establishment procedure can be distinguished as PSA1, I-UPF(s), N3 side UPF. Wherein the N3 side UPF is a special I-UPF, and the I-UPF(s) represents a plurality of I-UPFs. The first UPF is PSA1, the second UPF is I-UPF(s), the third UPF is N3 side UPF, the SMF provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF for the first UPF by sending session modification request information to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, and provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF for the first UPF, and the more the number of I-UPF(s), the higher the shortening effect of tunnel establishment time.

Scenario three in the flow of modifying PSA in SSC mode 3 using IPv6 multi-homed PDU sessions, multiple UPFs can be distinguished into UPF1, UPF2 and BP UPF. The precondition for this procedure is that the UE has established a PDU session to UPF 1. BP UPF is a special I-UPF. The first UPF is UPF1, the second UPF is UPF2, the third UPF is BP UPF, and the SMF provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the third UPF for the first UPF and the second UPF by sending session modification request information to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, so that the tunnel establishment time is shortened.

Scenario four, in the procedure of adding PSA or BP or UL CL to an established PDU session, multiple UPFs can be distinguished into PSA1, PSA2 and BP UPF (UL CL UPF). The precondition for this procedure is that the UE has established a PDU session to PSA 1. BP UPF and UL CL UPF are special I-UPF. The first UPF is PSA1, the second UPF is PSA2, the third UPF is BP UPF (UL CL UPF), and the SMF provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the third UPF for the first UPF and the second UPF by sending session modification request information to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, so that the tunnel establishment time is shortened.

According to the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, the SMF sends the N4 session modification request message to the plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, and the CN tunnel information of the opposite end UPF is provided to the plurality of UPFs in parallel, so that the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is shortened.

Specifically, in the case that the UE has not established a PDU session to the first UPF or the second UPF, i.e., for the aforementioned scenario two, the first UPF is PSA1, the second UPF is I-UPF(s), the third UPF is N3-side UPF, and the SMF provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF to the first UPF by sending a session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, and provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF to the first UPF, so that the more the number of I-UPFs(s) is, the higher the shortening effect of the tunnel establishment time is.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Specifically, for the second scenario, before sending the session modification request message to different UPFs in parallel, the SMF may send the session establishment request message to different UPFs in parallel to request different UPFs to allocate CN tunnel information, so as to further shorten the time for user plane tunnel establishment.

Specifically, for the second scenario, when the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the SMF may also send the first session modification request message to the third UPF in parallel, where the message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF. Similarly, the session modification request message sent to the second UPF includes CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF and the third UPF, so as to establish an uplink forwarding tunnel from the third UPF to the first UPF and the second UPF.

Fig. 6 is one of the flow diagrams of the user plane tunnel establishment method provided by the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 6, taking the second scenario as an example, the first UPF is PSA, the second UPF is I-UPF(s), the third UPF is N3 side UPF, and the user plane tunnel establishment method at least includes the following steps:

steps 601a-b-c, SMF send N4 session setup request message in parallel to PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF requesting allocation of CN tunnel information and forwarding rules.

Step 602a-b-c, SMF receives the N4 session establishment response message sent by PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF, and N4 session establishment response message carries the CN tunnel information and forwarding rule of each UPF.

Step 603a-b-c, SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF in parallel, where the N4 session modification request message sent to I-UPF(s) carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to PSA and N3 side UPF, and the N4 session modification request message sent to N3 side UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to I-UPF(s).

Steps 604a-b-c, SMF receives the PSA, I-UPF(s), and N4 session modification response message sent by the N3 side UPF. Up and down forwarding tunnels between the UPF to PSA on the N3 side are established.

Step 605, the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the N3 side UPF, and provides AN tunnel information and forwarding rules to the N3 side UPF.

Step 606, the SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by the N3 side UPF. Up to this point, the downstream forwarding tunnels from (R) AN to the N3 side UPF are established.

According to the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, the SMF sends the session modification request message to the plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, and the CN tunnel information of the opposite end UPF is provided for the plurality of UPFs in parallel, so that the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is shortened.

Specifically, for the second scenario, when the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the first UPF, the second UPF, and the third UPF in parallel, the SMF sends the target message to the AMF in parallel, where the target message includes CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

The target Message may be AN N1N2 information Transfer service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer), which mainly includes N2 SM information and AN N1 SM container, where the N2 SM information carries information that AN AMF should forward to (R) AN (CN tunnel information including a third UPF) to establish AN uplink forwarding tunnel from (R) AN to the third UPF, and the N1 SM container includes a PDU session establishment accept (PDU Session Establishment Accept) that the AMF should provide to the UE.

Fig. 7 is a second flow chart of a user plane tunnel establishment method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, taking the second scenario as an example, the first UPF is PSA, the second UPF is I-UPF(s), the third UPF is N3 side UPF, and the user plane tunnel establishment method at least includes the following steps:

steps 701a-b-c, SMF send N4 session setup request message in parallel to PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF, requesting allocation of CN tunnel information and forwarding rules.

Step 702a-b-c, SMF receives the PSA, I-UPF(s) and N4 session establishment response message sent by N3 side UPF, N4 session establishment response message carries each UPF's CN tunnel information and forwarding rule.

Step 703a-b-c-d, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to the PSA, the I-UPF(s) and the N3 side UPF in parallel, where the N4 session modification request message sent to the I-UPF(s) carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the PSA and the N3 side UPF, and the N4 session modification request message sent to the N3 side UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the I-UPF(s). And simultaneously, transmitting N1N2 information transmission service operation to the AMF in parallel, forwarding CN tunnel information of the third UPF to the (R) AN by the AMF, and establishing AN uplink forwarding tunnel from the (R) AN to the third UPF.

Steps 704a-b-c-d, the SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by the PSA, I-UPF(s), and N3 side UPF, and the N1N2 information transfer service operation response sent by the AMF to the SMF. Up and down forwarding tunnels between the UPF and PSA on the N3 side are established.

Step 705, the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the N3 side UPF, and provides AN tunnel information and forwarding rules to the N3 side UPF.

Step 706, the SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by the N3 side UPF. Up to this point, the downstream forwarding tunnels from (R) AN to the N3 side UPF are established.

According to the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, the SMF sends the session modification request message to a plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, and simultaneously sends the N1N2 information transmission service operation to the AMF in parallel, so that the service operation is not required to be sent after waiting for receiving the session modification response message of the second UPF, and the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is further shortened.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Specifically, for the second scenario, the SMF sends a first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, and establishes a downstream forwarding tunnel from the first UPF to the third UPF and an upstream forwarding tunnel from the second UPF to the first UPF.

The SMF sends a second session modification request message to the third UPF, wherein the second session modification request message not only carries AN tunnel information and forwarding rules, but also carries tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF, and simultaneously establishes a downlink forwarding tunnel from the third UPF to (R) AN and AN uplink forwarding tunnel from the third UPF to the second UPF.

Fig. 8 is a third flow chart of a user plane tunnel establishment method according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 8, taking the second scenario as an example, the first UPF is PSA, the second UPF is I-UPF(s), the third UPF is N3 side UPF, and the user plane tunnel establishment method at least includes the following steps:

steps 801a-b-c, SMF send N4 session setup request message in parallel to PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF requesting allocation of CN tunnel information and forwarding rules.

Step 802a-b-c, SMF receives the N4 session establishment response message sent by PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF, N4 session establishment response message carries each UPF's own CN tunnel information and forwarding rule.

Step 803a-b, SMF sends N4 session modification request message to PSA and I-UPF(s) in parallel, wherein N4 session modification request message sent to I-UPF(s) carries CN tunnel information corresponding to PSA.

Steps 804a-b, SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by PSA and I-UPF(s).

Step 805, the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the N3 side UPF, provides AN tunnel information and forwarding rules for the N3 side UPF, and CN tunnel information corresponding to the I-UPF(s), and establishes a downstream forwarding tunnel from the N3 side UPF to (R) AN and AN upstream forwarding tunnel from the N3 side UPF to the I-UPF(s).

Step 806, the SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by the N3 side UPF.

According to the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the SMF sends the second session modification message to the third UPF, the AN tunnel information and the forwarding rule are provided for the third UPF, and the CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF reduces a first session modification request message sent to the third UPF, and simultaneously, the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is shortened by sending the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel.

Specifically, when the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the SMF also sends the target message to the AMF in parallel, where the target message includes CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

The SMF sends a second session modification request message to the third UPF, wherein the second session modification request message not only carries the AN tunnel information and forwarding rules, but also carries the tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a method for establishing a user plane tunnel according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 9, taking the second scenario as an example, the first UPF is PSA, the second UPF is I-UPF(s), the third UPF is N3 side UPF, and the method for establishing a user plane tunnel at least includes the following steps:

step 901a-b-c, SMF sends N4 session setup request message to PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF in parallel, requesting to allocate CN tunnel information and forwarding rule.

Step 902a-b-c, SMF receives the N4 session establishment response message sent by PSA, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF, N4 session establishment response message carries each UPF's own CN tunnel information and forwarding rule.

Steps 903a-b-c, SMF sends N4 session modification request message to PSA and I-UPF(s) in parallel, wherein N4 session modification request message sent to I-UPF(s) carries CN tunnel information corresponding to PSA. And simultaneously, transmitting N1N2 information transmission service operation to the AMF in parallel, forwarding CN tunnel information of the third UPF to the (R) AN by the AMF, and establishing AN uplink forwarding tunnel from the (R) AN to the third UPF.

Steps 904a-b-c, SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by PSA and I-UPF(s), and the N1N2 information transfer service operation response sent by AMF.

Step 905, the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the N3 side UPF, provides AN tunnel information and a forwarding rule for the N3 side UPF, and CN tunnel information and a forwarding rule corresponding to the I-UPF(s), and establishes a downstream forwarding tunnel from the N3 side UPF to (R) AN and AN upstream forwarding tunnel from the N3 side UPF to the I-UPF(s).

Step 906, the SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by the N3 side UPF.

According to the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the plurality of UPFs in a parallel mode, the N1N2 information transmission service operation is sent to the AMF in parallel without waiting for the service operation to be sent after receiving the session modification response message of the second UPF, and when the SMF sends the second session modification message to the third UPF, the SMF simultaneously provides the AN tunnel information and the CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF to the third UPF, so that the first session modification request message sent to the third UPF is reduced.

Specifically, for the third scenario and the fourth scenario, the UE has established a PDU session to the first UPF, the SMF sends a first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF, where the first session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the third UPF, and the essence of the CN tunnel information and forwarding rules of the third UPF provided to the first UPF and the second UPF are not identical.

According to the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, under the condition that the UE has established the PDU session to the first UPF, the session modification request message is sent to the first UPF and the second UPF in a parallel mode, the CN tunnel information and the forwarding rule of the third UPF are provided for the first UPF and the second UPF, and the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is shortened.

Specifically, for the third scenario and the fourth scenario, when the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the SMF sends the target message to the AMF in parallel, where the target message includes CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

Referring to fig. 3, steps 305a, 306a and 307 are performed in parallel, and the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request Message to the BP UPF, UPF1 and UPF2 in parallel, and simultaneously sends AN N1N2 information Transfer service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer) to the AMF to establish AN upstream-downstream forwarding tunnel between the BP UPF and UPF1 and AN upstream-downstream forwarding tunnel between the BP UPF and UPF2, and a downstream forwarding tunnel of (R) AN to the BP UPF.

In the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, under the condition that the UE has established the PDU session to the first UPF, the first session modification request message is sent to the first UPF and the second UPF in a parallel mode, the CN tunnel information of the third UPF is provided to the first UPF and the second UPF, and simultaneously the N1N2 transmission service operation is sent to the AMF in parallel, and the service operation is sent after the session modification response message of the second UPF is not required to be received, so that the time for establishing the user plane tunnel is further shortened.

Specifically, for the third scenario and the fourth scenario, when the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the third UPF in parallel, where the session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF and the second UPF.

Referring to fig. 3, steps 305a and 306a are performed in parallel, and the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the BP UPFs, UPFs 1 and 2 in parallel, establishes uplink forwarding tunnels of BP UPFs to UPFs 1 and 2, downlink forwarding tunnels of UPFs 1 and 2 to BP UPFs, and downlink forwarding tunnels of (R) AN to BP UPFs.

In the information transmission method provided by the embodiment of the application, under the condition that the UE has established PDU session to the first UPF, the SMF sends the first session modification request message to the first UPF, the second UPF and the third UPF in a parallel mode, and provides CN tunnel information and forwarding rules of the first UPF and the second UPF to the third UPF, thereby shortening the establishment time of the user plane tunnel.

Optionally, the method further comprises:

Specifically, in the foregoing scenario three and scenario four, the UE has established a PDU session to the first UPF, and in the session establishment request/response flow, the SMF sends a session establishment request message to the second UPF and the third UPF in parallel, so as to obtain CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF and the third UPF.

The subsequent session modification request/response procedure may refer to any implementation of the foregoing embodiments, so as to shorten the time for establishing the user plane tunnel.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application is further described below through specific examples.

Example one:

fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment in SSC mode 1 according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 10, a plurality of UPFs are selected in the PDU session establishment process, where:

step 1010a, SMF sends N4 session setup request message to PSA1, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF in parallel, requesting allocation of CN tunnel information and forwarding rules.

Step 1010b, the SMF receives an N4 session establishment response message sent by PSA1, I-UPF(s) and an N3 side UPF, where the N4 session establishment response message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules of each UPF.

Step 1010c, the SMF sends an N4 session modification request message to the PSA1, the I-UPF(s) and the N3 side UPF in parallel, where the N4 session modification request message sent to the I-UPF(s) carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the PSA1 and the N3 side UPF, and the N4 session modification request message sent to the N3 side UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the I-UPF(s).

Step 1010d, SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by PSA1, I-UPF(s) and N3 side UPF. Up and down forwarding tunnels between the UPF to PSA1 on the N3 side are established.

Step 1016a, the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the N3 side UPF, and provides AN tunnel information and forwarding rules to the N3 side UPF.

Step 1016b, the SMF receives the N4 session modification response message sent by the N3 side UPF. Up to this point, the downstream forwarding tunnels from (R) AN to the N3 side UPF are established.

In the process, the establishment time of the uplink and downlink tunnels between the (R) AN and the PSA1 is changed, but the time for establishing the tunnels of the user plane is greatly shortened, and the more the number of the I-UPFs is, the better the effect of shortening the time for establishing the tunnels of the user plane is.

Example two:

still referring to fig. 10, in comparison with example one, step 1010c and step 1011 are performed in parallel, i.e., the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request Message to the PSA1, the I-UPF(s) and the N3 side UPF in parallel, and simultaneously sends AN N1N2 information Transfer service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer) to the AMF, wherein the N2 SM information mainly includes N2 SM information and AN N1 SM container, the N2 SM information includes information that the AMF should forward to the (R) AN (CN tunnel information including the N3 side UPF), so as to establish AN uplink forwarding tunnel from the (R) AN to the N3 side UPF, and the N1 SM container includes PDU session establishment acceptance (PDU Session Establishment Accept) that the AMF should provide to the UE.

Compared with the first example, the SMF may send the N1N2 information transmission service operation to the AMF without waiting for receiving the N4 session modification response message of the UPF(s), but send the N1N2 information transmission service operation to the UPF(s) and the AMF in parallel, so that the user plane tunnel may be established more quickly.

Example three:

example three still referring to fig. 10, in comparison with example one, in step 1010c, only the N4 session modification request message is sent in parallel to PSA1 and I-UPF(s), and the downstream forwarding tunnels of the PSA1 to N3 side UPFs and the upstream forwarding tunnels of the I-UPF(s) to PSA1 are established. When the N4 session modification request message is sent to the N3 side UPF in step 1016a, the AN tunnel information and the CN tunnel information corresponding to the I-UPF(s) are simultaneously provided to the N3 side UPF.

One N4 session modification request/response message is reduced compared to example one.

Example four:

still referring to fig. 10, in example four, in combination with the methods in example two and example three, steps 1010c and 1011a are performed in parallel, and N4 session modification request messages are sent in parallel only to PSA1 and I-UPF(s) in step 1010c, and when N4 session modification request messages are sent to N3 side UPF in step 1016a, AN tunnel information and CN tunnel information corresponding to I-UPF(s) are simultaneously provided to N3 side UPF.

Example five:

fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment in SSC mode 2 according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 11, where a case where a plurality of UPFs are selected exists when establishing a PDU session including the UPFs in step 1103, the establishment of a user plane tunnel may be completed by the methods in examples one to four.

Example six:

fig. 12 is a schematic flow chart of PDU session establishment in SSC mode 3 according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 12, where a case of selecting a plurality of UPFs exists when establishing a PDU session including the UPFs in step 1204, the establishment of a user plane tunnel may be completed by the methods in examples one to four.

Example seven:

example seven referring to fig. 3, the smf sends N4 messages in parallel to the UPF2 and BP UPF, specifically:

Step 302a and step 304a are performed in parallel, and the SMF sends N4 session setup request messages to the UPF2 and BP UPF in parallel.

Step 305a and step 306a are performed in parallel, and the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request message to the BP UPF, UPF1 and UPF2 in parallel, and establishes AN upstream forwarding tunnel from BP UPF to UPF1 and UPF2, a downstream forwarding tunnel from UPF1 and UPF2 to BP UPF, and a downstream forwarding tunnel from (R) AN to BP UPF.

Example eight:

example eight still referring to fig. 3, in comparison to example seven, steps 305a, 306a and 307 are performed in parallel, the SMF sends AN N4 session modification request Message in parallel to the BP UPF, UPF1 and UPF2, and at the same time sends AN N1N2 information Transfer service operation (namf_communication_n1n2message Transfer) to the AMF to establish AN upstream forwarding tunnel of the BP UPF to UPF1 and UPF2, a downstream forwarding tunnel of the BP UPF to UPF1 and UPF2, and a downstream forwarding tunnel of the (R) AN to BP UPF.

Example nine:

example nine referring to fig. 2, the smf sends N4 messages in parallel to the BP UPF/UL CL UPF and PSA2, specifically:

step 202 and step 203 are performed in parallel, establishing BP UPF/UL CL UPF and PSA2 in parallel.

Steps 204 and 205 are performed in parallel to establish AN upstream forwarding tunnel of BP UPF/UL CL UPF to PSA1 and PSA2 and a downstream forwarding tunnel of BP UPF/UL CL UPF to (R) AN.

Assuming that the time from sending AN N4 message to receiving a response is t, compared with the original flow in fig. 2, in the ninth example, the time for establishing the uplink/downlink forwarding tunnel between the BP UPF/UL CL UPF and PSA1, the uplink/downlink tunnel between the BP UPF/UL CL UPF and PSA2, and the downlink forwarding tunnel between the BP UPF/UL CL UPF and (R) AN is changed from 4t to 2t, and the user plane tunnel establishment efficiency is improved by 50%.

Example ten:

example ten referring to fig. 2, steps 204, 205 and 206 are performed in parallel while establishing AN upstream forwarding tunnel of BP UPF/UL CL UPF to PSA1, AN upstream forwarding tunnel of BP UPF/UL CL UPF to PSA2, and a downstream forwarding tunnel of BP UPF/UL CL UPF to (R) AN, AN upstream forwarding tunnel of BP UPF/UL CL UPF.

Example eleven:

fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart of establishing an N19 tunnel in a 5G LAN scenario provided by the embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 13, when PSA UPFs and other PSA UPFs in a 5G virtual network group establish an N19 tunnel, N4 session modification request messages are sent in parallel to the PSA selected for currently establishing a PDU session and other PSAs in the 5G virtual network group, so as to establish an N19 tunnel in the 5G virtual network group.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of an SMF network functional entity according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 14, where the SMF network functional entity includes a memory 1401, a transceiver 1402, and a processor 1403:

A memory 1401 for storing a computer program; a transceiver 1402 for transceiving data under the control of the processor 1403.

Specifically, a transceiver 1402 for receiving and transmitting data under the control of a processor 1403.

Where in FIG. 14, a bus architecture may be comprised of any number of interconnected buses and bridges, one or more processors, typically represented by processor 1403, and various circuits of memory, typically memory 1401, linked together. The bus architecture may also link together various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, power management circuits, etc., which are well known in the art and, therefore, will not be described further herein. The bus interface provides an interface.

The transceiver 1402 may be a number of elements, including a transmitter and a receiver, providing a means for communicating with various other apparatus over transmission media, including wireless channels, wired channels, optical cables, and the like. The processor 1403 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory 1401 may store data used by the processor 1403 in performing operations.

Processor 1403 may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a Field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), or a complex programmable logic device (Complex Programmable Logic Device, CPLD), or the processor may employ a multi-core architecture.

A processor 1403 for reading the computer program in the memory 1401 and performing the following operations:

Optionally, when the first session modification request message is sent in parallel to the first UPF and the second UPF, the operations further comprise:

Optionally, when the first session modification request message is sent in parallel to the third UPF, the operations further comprise:

Optionally, the operations further comprise:

It should be noted that, the SMF network functional entity provided in this embodiment of the present invention may implement all the method steps implemented in the method embodiment and may achieve the same technical effects, and specific details of the same parts and beneficial effects as those of the method embodiment in this embodiment are not described herein.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an information transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 15, the device includes:

a first sending unit 1501 for sending a first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel;

a first receiving unit 1502, configured to receive a first session modification response message sent by the first UPF and the second UPF.

Optionally, the first sending unit is further configured to:

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a second sending unit, configured to send a second session modification request message to a third UPF, where the second session modification request message carries AN tunnel information and a forwarding rule, and CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF;

and the second receiving unit is used for receiving a second session modification response message sent by the third UPF.

Optionally, the second sending unit is further configured to:

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a third sending unit, configured to send a session establishment request message to the first UPF, the second UPF, and a third UPF in parallel;

a third receiving unit, configured to receive session establishment response messages sent by the first UPF, the second UPF, and the third UPF, where the session establishment response message sent by the first UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the first UPF, the session establishment response message sent by the second UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF, and the session establishment response message sent by the third UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

Optionally, when the first session modification request message is sent to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the apparatus further comprises:

and the fourth sending unit is used for sending a target message to the AMF in parallel, wherein the target message comprises the CN tunnel information corresponding to the third UPF.

a fifth sending unit, configured to send, in parallel, a first session modification request message to the third UPF, where the first session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF and the second UPF;

and a fourth receiving unit, configured to receive the first session modification response message sent by the third UPF.

Optionally, the apparatus further comprises:

a sixth sending unit, configured to send a session establishment request message to the second UPF and the third UPF in parallel;

a fifth receiving unit, configured to receive session establishment response messages sent by the second UPF and the third UPF, where the session establishment response message sent by the second UPF carries CN tunnel information corresponding to the second UPF, and the session establishment response message sent by the third UPF carries CN tunnel information sent by the third UPF.

The method and the device provided by the embodiments of the present application are based on the same application conception, and because the principles of solving the problems by the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition is not repeated.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the units is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual practice. In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

The integrated units, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be essentially or a part contributing to the related art or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a Processor (Processor) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

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

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a processor readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing the processor to execute the information transmission method provided in the above embodiments, including:

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 storage (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disks (MOs), etc.), optical storage (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD, etc.), semiconductor storage (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, nonvolatile storage (NAND FLASH), solid State Disk (SSD)), and the like.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that 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, magnetic 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 modifications and variations can be made to the present application without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, it is intended that the present application also include such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. An information transmission method, comprising:

2. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the first session modification request message sent to the first UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF, and the first session modification request message sent to the second UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF.

3. The information transmission method according to claim 2, wherein when the first session modification request message is transmitted to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, further comprising:

4. The information transmission method according to claim 3, wherein when the first session modification request message is transmitted in parallel to the third UPF, further comprising:

5. The information transmission method according to claim 2, characterized by further comprising:

6. The information transmission method according to claim 5, wherein when the first session modification request message is transmitted to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, further comprising:

7. The information transmission method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized by further comprising:

8. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the first session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to a third UPF.

9. The information transmission method of claim 8, wherein when the first session modification request message is transmitted to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, further comprising:

10. The information transmission method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized by further comprising, when transmitting the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel:

11. The information transmission method according to claim 8, characterized by further comprising:

12. The information transmission method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the third UPF is an N3 side UPF in SSC mode 1, SSC mode 2, or SSC mode 3, and the first UPF is a PSA UPF in SSC mode corresponding to the third UPF.

13. The information transmission method according to claim 8, wherein the third UPF is a BP UPF in a PDU session anchor procedure in SSC mode 3 using an IPv6 multi-homed PDU session, or a UL CL UPF or a BP UPF in a PDU session anchor or branch point or uplink classifier procedure is added for an established PDU session;

14. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the first UPF is a PSA UPF in a virtual network group in a 5G LAN scenario, the second UPF is another PSA UPF in the virtual network group other than the first UPF, a first session modification request message sent to the first UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF, and a first session modification request message sent to the second UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF.

15. An SMF network functional entity comprises a memory, a transceiver and a processor; the method is characterized in that:

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

16. The SMF network function of claim 15, wherein a first session modification request message sent to said first UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to said second UPF, and a first session modification request message sent to said second UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to said first UPF.

17. The SMF network functional entity of claim 16, wherein when sending the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the operations further comprise:

18. The SMF network functional entity of claim 17, wherein when sending the first session modification request message in parallel to the third UPF, the operations further comprise:

19. The SMF network function of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

20. The SMF network functional entity of claim 19, wherein when sending the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the operations further comprise:

21. The SMF network function of any of claims 16-20, wherein the operations further comprise:

22. The SMF network function of claim 15, wherein the first session modification request message carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to a third UPF.

23. The SMF network functional entity of claim 22, wherein when sending the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, the operations further comprise:

24. The SMF network function of claim 22 or 23, wherein when sending the first session modification request message to the first UPF and the second UPF in parallel, further comprises:

25. The SMF network functional entity of claim 22, wherein the operations further comprise:

26. The SMF network function of any of claims 17-20, wherein said third UPF is an N3 side UPF in SSC mode 1, SSC mode 2 or SSC mode 3, said first UPF being a PSA UPF in SSC mode corresponding to said third UPF.

27. The SMF network function of claim 22, wherein said third UPF is a BP UPF in a PDU session anchor procedure in SSC mode 3 using IPv6 multi-homed PDU sessions, or a UL CL UPF or BP UPF in a PDU session anchor or branch point or uplink classifier procedure is added for an established PDU session;

28. The SMF network function of claim 15, wherein said first UPF is a PSAUPF in a virtual network group in a 5G LAN scenario, said second UPF is another PSA UPF in the virtual network group other than the first UPF, a first session modification request message sent to the first UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the second UPF, and a first session modification request message sent to the second UPF carries CN tunnel information and forwarding rules corresponding to the first UPF.

29. An information transmission apparatus, comprising:

30. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium stores a computer program for causing a computer to execute the method of any one of claims 1 to 14.