CN117411930A

CN117411930A - Information transmission method and device, network equipment and communication system

Info

Publication number: CN117411930A
Application number: CN202210800038.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈卓怡
Original assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Current assignee: China Telecom Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2022-07-06
Filing date: 2022-07-06
Publication date: 2024-01-16
Also published as: WO2024008157A1

Abstract

The disclosure relates to an information transmission method and device, network equipment and a communication system, and relates to the technical field of communication, wherein the method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that an application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by other application function nodes, and target information corresponding to the subscription request is obtained; if the target application is determined to meet the triggering condition, the application function node receives the target information through an information providing network element in a network; and executing corresponding operation according to the target information. The method and the device can acquire the target information of the target application in the other application function nodes through the network.

Description

Information transmission method and device, network equipment and communication system

Technical Field

The embodiment of the disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to an information transmission method, an information transmission device, network equipment and a communication system.

Background

Currently, applications can interact with each other to run a service or acquire association information. .

In the related art, the application to application can only determine whether a service runs or obtains other information through the interaction of application layers. And, the application function node cannot subscribe the network to the related information of other application function nodes. The mode has certain limitation, the application range is small, the universality is not realized, the operation efficiency is low, and the convenience is poor.

It should be noted that the information of the present invention in the above background section is only for enhancing understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus may include information that does not form the prior art that is already known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure is directed to an information transmission method, an information transmission apparatus, a network device, and a communication system, so as to overcome at least some of the problems caused by the limitations and disadvantages of the related art that related information of a target application provided by other application function nodes cannot be obtained.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an information transmission method including: the method comprises the steps that an application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by other application function nodes, and target information corresponding to the subscription request is obtained; if the target application is determined to meet the triggering condition, the application function node receives the target information through an information providing network element in a network; and executing corresponding operation according to the target information.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by another application function node, including: and sending the subscription request of the target application provided by other application function nodes according to the type of the application function node.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the sending, according to the type of the application function node, the subscription request for the target application provided by the other application function node includes: if the application function node is a first type network element, the application function node sends the subscription request to a network opening function node in a network; the network open function node sends the subscription request to a user database to correlate the application function node with reporting events of the target application and store the reporting events to the user database.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the sending, according to the type of the application function node, the subscription request for the target application provided by the other application function node includes: and if the application function node is a second type network element, the application function node sends the subscription request to a user database in a network so as to correlate the report event of the application function node and the target application and store the report event in the user database.

In an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, the associating the reporting event of the application function node with the target application includes: and adjusting the association information corresponding to the target application in the subscription information of the target user, and binding the application function node with the report event of the target application.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the obtaining the target information corresponding to the subscription request includes: and acquiring the subscription information of the target user from a user database according to the information providing network element corresponding to the session state, and acquiring the target information according to the subscription information.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the obtaining, by the network element, subscription information of the target user from a user database according to the information corresponding to the session state, and obtaining, by the network element, the target information according to the subscription information includes: if the session state is that the target user establishes or modifies a session, acquiring the subscription information from the user database according to a session management function node, and acquiring the target information according to the subscription information; and if the session state establishes or modifies policy association for the target user, acquiring the subscription information from the user database according to a policy and charging control node, and acquiring the target information according to the subscription information.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, if it is determined that the target application meets a trigger condition, the application function node receives the target information through an information providing network element in a network, including: and if the target application is determined to meet the triggering condition, the application function node receives the target information provided by the information providing network element and is sent by the network opening function node.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the triggering condition includes: a session is established between the target user and the target application, and the target application satisfies a reporting condition.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, after the application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by another application function node, the method further includes: if the application function node is a first type network element, the network opening function node converts the information in the subscription request according to the parameter information in the network; and if the application function node is a second type network element, keeping the information in the subscription request unchanged.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an information transmission apparatus including: the subscription request sending module is used for sending subscription requests of target applications provided by other application function nodes by the application function nodes and obtaining target information corresponding to the subscription requests; the target information receiving module is used for receiving the target information through an information providing network element in a network by the application function node if the target application meets the triggering condition; and the operation execution module is used for executing corresponding operation according to the target information.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a network device comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform any one of the information transmission methods described above via execution of the executable instructions.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a communication system comprising: a terminal device; the network device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the application function node is configured to receive, from an information providing network element in a network, target information corresponding to a subscription request of a target application provided by another application function node, and perform a corresponding operation according to the target information.

In the information transmission method, the information transmission device, the network equipment and the communication system provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, subscription requests of target applications provided by other application function nodes are sent to a network through the application function node, and when the target applications meet trigger conditions, target information corresponding to the subscription requests is provided to the application function node through an information providing network element in the network. On the one hand, the method can utilize the open function of the network based on the non-interaction layer, can provide certain open information for the target application without participation of the target application, and can acquire the target information of the target application provided by other application function nodes from the information providing network element in the network so as to acquire the service condition of the target user when using the target application provided by other application function nodes through the network, thereby avoiding the limitation in the related technology, increasing the application range and the universality and improving the convenience. On the other hand, the information providing network element of the network can provide the target information of the target application for the application function node, so that the function that the application function node subscribes the related information of other application function nodes to the network is realized, the comprehensiveness is increased, and the operation efficiency is improved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the drawings in the following description are merely examples of the disclosure and that other drawings may be derived from them without undue effort.

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a system architecture diagram for information transfer in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a flowchart of an information transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a conversion operation performed by an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a flowchart of acquiring target information according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a schematic diagram of acquiring target information through different paths according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a flow diagram of receiving target information according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 7 schematically illustrates an interaction flow diagram of information transmission by a first type network element according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 8 schematically illustrates an interaction flow diagram of information transmission by a second type network element according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 9 schematically illustrates a schematic diagram of a first type of network element transmitting information over different paths according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 10 schematically illustrates a schematic diagram of a second type of network element transmitting information over different paths according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 11 schematically shows a block diagram of an information transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 schematically illustrates a block diagram view of a communication system of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 13 schematically illustrates a block diagram view of a network device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments may be embodied in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the aspects of the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, devices, steps, etc. In other instances, well-known technical solutions have not been shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the present disclosure.

Furthermore, the drawings are merely schematic illustrations of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, and thus a repetitive description thereof will be omitted. Some of the block diagrams shown in the figures are functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically or logically separate entities. These functional entities may be implemented in software or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits or in different networks and/or processor devices and/or microcontroller devices.

In a communication scenario, the application layer service used by the user is provided by an application function node of the operator itself or an application function node of a third party.

The current network capability opening function may provide information of a user plane of an application corresponding to the application function node AF for an application function node of an operator or a third party. For example, the application function node AF may subscribe to the information providing network element SMF for user plane management related information specifying one or more users, such as DNAI and changes of N6 routing information; and then the application function node AF can send a corresponding strategy or scheduling request to the network PCF according to the received information so as to optimize service experience.

However, in the related art, the current application function node AF cannot subscribe the network to related information of other application function nodes. The service can be determined or other information can be obtained only through the mutual interaction of application layers between general applications. For example, the operator wants to develop a related short message value-added service, that is, when it is monitored that the user is using a certain third party application, the short message system of the operator can push a related value-added short message to the user. But this function cannot be implemented through a network.

In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an information transmission method, which may be applied to a network device. An architecture diagram of a communication system for implementing the information transmission method is schematically shown in fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 1, the system architecture 100 may include a network device 110, and the network device 110 may be a device that communicates with a terminal device 120 (or referred to as a communication terminal, terminal). Network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminals located within the coverage area. Alternatively, the network device 110 may be a base station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in a GSM system or a CDMA system, a base station (NodeB, NB) in a WCDMA system, an evolved base station (Evolutional Node B, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a radio controller in a cloud radio access network (Cloud Radio Access Network, CRAN), or the network device may be a mobile switching center, a relay station, an access point, a vehicle device, a wearable device, a hub, a switch, a bridge, a router, a network-side device in a 5G network, or a network device in a future evolved public land mobile network (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN), etc.

The system architecture 100 further includes at least one terminal 120 located within the coverage area of the network device 110. "terminal" as used herein includes, but is not limited to, connection via wireline, such as via public-switched telephone network (Public Switched Telephone Networks, PSTN), digital subscriber line (Digital Subscriber Line, DSL), digital cable, direct cable connection; and/or another data connection/network; and/or via a wireless interface, e.g., for a cellular network, a wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN), a digital television network such as a DVB-H network, a satellite network, an AM-FM broadcast transmitter; and/or means of the other terminal arranged to receive/transmit communication signals; and/or internet of things (Internet of Things, ioT) devices. Terminals arranged to communicate over a wireless interface may be referred to as "wireless communication terminals", "wireless terminals" or "mobile terminals". Examples of mobile terminals include, but are not limited to, satellites or cellular telephones; a personal communications system (Personal Communications System, PCS) terminal that may combine a cellular radiotelephone with data processing, facsimile and data communications capabilities; a PDA that can include a radiotelephone, pager, internet/intranet access, web browser, organizer, calendar, and/or a global positioning system (Global Positioning System, GPS) receiver; and conventional laptop and/or palmtop receivers or other electronic devices that include a radiotelephone transceiver.

The terminal device may be a user device with a wireless transceiver function or a chip system disposed in the user device. The terminal device may also be referred to as a Station (STA), a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment, for example. The above terminal device includes, but is not limited to: a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet (Pad), a computer with a wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a sensor type device such as a monitoring terminal, etc.

Alternatively, direct terminal (D2D) communication may be performed between the terminal devices 120.

Alternatively, the 5G system or 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) system or NR network.

Fig. 1 illustrates one network device and one terminal device, alternatively, the system architecture 100 may include multiple network devices and each network device may include other numbers of terminal pens within a coverage area, which is not limited by embodiments of the present application.

Optionally, the system architecture 100 may further include other network entities such as a network controller, a mobility management entity, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto.

It should be understood that fig. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating only terminal devices and network devices (such as base stations) for ease of understanding. In the embodiment of the present application, the system architecture may further include other network devices (such as a core network device) or may further include other terminal devices, which are not shown in fig. 1.

The above-described communication system may be applied to LTE, or to a 5G network or other similar networks, or to other networks in the future, which embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit. Wherein, in different networks, the network devices and the terminal devices in the system architecture may correspond to different names, and those skilled in the art will understand that the names do not limit the devices themselves.

Next, an information transmission method in an embodiment of the present disclosure will be specifically described with reference to fig. 2.

In step S210, the application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by other application function nodes, and acquires target information corresponding to the subscription request.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the application function node interacts with the 3GPP core network to provide services, and can allow the application function trusted by an operator to directly interact with the related network function. The application function node may be an application function node of the operator itself or of a third party. The application function node may be any application function node, for example, an IMS system (IP Multimedia Subsystem ) of an operator, or any other system, which is not limited herein. Each application may have a corresponding application function node, and one application function node may provide one or more applications.

The target application may be an application provided by other application function nodes, which are different from the application function nodes. The target application may be any one or more of a plurality of applications provided for other application function nodes, specifically determined according to actual service requirements. Multiple target applications may be provided by the same application function node or may be provided by different application function nodes, not limited herein. For example, the application function node 1 is a short message system in an IMS system of an operator, the target application may be an application provided by another application function node 2 different from the application function node 1 represented by the IMS system of the operator, the application provided by the other application function node may include an application 1, an application 2, and the like, and the target application may be the application 1. That is, the short message system in the IMS system of the operator may subscribe to the use condition of the application 1 corresponding to the other application function node 2.

The subscription request may be an information request for the target user and the target application, where the subscription request is used to obtain related information of the target user when using the target application provided by the other application function node, and the related information is used to describe a use condition of the target application or state information of the target application. The target user may be a user or a user in a user group, which is not limited herein. In some embodiments, the subscription request may include, but is not limited to, the following information: user information, application status, and other optional conditions. Wherein the user information refers to a target user (or target user group) ID, a target application ID or a target service provider ID. The application state refers to target report information or events corresponding to the target application, such as start/end notification of the target application, target application traffic size, and the like. Other optional conditions include, but are not limited to, target server address for target application, network service area, subscription duration or availability information, reporting thresholds; the subscription duration is used for representing the effective duration of the subscription request, the report threshold is used for describing the triggering condition of the target report information or the event, and if the trigger condition exceeds the report threshold, the target report information is triggered to report. The reporting threshold may be, for example, a flow threshold or a long-to-use threshold, etc. For example, the reporting threshold may be a total flow greater than 500M or a duration exceeding one hour.

When the application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by other application function nodes, the application function node can directly send the subscription request to the user database, or can send the subscription request to the network open function node first, and then send the subscription request to the user database by the network open function node. In particular according to the type of application function node. The type of application function node may be determined according to its source and may for example comprise a first type of network element and a second type of network element. The first type network element can be a third party deployment network element, and the second type network element is a network element deployed by an operator.

A flow chart of sending a subscription request is schematically shown in fig. 3, and with reference to fig. 3, mainly comprises the following steps:

in step S310, if the application function node is a first type network element, the application function node sends the subscription request to a user database through a network open function node;

in step S320, if the application function node is a second type network element, the application function node sends the subscription request to a user database.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, a process of sending a subscription request when the type of the application function node is a first type network element will be described first. The application function node sending a subscription request for a target application includes: the application function node sends subscription requests of target applications provided by other application function nodes to the network open function node, and the network open function node sends subscription requests to the user database. The application function node generates an information subscription request for the target application. Further, a subscription request for the target user at the target application may be sent to a network open function node in the network. The network may be a 5GC network, but the network in the embodiments of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. It should be noted that, in 3GPP standard TS23.501/502/503, the network open function node NEF (Network Exposure Function) is located between the 5G core network and the external third party application function (and may also have a part of internal AF), and is responsible for managing data to the external open network, and all external applications want to access internal data of the 5G core network, and must pass through the NEF. The NEF provides corresponding security assurance to ensure the security of the external application to the 3gpp network, and provides functions of external application QoS customization capability opening, mobility state event subscription, AF request distribution and the like. The NEF uses a standardized interface (Nudr) to store information as structured data to a unified data store. The network opening function receives information from other network functions (public functions based on the other network functions). The stored information can be accessed by the NEF and "re-opened" to other network functions and application functions and used for other purposes, such as analysis.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the network open function node may perform a conversion operation on information in the received subscription request according to the type of the application function node. If the application function node is a first type network element, the network open function node NEF may perform a conversion operation on the received information, where the conversion operation may include conversion/translation. Specifically, the information in the received subscription request may be subjected to format conversion according to the parameter information in the network, for example, the target user (or target user group) ID, the application ID, the user information, and the like are subjected to format conversion so as to satisfy the parameter format of the network. For example, the information in the subscription request of the first type network element is a phone number, and a network identification number is used in the network, so the phone number needs to be converted into the network identification number. Through switching operation, the network security isolation requirement can be met, and the security is improved. If the application function node is a second type network element, the information in the received subscription request can be kept unchanged without performing conversion operation.

After converting the information in the subscription request, the network open function node may send the subscription request from the application function node to the user database UDR (Unified Data Repository), so as to associate the application function node with the report event of the target application in the user database, and store the report event in the user database.

Next, a procedure for transmitting a subscription request when the type of the application function node is the second type network element will be described. If the type of the application function node is a network element deployed by an operator, the application function node directly sends a subscription request to a user database.

The user database may contain all information of the target user, such as reporting information, usage information, etc. For example, the user database may contain information indicating that the user can only use certain services in certain places, and information indicating that the user should report the relevant situation to the network when using a certain application.

In the user database, relevant information corresponding to the target application in the subscription information of the target user may be modified. Subscription information may include, but is not limited to: user class, basic traffic of the user, qoS (Quality of Service ) criteria assigned to a particular application, and relevant information corresponding to the target application. The relevant information for modification may be part of the subscription information, for example, reporting information that needs to be reported when using a certain application, including but not limited to a corresponding route when using a certain application.

After the relevant information corresponding to the target application in the subscription information is adjusted, the application function node can be associated with the reporting event of the target application. The association here may be achieved by binding. Based on the above, an association relationship can be established between the application function node and the report event of the target application, and the application function node can be further associated with the report event of the target application corresponding to the target user and the subscription request, so that the application function node can be associated with the report event of the target application when the target user uses the target application, and the report event of the target application corresponds to the received subscription request. For example, the application function node may request multiple users at the same time, so that it is required to find out a target user and fill the application function node with information that needs to be reported when the target user uses the target application (reporting event of the target application), so that binding between the multiple information is achieved, and the bound information may be stored in the user database. Based on this, the user database may store the subscription request, the reporting event of the target user, the target application, and the binding information obtained by binding between the application function nodes.

After storing the binding information in the user database, target information corresponding to the subscription request may be obtained. The target information may be binding information corresponding to a reporting event of the target application and the binding application function node, and may be reporting event of the target application corresponding to the subscription request, that is, information that needs to be reported to the network when the target application is used. The types of the target applications are different, and the target information can also be different, and is determined according to actual requirements. In some embodiments, the target information may include usage, status reports, and the like. For example, the target information may be usage time-duration accumulated information, start/end status, traffic usage, etc. of the target application bound to the application function node.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the target information corresponding to the subscription request is obtained, subscription information of the reporting event of the bound requesting application function node AF1 and the target application may be obtained from the user database through the information providing network element in the network based on the specific structure of the network. The information providing network element may directly send the obtained target information to the application function node, or may send the obtained target information to the network open function node, so that the network open function node obtains the target information and sends the target information to the application function node. Here, the network-based open function node will be described as an example.

The information providing network element is used for acquiring the required target information from the user database. The information providing network element may be determined according to a session state, and the information providing network elements corresponding to different session states are different. The session state may be a session with the target application, and may specifically include a session establishment state or a policy state. The session establishment state may be to establish or modify a session, and the policy state may be to establish or modify a policy association. A session refers to a session of a target user in a target application. Policy association refers to a session policy used by a user to establish a session with a network and may include bandwidth, network speed, access policy, application scope, and the like. For example, policy associations may be for which places cannot use the policies, which places can use the policies, and so on.

Based on the above, the network element may be provided according to the information corresponding to the session state, and the subscription information of the target user may be obtained from the user database, and the target information may be obtained according to the subscription information. By acquiring the subscription information, when a connection is established, it can be determined which information is acquired at which node to modify which policies, and further, according to the subscription information, it can be determined information which needs to be reported to the network when the target application is used, that is, the reporting event of the bound application function node and the target application, which are matched with the subscription request, in the user database.

A flowchart of acquiring target information is schematically shown in fig. 4, and referring to fig. 4, the method mainly includes the steps of:

in step S410, if the session state is that the target user establishes or modifies a session, the session management function node obtains the subscription information from the user database, and obtains the target information according to the subscription information.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, if the session state establishes or modifies a session for a target user, the corresponding information providing network element is a session management function node. The session management function node SMF (Session Management Function) can implement the following functions: session establishment, modification and release, UE IP address assignment, determining SSC pattern of a session, etc. The session management function node obtains the subscription information of the target user from the user database, can determine which information is obtained at which node, and further obtains the target information of the target application according to the subscription information, namely obtains the binding information formed by the binding request side application function node and the report event of the target application, so as to obtain the information required to be reported in the process of using the target application.

In step S420, if the session state establishes or modifies a policy association for the target user, the subscription information is obtained from the user database according to the policy and charging control node, and the target information is obtained according to the subscription information.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, if the session state establishes or modifies a policy association for the target user, the corresponding information providing network element is a policy and charging control node. The policy and charging control node PCF (Policy Control Function) includes the following functions: accessing target information in the unified data store related to policy decisions, providing policy rules, and so forth. The policy and charging control node obtains the subscription information of the target user from the user database, can determine which information is obtained at which node, and can also know that a relevant report subscribed by the application function node for the target application exists. And further acquiring target information of the target application according to the subscription information, namely acquiring the target information of the report event of the bound requesting application function node and the target application, so as to acquire the information required to be reported in the process of using the target application.

In fig. 5, a process of acquiring target information through different paths is schematically shown, and when a session is established or modified for the state 1 by the session state 500 shown in fig. 5, target information 503 of a target application is acquired from the user database 502 through the session management function node 501, that is, acquired through the path 1; when session state 500 establishes or modifies a policy association for a state 2 target user, target information 503 for the target application is obtained from user database 502 by policy and charging control node 504. Through different session states, the target information can be acquired from the user database through different information providing network elements and different paths, and the accuracy and timeliness of acquiring the target information can be improved.

Next, with continued reference to fig. 2, in step S220, if it is determined that the target application satisfies a trigger condition, the application function node receives the target information through an information providing network element in the network.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the triggering condition is used for triggering reporting of the target information. The trigger condition may be that a session is established between the target user and the target application, and the target application satisfies the reporting condition. Establishing a session between the target user and the target application may establish resources and generate traffic for the session of the target user with respect to the target application, i.e. the target user starts to use the service provided by the target application. Based on the target application used by the target user, whether the target application meets the reporting condition can be further judged. The reporting condition may be determined based on a reporting threshold or the like, or may be determined based on information included in the subscription request.

A flow chart of receiving target information is schematically shown in fig. 6, and referring to fig. 6, the method mainly comprises the following steps:

in step S610, it is determined whether the target application satisfies the trigger condition; if yes, go to step S620; if not, go to step S630;

in step S620, the application function node receives the target information provided by the information providing network element;

In step S630, the application function node cannot receive the target information.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, if the target user uses the target application and the target application meets the reporting condition, the application function node may be triggered to receive the target information provided by the information providing network element in the network. Specifically, if the type of the application function node is a first type network element, and the process of sending the subscription request of the application function node passes through the network open function node, the process of obtaining the target information may include: the information providing network element acquires target information from the user database and sends the target information to the network opening function node, and the network opening function node sends the target information to the application function node so that the application function node receives the target information, and the function that the application function node acquires the target information through the network is realized. That is, the subscription event or information of the requested user of the target user or group of target users and the target application is provided to the application function node via the network. If the type of the application function node is a second type network element, and the process of sending the subscription request does not pass through the network open function node, the process of obtaining the target information may include: the information providing network element obtains target information from the user database and sends the target information to the application function node so that the application function node receives the target information, and the function that the application function node obtains the target information through the network is realized.

In some embodiments, the application function node is a first type network element. If the session state establishes or modifies the session for the target user, the corresponding information providing network element is the session management function node. The session management function node obtains target information from the user database and sends the target information to the network open function node, and the network open function node sends the target information to the application function node to realize the function that the application function node receives the target information obtained by the session management function node through the network open function node. If the session state establishes or modifies a policy association for the target user, the corresponding information providing network element is the policy and charging control node. The policy and charging control node obtains target information from the user database and sends the target information to the network opening function node, and the network opening function node sends the target information to the application function node to realize the function that the application function node receives the target information obtained by the policy and charging control node through the network opening function node.

And if the application function node is the second type network element, the description is carried out. If the session state establishes or modifies the session for the target user, the corresponding information providing network element is the session management function node. The session management function node obtains the target information from the user database and sends the target information to the application function node. If the session state establishes or modifies a policy association for the target user, the corresponding information providing network element is the policy and charging control node. The policy and charging control node obtains the target information from the user database and sends the target information to the application function node, so that the application function node can receive the target information obtained by the policy and charging control node.

If the target user uses the target application and the target application does not meet the reporting condition or the target user does not use the target application, the target application can be considered to not meet the triggering condition, and at this time, the application function node cannot receive the target information through the network.

According to the technical scheme, the application function node receives the target information of the target application provided by different application function nodes through the triggering conditions and different paths, so that the function of acquiring the related information of other applications through the network can be realized, and the comprehensiveness and the application range are increased.

In step S230, a corresponding operation is performed according to the target information.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, corresponding operations associated with different target information may be the same or different, and the corresponding operations may be determined according to service requirements. The corresponding operation may be a push operation, an adjustment operation, an activation service, or the like.

Fig. 7 schematically shows an interaction flow chart of information transmission corresponding to a first type network element, and referring to fig. 7, the interaction process mainly includes an application function node AF1, a network open function node NEF, a user database UDR, a session management function node SMF, a policy and charging control node PCF, and an application function node AF2 of a target application, and mainly includes the following steps:

In step S701, the application function node AF1 generates a subscription request for the target application of the target user, and sends the subscription request to the associated network open function node NEF.

Wherein the subscription request includes: user (or group of users) ID, target application ID or target service provider ID, target report information or event, and other optional conditions. Other optional conditions may include, but are not limited to, target server address, network service area, subscription duration or availability information, reporting thresholds.

In step S702, the network open function node NEF sends a subscription request from the application function node AF1 to the user database UDR.

In step S703, related information corresponding to the target application in the subscription information of the target user is modified in the user database UDR, and reporting events of the requesting application function node AF1 and the target application are bound for storage.

In step S704, when the target user or the users of the target user group establish or modify the session, the session management function node SMF reads the subscription information of the target user from the user database UDR, and obtains the target information of the reporting event of the bound requesting application function node AF1 and the target application from the user database according to the subscription information.

Step S705, when the target user or the users of the target user group establish or modify the policy association, the policy and charging control node PCF reads the subscription information of the target user from the user database UDR, and obtains the target information of the reporting event of the bound requester application function node AF1 and the target application from the user database according to the subscription information.

In step S706, the target user in the terminal device UE establishes a session with the target application provided by the application function node AF 2.

In step S707, the session management function node SMF provides the requested target information to the requesting application function node AF1 via the network opening function node NEF.

In step S708, the policy and charging control node PCF provides the requested target information to the requesting application function node AF1 via the network open function node NEF.

In step S709, the application function node AF1 performs a corresponding operation according to the received target information.

According to the technical scheme, the network opening function node and the session management function node or the policy and charging control node in the network provide the target information of the target application provided by other application function nodes requested by the subscription request to the application function node AF1, so that the comprehensiveness and the accuracy can be increased.

Fig. 8 schematically shows an interactive flow chart of information transmission corresponding to a second type network element, and referring to fig. 8, the interactive process mainly includes an application function node AF1, a user database UDR, a session management function node SMF, a policy and charging control node PCF, and an application function node AF2 of a target application, and the interactive process mainly includes the following steps:

in step S801, the application function node AF1 generates a subscription request for a target user target application, and sends the subscription request to the user database UDR.

Step S802, modifying the related information corresponding to the target application in the subscription information of the target user in the user database UDR, and binding the report event of the request side application function node AF1 and the target application for storage.

In step S803, when the target user or the users of the target user group establish or modify the session, the session management function node SMF reads the subscription information of the target user from the user database UDR, and obtains the target information of the reporting event of the bound requesting application function node AF1 and the target application from the user database according to the subscription information.

In step S804, when the target user or the users of the target user group establish or modify the policy association, the policy and charging control node PCF reads the subscription information of the target user from the user database UDR, and obtains the target information of the reporting event of the bound requester application function node AF1 and the target application from the user database according to the subscription information.

In step S805, the target user in the terminal device UE establishes a session with the target application provided by the application function node AF 2.

In step S806, the session management function node SMF provides the requested target information to the requesting application function node AF 1.

In step S807, the policy and charging control node PCF provides the requested target information to the requesting application function node AF 1.

In step S808, the application function node AF1 performs a corresponding operation according to the received target information.

According to the technical scheme, the session management function node or the policy and charging control node in the network provides the target information of the target application provided by other application function nodes requested by the subscription request to the application function node AF1, so that the comprehensiveness and the accuracy can be increased.

Fig. 9 schematically shows a transmission path diagram of information transmission by a first type network element, and referring to fig. 9, the interaction process mainly includes the following steps:

when the application function node is a first type network element, the application function node AF1 generates a subscription request for a target application of a target user, and sends the subscription request to an associated network open function node NEF.

The network open function node NEF sends a subscription request to the user database UDR to bind the reporting events of the function node AF1 with the target application.

When a user of the target user or group of target users establishes or modifies a session, the session management function node SMF obtains target information, i.e. path 1, from the user database UDR. When a target user or users of a target user group establish or modify a policy association, the policy and charging control node PCF obtains target information, i.e. path 2, from the user database UDR.

The target user in the terminal device establishes a session with the target application provided by the application function node AF 2.

The session management function node SMF transmits the target information to the network open function node NEF so that the network open function node NEF transmits the target information to the application function node AF1, i.e. path 1. The policy and charging control node PCF transmits the target information to the network open function node NEF so that the network open function node NEF sends the target information to the application function node AF1, i.e. path 2.

Fig. 10 schematically shows a transmission path diagram of information transmission by a second type network element, and referring to fig. 10, the interaction process mainly includes the following steps:

When the application function node is a second type network element, the application function node AF1 generates a subscription request for a target application of a target user, and sends the subscription request to the user database UDR to bind reporting events of the function node AF1 and the target application.

The session management function node SMF sends the target information to the application function node AF1, i.e. path 1. The policy and charging control node PCF transmits the target information to the application function node AF1, path 2.

Based on the above-mentioned interaction flow, that is, the application function node may subscribe to the network for target information of the third party application supported by other AFs, for example, information of related traffic. Further, according to the target information, related value-added short messages can be pushed to the user through a short message system of an operator.

If the operator wants to develop a related short message value-added service, when it is monitored that a user uses a certain third party application, i.e. the target application 1, a network element deployed by the operator, for example, a short message system AF1 in an operator IMS system, may subscribe to the use condition of the target application 1 provided by the application function node AF2 as target information, such as the accumulated information of the use time of the target application. According to the target information, the short message system AF1 can push corresponding package information to the user, so as to realize service increment.

In some embodiments, some applications may utilize idle traffic upgrade services. For example, the time and rate of transmission may be negotiated with the network in advance using the function of background traffic. But it is possible that the user suddenly uses other high value high bandwidth demand services for a preset time. If the application function node AF1 corresponding to the background traffic application can subscribe the start/end status report of the target service provided by the application function node AF2 to the network, the transmission of the background traffic service can be adjusted or suspended in real time, so as to optimize the resource utilization rate of the application function node AF1 side and the network side.

According to the technical scheme in the embodiment of the disclosure, on the one hand, the capability opening function of the 5G core network can be utilized based on the non-interaction layer, certain opening information can be provided for the target application under the condition that participation of the target application is not needed, the use condition of the target application provided by the user on different application function nodes can be obtained from the information providing network element in the network, the limitation that other information can be obtained only through interaction between application layers or the situation that the application function node cannot obtain the user to use other applications through the network in the related technology is avoided, the blank that the application function node cannot obtain the use condition of the user to use other applications from the 5G network is filled, the application range and the universality are increased, and the convenience is improved. On the other hand, the information providing network element of the network can provide the target information of the target application provided by different application function nodes for the application function node, so that the function that the application function node subscribes the relevant information of other application function nodes for the network is realized, the comprehensiveness is increased, and the operation efficiency is improved. More opportunities for value added services can be exploited for the network for AF. The method and the system can solve the problem that the application function node AF subscribes to the related event information of the application provided by other application function nodes AF different from the application function node AF, and have no influence on the target application and the corresponding application function node AF.

The disclosure also provides an information transmission device. Referring to fig. 11, the information transmission method 1100 mainly includes the following modules:

the subscription request sending module 1101 is configured to send a subscription request for a target application provided by another application function node by using the application function node, and obtain target information corresponding to the subscription request;

a target information receiving module 1102, configured to, if it is determined that the target application meets a trigger condition, receive, by the application function node, the target information through an information providing network element in a network;

an operation execution module 1103 is configured to execute a corresponding operation according to the target information.

The specific details of each module in the above information transmission device are described in detail in the corresponding information transmission method, so that the details are not repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, there is also provided a communication system 1200 mainly including a terminal device 1201 and a network device 1202. The network device may be a base station, and the terminal device may be a mobile phone.

The application function node AF1 in the network device sends a subscription request for the target application on the terminal device to the network open function node NEF, which sends the subscription request to the user database to bind the reporting events of the application function node and the target application in the user database. The information providing network element acquires target information corresponding to the subscription request from the user database, and when a target user in the terminal equipment establishes connection with a target application and meets a trigger condition, the information providing network element acquires the target information from the information providing network element through the network opening function node and sends the target information to the application function node so that the information of other applications is acquired through the network.

It should be noted that although in the above detailed description several modules or units of a device for action execution are mentioned, such a division is not mandatory. Indeed, the features and functionality of two or more modules or units described above may be embodied in one module or unit in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above may be further divided into a plurality of modules or units to be embodied.

Furthermore, although the steps of the methods in the present disclosure are depicted in a particular order in the drawings, this does not require or imply that the steps must be performed in that particular order or that all illustrated steps be performed in order to achieve desirable results. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps may be omitted, multiple steps combined into one step to perform, and/or one step decomposed into multiple steps to perform, etc.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a network device capable of implementing the above method is also provided.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented as a system, method, or program product. Accordingly, various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in the following forms, namely: an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining hardware and software aspects may be referred to herein as a "circuit," module "or" system.

A network device 1300 according to such an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to fig. 13. The network device 1300 shown in fig. 13 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of use of the disclosed embodiments.

As shown in fig. 13, the network device 1300 is embodied in the form of a general purpose computing device. The components of network device 1300 may include, but are not limited to: the at least one processing unit 1310, the at least one memory unit 1320, a bus 1330 connecting the different system components (including the memory unit 1320 and the processing unit 1310), and a display unit 1340.

Wherein the storage unit stores program code that is executable by the processing unit 1310 such that the processing unit 1310 performs steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above section of the "exemplary method" of the present specification. For example, the processing unit 1310 may perform the steps as shown in fig. 2.

The storage unit 1320 may include readable media in the form of volatile storage units, such as Random Access Memory (RAM) 13201 and/or cache memory 13202, and may further include Read Only Memory (ROM) 13203.

The storage unit 1320 may also include a program/utility 13204 having a set (at least one) of program modules 13205, such program modules 13205 including, but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each or some combination of which may include an implementation of a network environment.

Bus 1330 may be a local bus representing one or more of several types of bus structures including a memory unit bus or memory unit controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, a processing unit, or using any of a variety of bus architectures.

The network device 1300 may also communicate with one or more external devices 1400 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, bluetooth device, etc.), one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the network device 1300, and/or any device (e.g., router, modem, etc.) that enables the network device 1300 to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication may occur through an input/output (I/O) interface 1350. Also, the network device 1300 can communicate with one or more networks such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN) and/or a public network, for example, the Internet, through a network adapter 1360. As shown, the network adapter 1360 communicates with other modules of the network device 1300 over the bus 1330. It should be appreciated that although not shown, other hardware and/or software modules may be used in connection with network device 1300, including, but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, data backup storage systems, and the like.

From the above description of embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the example embodiments described herein may be implemented in software, or may be implemented in software in combination with the necessary hardware. Thus, the technical solution according to the embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in the form of a software product, which may be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (may be a CD-ROM, a U-disk, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or on a network, including several instructions to cause a computing device (may be a personal computer, a server, a terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to perform the method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a program product capable of implementing the method described above in the present specification is also provided. In some possible implementations, various aspects of the disclosure may also be implemented in the form of a program product comprising program code for causing a terminal device to carry out the steps according to the various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure as described in the "exemplary methods" section of this specification, when the program product is run on the terminal device.

A program product for implementing the above-described method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may employ a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) and include program code, and may be run on a terminal device, such as a personal computer. However, the program product of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in this document, a readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The program product may employ any combination of one or more readable media. The readable medium may be a readable signal medium or a readable storage medium. The readable storage medium can be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or a combination of any of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, random Access Memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

The computer readable signal medium may include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave with readable program code embodied therein. Such a propagated data signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A readable signal medium may also be any readable medium that is not a readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computing device, partly on the user's device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computing device, partly on a remote computing device, or entirely on the remote computing device or server. In the case of remote computing devices, the remote computing device may be connected to the user computing device through any kind of network, including a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computing device (e.g., connected via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

Furthermore, the above-described figures are only schematic illustrations of processes included in the method according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting. It will be readily appreciated that the processes shown in the above figures do not indicate or limit the temporal order of these processes. In addition, it is also readily understood that these processes may be performed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, among a plurality of modules.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any adaptations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. An information transmission method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that an application function node sends a subscription request for a target application provided by other application function nodes, and target information corresponding to the subscription request is obtained;

if the target application is determined to meet the triggering condition, the application function node receives the target information through an information providing network element in a network;

And executing corresponding operation according to the target information.

2. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the application function node transmits a subscription request for a target application provided by other application function nodes, comprising:

and sending the subscription request of the target application provided by other application function nodes according to the type of the application function node.

3. The information transmission method according to claim 2, wherein the sending the subscription request for the target application provided by the other application function node according to the type of the application function node includes:

if the application function node is a first type network element, the application function node sends the subscription request to a network opening function node in a network;

the network open function node sends the subscription request to a user database to correlate the application function node with reporting events of the target application and store the reporting events to the user database.

4. The information transmission method according to claim 2, wherein the sending the subscription request for the target application provided by the other application function node according to the type of the application function node includes:

And if the application function node is a second type network element, the application function node sends the subscription request to a user database in a network so as to correlate the report event of the application function node and the target application and store the report event in the user database.

5. The information transmission method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the associating the reporting event of the application function node with the target application includes:

and adjusting the association information corresponding to the target application in the subscription information of the target user, and binding the application function node with the report event of the target application.

6. The method for transmitting information according to claim 5, wherein the obtaining the target information corresponding to the subscription request includes:

and acquiring the subscription information of the target user from a user database according to the information providing network element corresponding to the session state, and acquiring the target information according to the subscription information.

7. The information transmission method according to claim 6, wherein the obtaining, by the information providing network element according to the session state, subscription information of the target user from a user database, and obtaining, by the information providing network element, the target information according to the subscription information, includes:

If the session state is that the target user establishes or modifies a session, acquiring the subscription information from the user database according to a session management function node, and acquiring the target information according to the subscription information;

and if the session state establishes or modifies policy association for the target user, acquiring the subscription information from the user database according to a policy and charging control node, and acquiring the target information according to the subscription information.

8. The information transmission method according to claim 3, wherein if it is determined that the target application satisfies a trigger condition, the application function node receives the target information through an information providing network element in a network, including:

and if the target application is determined to meet the triggering condition, the application function node receives the target information provided by the information providing network element and is sent by the network opening function node.

9. The information transmission method according to claim 1 or 8, wherein the trigger condition includes: a session is established between the target user and the target application, and the target application satisfies a reporting condition.

10. The information transmission method according to claim 1, wherein after the application function node transmits a subscription request for a target application provided by another application function node, the method further comprises:

If the application function node is a first type network element, the network opening function node converts the information in the subscription request according to the parameter information in the network;

and if the application function node is a second type network element, keeping the information in the subscription request unchanged.

11. An information transmission apparatus, comprising:

the subscription request sending module is used for sending subscription requests of target applications provided by other application function nodes by the application function nodes and obtaining target information corresponding to the subscription requests;

the target information receiving module is used for receiving the target information through an information providing network element in a network by the application function node if the target application meets the triggering condition;

and the operation execution module is used for executing corresponding operation according to the target information.

12. A network device, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to perform the information transmission method of any one of claims 1 to 10 via execution of the executable instructions.

13. A communication system, comprising:

A terminal device;

the network device of claim 12, wherein the application function node receives, from an information providing network element in the network, target information corresponding to a subscription request for a target application provided by another application function node, and performs a corresponding operation according to the target information.